Using honey to lighten too dark hair color?

[Nina]

I had my hair colored yesterday and the brown was a little darker than expected. I just want to slightly lighten the shade. Can I use honey? Or some other natural ingredient?

Thanks.

[Capybara]

You can use honey or cinnamon. I've lightened my sister's hair with the honey method :) It takes a few applications, but we got awesome results!

There are some threads bumping around about this, I'll go take a look for you!

ETA: Okay, here are the threads:
Honey Lightening (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?p=134083#post134083)

Cinnamon Lightening (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=2125)

HTH! :flower:

[UltraBella]

Most hair color, even permanent, will lighten on it's own and kind of "settle down" within the first week or two. Are you sure you can't wait it out to see what it will do ? You might be deciding too quickly.

[Nina]

Thanks for the links, capybara. I will definitely read up.

Good point, Ultrabella. My hair does tend to lighten up over time. I may wait a week and then see how it looks.

[Pandora.]

Ooh these look interesting.
Can this work for light blonde hair as well? Or would it go golden and orangey for me?
I'm only asking this since I've realised that most people that have done this method have brown hair.

[Fractalsofhair]

Pandora-Honey lightening might work if your hair is naturally medium blond to bring it to a light blond, but it's unlikely to get naturally dark hair a light blond shade as far as I know. Cinnamon lightening might be a bit stronger though!

[ktani]

Pandora-Honey lightening might work if your hair is naturally medium blond to bring it to a light blond, but it's unlikely to get naturally dark hair a light blond shade as far as I know. Cinnamon lightening might be a bit stronger though!

It is the opposite actually. In the Cinnamon thread the OP's results took a few months to achieve and were unexpected. Honey lightening can be gradual too but most honeys have a higher peroxide level than cinnamon. Used together, in a honey lightening recipe, with the new dilution (using distilled water instead of conditioner), lightening has been reported to be much faster, in 1 to a few treatments, for some.

I agree though, that freshly dyed hair will lighten up on its own over time with washing.

[Kristin]

I've been using a mixture of conditioner, honey, cinnamon and EVOO to lighten my hair a bit. My hair got a bit too dark from my last color (it isn't really as black as it looks in my pics and has reddish brown streaks of unknown origin ;)). I'm not really big on measurements, but I just used about 1/3 to 1/2 cup cone-free condish and then dumped in A LOT of cinnamon and maybe 1-2tbsp each of honey and EVOO. Mixed it up. (It looks like chocolate pudding.) Wet hair. Massaged in to roots and length. Wrapped head in plastic bag and put a shower cap over that. Put a towel around my neck to catch the drips. Leave on for 4-5 hours. I've done three applications this week and all the color was pulled (unfortunately, my grays are showing again, but I guess we take what we can get).

I prefer this method to the honey/cinnamon method where you mix it with water (rather than conditioner) because that stuff drips EVERYWHERE, dries my hair, and makes the cinnamon very difficult to rinse out.

Please make sure to test your skin for sensitivity to cinnamon and keep it away from your face. It got all over my face once and I had brights red streaks across my cheeks for a couple hours.

[ktani]

I've been using a mixture of conditioner, honey, cinnamon and EVOO to lighten my hair a bit. My hair got a bit too dark from my last color (it isn't really as black as it looks in my pics and has reddish brown streaks of unknown origin ;)). I'm not really big on measurements, but I just used about 1/3 to 1/2 cup cone-free condish and then dumped in A LOT of cinnamon and maybe 1-2tbsp each of honey and EVOO. Mixed it up. (It looks like chocolate pudding.) Wet hair. Massaged in to roots and length. Wrapped head in plastic bag and put a shower cap over that. Put a towel around my neck to catch the drips. Leave on for 4-5 hours. I've done three applications this week and all the color was pulled (unfortunately, my grays are showing again, but I guess we take what we can get).

I prefer this method to the honey/cinnamon method where you mix it with water (rather than conditioner) because that stuff drips EVERYWHERE, dries my hair, and makes the cinnamon very difficult to rinse out.

Please make sure to test your skin for sensitivity to cinnamon and keep it away from your face. It got all over my face once and I had brights red streaks across my cheeks for a couple hours.

Sorry to hear about the cinnamon reaction. Even for those who are not sensitive to it, using too much of it has been reported to cause the same problem you report.

Dryness can be a result of honey lightening but it is honey residue, which was reported even with recipes that used conditioner. Different honeys leave different levels of residue. Some conditioners were reported to work better for honey lightening than others. However, using distilled water and no conditioner has been reported to work better and faster than all previous recipes and has been used by some people as a conditioning recipe too. The best reported remedy for removing honey residue is shampoo. A vinegar rinse can help as well.

The simplified version of the new dilution with distilled water is 1 tablespoon honey to 6 tablespoons distilled water, 2 to 12 etc., depending on how much solution one needs. If a honey has a pH when diluted of 6, less distilled water or a good tap water (one that contains a very low mineral content and a pH of about 7) can be used.

Pictures of honey lightening on dark, dyed hair (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=457007&postcount=3341)

The most recent innovative technique for preventing drips is this report, using a moist towel. A dry towel will absorb the treatment and dry the hair, making the treatment useless. The hair needs to be kept wet during a treatment. Distilled water is better than most but not all tap waters.
"A new method for applying a honey lightening treatment, by lilravendark
on previously henndigoed hair, after 4 treatments, with 50:50 honey and boiled tap water
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1083309&postcount=4319, details, recipe, method and honey used -
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1084379&postcount=4321, the condition of her hair following honey lightening - http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=1085526&postcount=4323"

[Nina]

Thanks for all the tips. The only thing I'm cautious about is lifting the color and having the grays show again, like Kristin reported. Does honey have the same effect (lifting color and gray showing)? If that is the case, I may just live with it and hope it lightens naturally over time....

[ktani]

Thanks for all the tips. The only thing I'm cautious about is lifting the color and having the grays show again, like Kristin reported. Does honey have the same effect (lifting color and gray showing)? If that is the case, I may just live with it and hope it lightens naturally over time....

I cannot predict that. Using honey can lighten hair colour and your grey may show through.