Wanting to know more about the honey treatment...

[sakuramoon08]

How exactly does it make your hair lighter, and is it damaging to your hair? Frankly, I'm tired of being stuck between blond/brown hair, and being told it's an ugly color, and besides, I was born with blonde hair, until it darkened around 4yrs old.

[jojo]

Honey contains a natural peroxide which when mixed with water it help release it.

[AlexiaBlue]

sakuramoon08 -- I know the feeling. I've been trying to grow out my blonde highlights since April. I know that's not a long time at all, but I was at the point of almost going back to my hair stylist to get the roots highlighted again, because my hair looked so bad being two different colors -- light blonde on the ends with about 3 inches of dark blonde/light brown roots. I tried a couple honey treatments, per the recommended recipe, but they did minimal lightening. Then, I found another recipe. Jojo -- I believe it was yours, thank you!! :) -- that I tweaked a bit, and it made my roots dramatically lighter, and I LOVE IT!!! I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm not sure if it was the honey I used, or what, but the color looks so pretty.

This is the concoction I threw together:
1/2 cup of Wholesome Sweetners Organic Amber Honey (I bought this at Whole Foods)
1/2 cup of Everyday Shea Moisturizing Conditioner, Vanilla mint (I also bought this at WF)
A little bit of Extra Virgin Olive oil thrown in for good measure

I mixed it all in a bowl and let sit for an hour. I then applied it with a color applicator brush to my hair and wrapped in clear plastic shower cap, then put on a heavy plastic cap (that I bought from Sally's) over my head. I let the mixture sit on my head for about 2 hrs or so, then washed it out with some conditioner. I really couldn't be happier with the results, and my hair is soooooo soft and silky!!! :)

[Aerin]

Yeah, I was interested in this too. Anyone here who's done honey lightening on natural red hair? I used to be a fairly bright-colored redhead, but now it's definitely a deep auburn. Since I've got fairly sensitive skin I'm not outside as much anymore and the sun doesn't lighten it.

Does honey lightening give similar results to sun lightening? Will it kill the red or just lighten the entire tone? Thanks!

P.S. Never colored my hair....so I have no past experience to compare this to.

[principesse]

AlexiaBlue- When you applied it with a color applicator brush, did you apply it to your entire length or only to the dark roots?

[Sundial]

Can I suggest that you do a patch test before proceeding? Phalaenopsis experienced damage from honey lightening. Peroxide is still peroxide so it is still best to carry out a patch test on shed hairs before you proceed

[PianoPlaye]

Forgive me, Sundial, but never having coloured (do you count Sun In?) what is a patch test & how do you do it?
As I'd love to go a bit blonder but peroxide sounds scary to me in a way honey doesn't. So what should I do & how?
(Other possibly than go ask Google?)

[AlexiaBlue]

AlexiaBlue- When you applied it with a color applicator brush, did you apply it to your entire length or only to the dark roots?


I tried to only do it to my roots, but i ended up getting it on the length too. So, my whole head was soaked in the treatment. There is still a contrast (obviously) between my roots and the rest of the hair, but it's very minor, and not enough to bother me. I plan on doing the honey lightening a couple more times to lighten up my hair a bit more, and I will try and figure out how to post some "before & after's" on this site. :o

[Sundial]

Forgive me, Sundial, but never having coloured (do you count Sun In?) what is a patch test & how do you do it?
As I'd love to go a bit blonder but peroxide sounds scary to me in a way honey doesn't. So what should I do & how?
(Other possibly than go ask Google?)


For the patch test, you don't have to do it directly on your hair strands. What some henna users do for patch testing is this: they gather shed hairs from their hair brush and use those strands for testing.

What this does is that you are better able to tell the exact color that you will get from the coloring. And if you are unsure how light you want to go, you can actually do a few patch tests at the same time! Just use the same batch of honey lightening formula or henna and apply to a few groups of shed hair and wash off the strands at varying times, i.e. Batch A at 30 minutes, Batch B at 45 minutes, Batch C at 60 minutes.

That way you will know exactly how long you need to leave the honey/henna in for to get the exact shade that you desire and you can also tell if your hair is able to withstand honey lightening. It may sound like a lot of trouble, but it will save you a lot of heartache - it took you years to get to the length where you are now, and you will be mad at yourself if you ruin all that just to save yourself a few minutes of trouble :p

[sakuramoon08]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful ideas, I did not have a recipe and I did not think about a patch test. Thank you very much!!!! :D

[Kelikea]

I want to try the honey treatment! My hair has been gradually darkening over the years. I always thought of myself as "dark blond" but now I'm thinking I'm not (?) Jojo, I love your bun in your picture! How did you do it?

[heatherbelle]

sakuramoon08 -- I know the feeling. I've been trying to grow out my blonde highlights since April. I know that's not a long time at all, but I was at the point of almost going back to my hair stylist to get the roots highlighted again, because my hair looked so bad being two different colors -- light blonde on the ends with about 3 inches of dark blonde/light brown roots. I tried a couple honey treatments, per the recommended recipe, but they did minimal lightening. Then, I found another recipe. Jojo -- I believe it was yours, thank you!! :) -- that I tweaked a bit, and it made my roots dramatically lighter, and I LOVE IT!!! I couldn't be happier with the results. I'm not sure if it was the honey I used, or what, but the color looks so pretty.

This is the concoction I threw together:
1/2 cup of Wholesome Sweetners Organic Amber Honey (I bought this at Whole Foods)
1/2 cup of Everyday Shea Moisturizing Conditioner, Vanilla mint (I also bought this at WF)
A little bit of Extra Virgin Olive oil thrown in for good measure

I mixed it all in a bowl and let sit for an hour. I then applied it with a color applicator brush to my hair and wrapped in clear plastic shower cap, then put on a heavy plastic cap (that I bought from Sally's) over my head. I let the mixture sit on my head for about 2 hrs or so, then washed it out with some conditioner. I really couldn't be happier with the results, and my hair is soooooo soft and silky!!! :)


Ooohhh!! I am going to have to try this! I too am stuck between the blonde-brown color. Thanks for the recipe!