You can lighten your hair without bleach or a visit to the hair salon.
Lemon juice, baking soda, sea salt, and tea are all great hair lightening agents.
These natural hair lightening methods can be done at home using ingredients you already have.
Every once in a while, when I’m starting to get bored with my dark hair color, I get a twinge of envy when I see my blonde, beachy-wavy friends. It feels like chic braids flatter them so much, but I’m too afraid to lose my hair color virginity and lighten my dark hair. I’ve never worked my straight brown hair, and colorists are always trying to convince me to give coloring a try.
Rather than give in to peer pressure, I’m turning to natural remedies to quickly lighten my hair at home. If you are also a brunette with naturally dark hair, I suggest you do the same. If you’ve been searching for natural ways to lighten dark hair, then you should listen. While you may not achieve platinum blonde status, these simple tricks using lemon juice, tea, baking soda, sea salt, apple cider vinegar, and more will give your hair sun-kissed golden tones without the need for serious bleaching. These tricks can give you natural highlights without ever having to set foot in a salon.
Read on to learn how to lighten your dark hair at home.
How to lighten hair naturally with lemons
This is basically a more natural (and less risky!) version of your high school sun-in experiment. Use a lemon wedge to “paint” light highlights on your head – try to focus on small sections at the crown of your head and the parts that frame your face. Alternatively, mix two tablespoons of lemon juice in a cup of warm water and apply to your strands as an all-over mask. Then sit outside and let your hair dry in the sun so the heat activates the lemon. Make sure that a nourishing treatment follows, such as Coconut oil mask as the fruit juice can aggravate dry hair. After all, you put citric acid on it!
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How to lighten hair naturally with chamomile tea
If you have super dark hair and want to give it more golden shine and lighten it naturally, rummage through your tea bags and find your favorite chamomile drink. Fill a large mug with boiling water and steep a chamomile tea bag for 10 minutes. Once the tea has cooled, pour it over clean hair and let the strands soak overnight. Rinse and repeat! Chamomile is one of the gentlest essential oils, so you can even use it on color-treated hair without fear of brassy stings. Bonus: This ingredient has anti-dandruff properties.
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How to naturally lighten hair with cinnamon
If you’re concerned about taking charge of your hair color and want to know how to lighten your hair without bleach, trying a cinnamon hair mask is the safest place to start, as the color-changing effects of this spice are very subtle. Mix one teaspoon of cinnamon with enough water to form a paste. Thoroughly apply your favorite conditioner to wet hair and leave on. Apply the cinnamon and water mixture to your straight strands – the conditioner will help the mixture stick. Wrap a shower cap around your strands, then leave the mixture on for at least six hours (ideally overnight). Rinse it off and enjoy a lighter, delicious-smelling mane.
This is both a hair treatment and a cocktail! Mix 1 part vodka with 2 parts seltzer and pour into a spray bottle, then spritz on strands while relaxing in the sun. (I suggest doubling the recipe if you want something strong to slurp.) The clear blues of vodka will cancel out any copper tinge in your strands, while the alcohol (plus the hot sun) will lift the natural pigment in your tresses, which is what is the perfect way to naturally lighten hair. Model Eva Herzigova has sworn by this boozy beauty secret for years.
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How to lighten hair naturally with sea salt
If you’ve ever taken a dip in the ocean or in a saltwater pool in the summer and noticed that your hair looked lighter afterwards, that’s because sea salt is a great hair lightening agent — that is, when paired with the sun becomes. To get the look without access to a large pool of water, mix 1 tablespoon of sea salt with 1/2 cup of warm water and add it to your hair. Then grab a good book and camp out in the sun for at least 20 minutes before rinsing it off.
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How to lighten hair naturally with apple cider vinegar
Want to lighten your hair in an instant? Go to your fridge and look for a bottle of apple cider vinegar. This staple helps lighten your hair when you mix one part apple cider vinegar with six parts water. Simply pour the mixture over your head or apply with a spray bottle and leave on. After about 30 minutes you can rinse them off. You should be able to see a difference in your hair. Repeat as needed.
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How to naturally lighten hair with hydrogen peroxide
You can use hydrogen peroxide to lighten your hair at home if you are in a pinch. Just keep in mind that it can be a bit harsh, so you should exercise caution and do a test strip before committing to your entire head. Once you have done that, you can apply the liquid to the hair strands using cotton balls. Similar to how stylists apply highlights in the salon, you can use foil around the sections during processing. After about 30 minutes, hop in the shower to rinse your hair out and make sure it’s groomed.
