What's the most natural way I can lighten my hair? ++

[A007]

I'm tired of bleaching my hair, because of all the damage and chemicals I really don't want to go back to bleach..or hair color.
I want to lighten my hair in the safest way possible and the most natural way I can.

Can you ladies please help me out, what would you recommend?

My natural hair color is a "dark blonde" I've been told about a level 5-6. I'm aiming for a level 9-10(just NOT white) but the lightest I can get without all the nasty PPD's etc..
I also have very fine/thin and very porous hair, like so porous that no hair color(drugstore etc.) will show up on me, it all turns out grey.

So I want to lighten my hair as natural as possible, what would you ladies recommend I try..?
(I also heard good things about NaturTint and it working for a lot of people who want to lighten..anyone heard anything about this?)

Any help/recommendations?
I'm all ears.
-Thanks in advance! =)

[jacqueline101]

I'd say lemon juice and water. Its drying to the hair also but not as bad as some of the other methods I've heard of.

[Amber_Maiden]

Honey lightening is the most natural you can get, and doesn't do as much damage as lemon juice, or dyes.

[blondie9912]

Honey and sunshine.

[A007]

Will honey, lemons..really lighten my hair so much..I'm looking to lighten a lot..I'll give it a go, also, any organic hair dyes you guys know of that might work? :/

[Nae]

No, I don't think that anything but a bleach or peroxide will lighten your hair that much. Sorry to say. Honey and lemon will get you a bit lighter but probably no more than a shade or two.

Organic or not, it will have to be bleach of some kind and that is going to be damaging.

[magnetiquewolf]

i've been using peroxide a few times a day for the past few days and while it seems to be lightening my roots it's doing NOTHING on the indigo-ed ends of my hair. it's driving me crazy.

i really don't want to resort to cutting off the indigo-ed bits.

i've heard good things about using cinnamon. i'm going to try it over the next few days and let ya know how it turns out. :)

i have naturally brown with blond highlights. would like to achieve strawberry blond. would be happy with honey-brown. sigh.

[Arakazi]

i've been using peroxide a few times a day for the past few days and while it seems to be lightening my roots it's doing NOTHING on the indigo-ed ends of my hair. it's driving me crazy.

I really don't think you should be bleaching over hennaed and indigoed hair. Check out a henna forum for some advice there.

And OP I think the only natural way to lighten your hair is lemon juice and honey and sit in the sun for a while. ;) You will be fine! Or talk to Justgreen about how she's bleaches her hair without damage.

[Springlets]

Things that have worked best for me:

- Drying my hair in the sunshine when possible and/or spending time in the sun (with proper sunscreen for your skin of course)

-Using a shampoo with chamomile (Matricaria) or lemon juice in it. I use the John Freida Go Blonder shampoo. Others have success with a purple shampoo that decreases yellowness (and sometimes contains the whitening chamomile ingredient as well).

-Putting honey in my conditioner. Some people have success with using the honey lightening method with water. I've had more success with just putting some in my conditioner.

-Vinegar rinses. I use white vinegar rather than apple cider as I don't want reddish tones. You can also use lemon juice instead, but I find that it is drying.

But I just also wanted to say that natural hair color is so much more beautiful than dyed hair- particularly in the case of blondes. There are a million girls out there with bleached level 9/10 hair color, why not rock your natural locks and stand out? Your hair may start out as a level 5/6, but as it grows out, it will likely get level 7 and 8 highlights naturally. Head on over to the Blonette Pride thread to see some inspiring pictures of other girls with your natural hair color. :)

[A007]

I really don't think you should be bleaching over hennaed and indigoed hair. Check out a henna forum for some advice there.

And OP I think the only natural way to lighten your hair is lemon juice and honey and sit in the sun for a while. ;) You will be fine! Or talk to Justgreen about how she's bleaches her hair without damage.


I don't think I can access someone else profile to message them, I just registered today..so it's not letting me do that. :/

[Arakazi]

Oh ok well just wait until you hit 25 posts I think it is. But search some beaching threads etc see how to do it with minimal damage.

Springlets had some really good advice :D

[Arakazi]

While scrolling the articles I found something for you! http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=61

[A007]

While scrolling the articles I found something for you! http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=61
Thanks a lot! I will also look into this, I never would have thought honey would lighten hair. ty!

[Arakazi]

And also because you're a newbie, this article is a really great way to get into the LHC way's as a first step. I really should have read this as soon as I joined up but I didn't know about the article's for quite some time. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=39 (Sorry for continuously posting, but I hope it helps!! :D)

[catamonica]

My hair is all grey. I use a small spray bottle. Filled with half water, and half white vinegar. It's
slowly getting silver white. I have to spray it on several times a day. The vinegar should lighten
your hair. I read online that dehydrated minced onion or (D) chopped onion makes the hair thicker. I have tried both. My hair feels thicker. I put a capful of (D) chopped onion in my shampoo. I hope this helps. And welcome to TLHC!

[catamonica]

My hair is all grey. I use a small spray bottle. Filled with half water, and half white vinegar. It's
slowly getting silver white. I have to spray it on several times a day. The vinegar should lighten
your hair. I read online that dehydrated minced onion or (D) chopped onion makes the hair thicker. I have tried both. My hair feels thicker. I put a capful of (D) chopped onion in my shampoo. I hope this helps. And welcome to TLHC!

[Littlewing13]

No, I don't think that anything but a bleach or peroxide will lighten your hair that much. Sorry to say. Honey and lemon will get you a bit lighter but probably no more than a shade or two.

Organic or not, it will have to be bleach of some kind and that is going to be damaging.

Seconded. Used to be a hairdresser.

6 is quite dark. I'm a 7 naturally & I need to bleach or use a lightening tint to get mine that light. If you must have hair that light I've heard good things about "tints of nature". Keeping in mind anything that lightens that much will damage.

Other than that I'd suggest learning to love your natural or some kind of yellow/orange (as thats all lightening a few shades will get without using a permanent colour or toners).
May not be the answer you want but I hope it helps anyway :)

[palaeoqueen]

Are you sure you're a level 5-6? Dark blonde is generally a level 7, levels 5 and 6 are brown.

[Bianca]

Lemon juice is imo the least damaging. Done it several times, with no damage. Heard more stories about honey doing bad things. All lemon do is speed up the suns work :rolleyes: Honey is mild peroxide.

I put the lemon/water mix in, sit in the sun for an hour. Wash my hair. Do not leave it in. Works wonders :)

[jojo]

i've been using peroxide a few times a day for the past few days and while it seems to be lightening my roots it's doing NOTHING on the indigo-ed ends of my hair. it's driving me crazy.

i really don't want to resort to cutting off the indigo-ed bits.

i've heard good things about using cinnamon. i'm going to try it over the next few days and let ya know how it turns out. :)

i have naturally brown with blond highlights. would like to achieve strawberry blond. would be happy with honey-brown. sigh.

Please don't use any more bleach, it's ok to bleach over henna alone but not indigo you can cause it to turn a horrible green and melt off, step away from the bleach! Try a colour b4 or color oops if your in the USA but never bleach!!!

[jojo]

My hair is all grey. I use a small spray bottle. Filled with half water, and half white vinegar. It's
slowly getting silver white. I have to spray it on several times a day. The vinegar should lighten
your hair. I read online that dehydrated minced onion or (D) chopped onion makes the hair thicker. I have tried both. My hair feels thicker. I put a capful of (D) chopped onion in my shampoo. I hope this helps. And welcome to TLHC!

Vinegar has no lightening properties at all in which would lighten hair, all vinegar does is regulise the scalps acid mantle and regulate the pH of the scalp, closing the hair shaft and causing shine, maybe this shine you are mistaking for lighter hair?

honey is used as it has a natural peroxide in it which when mixed in distiled water it releases and when placed on the hair it causes a gradual lightening affect. I managed to go 2 shades lighter over a period of 4 months doing this, my hair is a level 6-7 naturally which is a true dark blonde, level 5-6 is more a brown colour so the op may be able to achieve a lighter brown but not a very light blonde, only bleach can achieve this.

[cmg]

i've heard good things about using cinnamon. i'm going to try it over the next few days and let ya know how it turns out. :)

Cardamom has a slightly higher peroxide level than cinnamom.

But I don't think it will help going that much lighter. 1-2 shades at the most after lots of repeated applications. It has to be combined with a low pH-level liquid also.

/ CMG

[catamonica]

I had dark grey hair. The vinegar is making it turn to silver & white. It's not shiny. It is lighter. It is really working.

[catamonica]

I read online about white vinegar. And I read that white vinegar mixed with water does lighten the hair. And I have tried apple cider vinegar. And it does turn your
hair red.

[Springlets]

The more commercial brands of haircolor brands such as Loreal and Clairol usually refer to level 6 as light brown (most likely because that's how the average person sees it). In the more professional lines, such as your hair dresser might use or you see in hair color charts, level 6 is considered dark blonde. I think that it can be either one, having observed both natural blondes and brunettes at this level. But I also think pigmentation transcends level therefore it is possible to have a level 5 blonde, as well as a level 7 brunette. It all comes down to pigmentation. If your hair dresser can still determine you a blonde at level 5/6, then I think you can believe her. ;)

[akilina]

I feel like I am just butchering the subject saying...You will not achieve anything like using bleach if you are using natural substances. While they do have some effect, they go nothing near the lift that bleach will.

I used to have white bleach blond hair and it was incredibly healthy. I took great care of it and only used 10 volume developer and bleach. I always got perfect lift. As well, I did it once a month for about 6 months.
I don't think bleach is "that bad" if used properly and responsibly.

Example...My really good friend would touch up her roots with platinum box dye (evil in my eyes). Every time she seriously applied to the roots, AND ends!! Horrible!!! That is an example of bleaching irresponsibly. Her ends, are to this day, totally melty fried. These box colors almost always use 20 vol developer, if not HIGHER volume.
When she had the money, she let me do her roots once a month, or every other month. I saved her hairs health greatly by just doing her roots, and trimming out past damage she had done.
I am sad that she has gone back to the same old ways since I moved. I really was starting to save her hair with trims, and proper techniques.

[Bunnysaur]

I had dark grey hair. The vinegar is making it turn to silver & white. It's not shiny. It is lighter. It is really working.


I read online about white vinegar. And I read that white vinegar mixed with water does lighten the hair. And I have tried apple cider vinegar. And it does turn your
hair red.

Could it be that your hair would be getting lighter naturally anyway?

[catamonica]

About a month ago, I used a spray bottle of olive oil & lemon juice. It helped. There is something in the vinegar, that is making my hair white. I just want it light enough, to get rid of the steely grey.

[cmg]

About a month ago, I used a spray bottle of olive oil & lemon juice. It helped. There is something in the vinegar, that is making my hair white. I just want it light enough, to get rid of the steely grey.

They are both acidic. Lemon or lime juice is ten times as acidic as vinegar and orange juice, and those are ten times as acidic as ACV in comparison. Acidic stuffs in the hair will in combination with UV-rays from sunlight (or artificial) bleach the hair.

/ CMG

[magnetiquewolf]

I feel like I am just butchering the subject saying...You will not achieve anything like using bleach if you are using natural substances. While they do have some effect, they go nothing near the lift that bleach will.

I used to have white bleach blond hair and it was incredibly healthy. I took great care of it and only used 10 volume developer and bleach. I always got perfect lift. As well, I did it once a month for about 6 months.
I don't think bleach is "that bad" if used properly and responsibly.



i agree for the most part.

peroxide may have bleaching properties but it isn't actually bleach. it's dihydrogen dioxide. exactly the same stuff that's in honey and cinnamon. i don't see much difference using honey vs 3% regular topical peroxide other than using honey kills bees, costs more, and takes much longer. granted i assume manufacturing topical peroxide probably isn't much better for the environment.

[magnetiquewolf]

if i was using chlorine lighten my hair that'd be pretty damaging though, both to my hair and to my overall health.

[magnetiquewolf]

I really don't think you should be bleaching over hennaed and indigoed hair. Check out a henna forum for some advice there.

And OP I think the only natural way to lighten your hair is lemon juice and honey and sit in the sun for a while. ;) You will be fine! Or talk to Justgreen about how she's bleaches her hair without damage.


yup, the peroxide did indeed turn the indigo-stained tips of my hair a brown-green.

just had to hack it all off. oh well, it'll grow back. :)

long as i stay away from indigo i see no problem using 3% peroxide to lighten my hair a bit before moisturing it with coconut oil and colouring with henna. henna itself can be quite drying and damaging to hair after a few applications, i need to moisturize and gloss after using henna.

[magnetiquewolf]

While scrolling the articles I found something for you! http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=61


thank you!

[justgreen]

I thought about this thread for a couple of days. I know the OP is asking for a natural way to safely blonde her hair, but it's my opinion that the natural ways can also be harming. I used to do the lemon juice and the sun-in stuff. Then I would go home and dump a box of bleach on my head. (this was YEARS ago).

I've been having my hair professionally highlighted for almost ten years now. I get my roots done every 4-6 weeks with either 30 vol or 40 vol, whichever she has on hand. If she uses the 40 vol, it just takes less time to process. My hairdresser brushes conditioner on each strand before brushing the bleach on the roots. I have very healthy hair with few split ends.

OP I hope you find something that works for you. :flower:

[EtherealDoll]

I know the OP is asking for a natural way to safely blonde her hair, but it's my opinion that the natural ways can also be harming.

I agree with this. I remember reading a thread where quite a few people said that honey lightening has damaged their hair.

Also, OP, you won't be able to lighten level 5-6 hair to level 9-10 without dye or bleach.

[cmg]

i agree for the most part.

peroxide may have bleaching properties but it isn't actually bleach.
Yes that is bleach. It's in hair products, the spices you mentioned and bleaching products for teeth etc.

There are a number of different substances that are used for bleaching. Perhaps you have only encountered chlorine, which is a desinfectant with bleaching properties also.

/ CMG