How to Lighten Hair Safely

[Sabayon]

I've been dyeing my hair (with chemical dyes and henna) since I was 16 and I recently decided I want to stop and let my natural color grow.
I am not currently 100% sure what my natural color is, because it is so off my current color that the roots look very dramatic and I think that skews my perceptions, but I'm fairly sure it's dark honey blond. The last time I saw it it was medium blond and I think it's darkened. For the past year I've been dyeing with BAQ henna and wine, then a few months ago I switched to deposit only chemical dye (Natural Instincts) in light brown so my hair is currently medium auburn with loads of deeply soaked in red.
I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to go that many shades lighter without damaging hair too much. I've heard that red is the hardest color to completely get out so I'm a little worried about it. My current plan is to go through about 4-5 phases of permanent dying, each time going a shade lighter, but I was wondering if anyone had any success with more hair healthy methods?
Oops, I seem to have written a novel about my hair dye woes:o. Thanks for any advice

[missjessiecakes]

Hardly a novel. I've seen much longer posts. :D

Some people have had luck with honey and some people have lightened their hair with cinnamon. IF you want to go the dye route I would suggest a professional.

I am sure you will get better answers from other people I just wanted to suggest the professional.

Also ooo seattle and welcome to LHC :)

[Elainehali]

I've never tried to lighten henna, however peroxide seems to work better than bleach from what I've read.

Most box dyes use peroxide, and that's what a stylist would use to lift the color.

[Fractalsofhair]

There really isn't a way to lighten it safely if you've used henna. I think Nightshade got limited lightening from using a variety of products, but her hair got really damaged in the process. Your hair is only APL? I'd strongly suggest just growing it out, and then when you hit waist, trimming off the dye till it's all your natural color!

[Shermie Girl]

I've been dyeing my hair (with chemical dyes and henna) since I was 16 and I recently decided I want to stop and let my natural color grow.
I am not currently 100% sure what my natural color is, because it is so off my current color that the roots look very dramatic and I think that skews my perceptions, but I'm fairly sure it's dark honey blond. The last time I saw it it was medium blond and I think it's darkened. For the past year I've been dyeing with BAQ henna and wine, then a few months ago I switched to deposit only chemical dye (Natural Instincts) in light brown so my hair is currently medium auburn with loads of deeply soaked in red.
I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to go that many shades lighter without damaging hair too much. I've heard that red is the hardest color to completely get out so I'm a little worried about it. My current plan is to go through about 4-5 phases of permanent dying, each time going a shade lighter, but I was wondering if anyone had any success with more hair healthy methods?
Oops, I seem to have written a novel about my hair dye woes:o. Thanks for any advice



I am very sorry to come and rain on your parade but I have to tell you that there is no way to completely remove henna without destroying the hair. I was a henna head, tried to remove it with a succession of conditioner and lemon juice soaks and peroxide. I got my hair to a bad orangish-gold then tried to push it lighter and ruined my hair. I ended up with sticky gummy destroyed hair to my roots and still have a few inches of that muck nearly two years later.

One member did get back to blonde with the help of a stylist and soap caps and highlighting and so forth. She lost all of her length, too.

If you do attempt henna removal (and I wish you luck, I hate to be a downer but I doubt it will work) see a pro who will work with you and try things that maybe are a little unconventional.

Things that don't work: Bleaching to pale. Hair is destroyed before the red is gone. Peroxide to pale. Same as with bleach. Box dyes in blonde. Blonde dye will remove henna but strand tests showed that the hair was dissolved. ColorFix, ColourOops and other colour removers. Hair destruction before complete or even acceptable henna removal.

If by some miracle you do find a way to safely remove henna, post, please. I and other members would love to know about it. :D

[Sabayon]

I kind of suspected as much.
I would like to go to a stylist as some have suggested, but I can't currently afford it. I hope by incrementally lightening the color I can minimize the damage, because trying to get it all out at once would definitely melt my hair, for sure. I am mostly just trying to get it down to a shade which will blend with my own color without looking completely ridiculous and then just grow it out enough to be able to cut it out.
Thanks to everyone for the advice though. I will post on my results.!

[SpinDance]

Good luck with your growing out journey. I'm in the process of growing out dark brown dye which is paling to reddish, to go back to my natural color, which is very dark brown nearly black silvering to gray. I don't much like the reddishness (is that a word?) that the dye has left, and hope it comes completely out of the white hairs mixed throughout the dark. It was semi-permanent, which is reported to come out in 28+ washings, with only washing about twice per week that's going to take a while.

[Pear Martini]

:) If I were you I wuld grow it out and as the virgin hair becomes longer dye the dyed part of your hair a shade of brown that would blend in with it until you can chop the dyed part all off.

I have APL hair and I'm in the process of doing the same thing. Its been 6 months since I have lightened my hair (opposite of you) and half of my hair is already virgin! All I do is take biotin and try to eat a lot of protein, it has been helping though

[florenonite]

The henna won't come out, as Shermie Girl and others have said. If you're afraid of a sharp demarcation line, what I'd recommend is using a semi- or demi-permanent dye on your roots for a while whilst trimming off the hennaed ends. Now beware that semi- and demi-permanent dyes often never fully wash out of blonde hair, so you would take longer to grow out virgin hair, but you would have less of a demarcation line than if you just stop cold turkey.

[twilight_faerie]

I bleached over my hennaed hair, but I wasn't trying to get it to blonde, just to light red. It worked, but it did trash my hair in the process. Strangely, while the rest of my hair turned light red, my roots turned yellow-blonde. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Nightshade]

There really isn't a way to lighten it safely if you've used henna. I think Nightshade got limited lightening from using a variety of products, but her hair got really damaged in the process. Your hair is only APL? I'd strongly suggest just growing it out, and then when you hit waist, trimming off the dye till it's all your natural color!

Nope, actually!

I tried a lot of "natural" lightening methods (honey, lemon juice, etc) but Sun-In did the trick for me. I have a whole thread on it if you're so inclined, but there was no damage, just some short-term dryness.

Granted, I was doing this on 100% henna, not over dye, which is a HUGE no-no with Sun-In. :)

[Charlotte:)]

Try the honey lightening method. I had dark blonde hair a few weeks ago and now it's light blonde. Honey is a natural hydrogen peroxide that lightens your hair without damaging it. In fact, it's really moisturizing, and my hair has never been softer. I do this once a week when I wash my hair:

Mix 1/3 cup of honey with 1 1/2 cups of distilled water and let it sit for an hour. Wet hair and squeeze out excess water. Then pour the honey-water over your hair (I do this with my head leaning back into the tub). DO NOT squeeze out excess water this time. Now you can either wear a shower cap or a plastic bag over your hair to keep it from drying out. Any hair that dries will not bleach. Leave hair in shower cap/bag for at least an hour and then wash it out with shampoo (or whatever you wash your hair with). I like to do a white vinegar rinse (acv turns my hair red) at the end of the shower to make sure all the honey rinses out and to make my hair shiny. This method will lighten your hair very gradually, but if you keep doing it once a week you will notice a difference :)

[UltraBella]

I know you said you can not afford to go to a professional, but if for some reason you change your mind, make sure they do a strand test. Someone said a stylist would use hydrogen peroxide to try and lift the color you have now, but I disagree. If you go to a stylist, considering how many shades lighter you are desiring, they would use bleach to strip the color and then they will tone the hair to a color that is close to your natural color.
Some people experience terrible damage from bleach, but others do just fine. That is why a strand test would be essential.
At my salon we have bleached out henna only once, and the client had not hennaed in three months. No other dye had been used in-between. It turned out quite nice. Two weeks later we trimmed 2 inches off because her ends were dry.
You will just have to consider all your options and then proceed cautiously. Good luck !!!!

[lastnite]

this thread shows someone who bleached her henna out, (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51695) but I think she was all henna and no other dyes. Her hair looks nice right after, but a stylist told me one time damage can take a few months to appear.