It’s time to ditch the harsh bleaching kits and learn how to naturally lighten your hair at home… without bleach!
Bleach can cause serious damage to your hair and scalp, and it’s best to avoid it if at all possible.
Luckily, there are several ways to lighten your hair at home without it!
What about henna?
Henna is often used as a natural alternative to hair color, but it doesn’t really work for lightening your hair. It only deposits color and doesn’t provide any lightening effect.
Normally some type of bleach, such as peroxide, is used to lift color from the hair. But this often comes with the risk of hair breakage and scalp damage.
Fortunately, there are a few tricks you can use to naturally lighten hair without bleach and without harsh chemicals.
All the methods below are food-based, totally natural, and actually healthy for your hair!
Important Notes
Before you get started trying to lighten your hair at home, please note the following:
- These natural hair lightening methods will likely only lighten your hair 1-2 shades.
- You will not go from brunette to beach blonde with these methods, especially not within a short amount of time.
- Some methods will cause more lightening effect if used multiple times over several weeks, and some people may be able to lighten by 2-3 shades over time if they do this.
- Keep in mind that even lemon juice can cause damage to your hair if used too often, so always err on the side of caution.
- If your hair is a very deep brown to black color, you may have minimal success with these methods. It’s possible you won’t even notice a difference.
- These methods work best on hair shades medium brown or lighter.
How to Naturally Lighten Hair at Home without Bleach
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is hugely popular as a way to naturally lighten hair, but beware of commercial hair products that claim to use lemon juice–they’re often full of unwanted harsh ingredients (and precious little lemon juice!).
Stick with real lemon juice instead to lighten your hair at home. Bottled or fresh works well, but fresh can be a little pricey (and probably not worth it for hair lightening).
You can naturally lighten hair with lemon juice by mixing one part lemon juice with one part water–this will reduce the acidity of the lemon juice and minimize damage to your hair.
Use this mixture to spritz your hair, or rinse and leave in at the end of a shower.
The longer the lemon juice stays in contact with your hair, the stronger the lightening results will be.
Go out in the sun for 30-60 minutes after spritzing to enhance the lightening effect.
Chamomile
Chamomile is an old-fashioned remedy for lightening hair naturally.
Brew some strong chamomile tea, and rinse through your hair daily (after shampooing) until you see the desired results.
You can also put it in a spray bottle to use for a spritz before you head out in the sun. Chamomile is very gentle on the hair, so this method is safer to use regularly.
Honey
Honey is well known for its nourishing properties for the skin (I love using honey face masks), but it can work wonders for your hair too!
Honey naturally contains traces of hydrogen peroxide that will gently lighten your hair.
Stir a tablespoon or two of raw honey into a cup of water, then apply evenly to your hair. Let this sit for 30-60 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.
Or you can put on a shower cap and leave it on overnight.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is famous as a moisturizer, but it also contains gentle lightening agents.
Coat your hair with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, and leave it to soak in for at least 30 minutes. Shampoo and rinse hair as usual to remove.
Olive oil is moisturizing, so it’s good to use on dry, damaged hair, and can be used safely on a regular basis.
Grab Some Sun
What’s the easiest way to naturally lighten hair without bleach? Go out in the sunshine!
The sun will naturally lighten hair, but it can also enhance the effects of all the above methods.
Use any of these remedies before heading out in the sun, and you’ll notice a big difference!
Note: These methods will work in combination as well. For instance, lemon juice and chamomile can work as a rinse or spritz. Or mix olive oil and honey for a lightening hair mask that nourishes your hair.
Have you tried to naturally lighten your hair at home?
Have you tried any of these ways to naturally lighten hair without bleach? How did they work for you? Have any other tips? Let me know in the comments below!
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