How to Lighten Hair Without Damage: Easy & Cost-Effective Ways

People often consider lightening their hair when the weather warms up. Additionally, it is a great chance to play with different styles. And the fastest way to lighten hair is to use bleach, but it generally comes at a high price.

Since bleaching damages hair, looking for other options that don’t cause much hair damage is obvious. There are natural ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, or camomile tea.

So, if you want to go lighter this summer without using bleach, then you are in the right place. This article, How to lighten hair without damage, will help you with all the details you need to get the color you want without going to the salon and wasting money.

What happens when I lighten my hair?

Changing the color of your hair is a challenging chemical process that takes a lot of skill. Hair bleaching is a chemical dye that makes your hair strands lose color.

To begin, an alkaline chemical is applied to the hair in order to lift the cuticle and expose the cortex. Next oxidizing agent gets into the hair cortices and breaks down the natural melanin, which gives hair its color. The longer you leave this product in your hair, the lighter it gets.

The problem with bleach is that in the process of removing colors from your hair, it also removes the disulfide protein links that hold your hair together. Insufficiency leads to dryness, brittleness, and breakage/split ends in hair.

Can All Hair Be Lightened Naturally?

You can lighten hair naturally. But that depends on what color hair you want. Suppose your hair is dark brown. Then these natural ingredients won’t be able to lift the color.

Lightening that you can do at home will show your hair’s natural colors. And these natural sources of hair lightening are milder and gentler than conventional chemical hair bleaching.

How to lighten hair without damage at home?

Learn how to lighten your hair without bleach and with things you might already have around the house.

Natural oils

Argan oil and coconut oil are two natural oils that can penetrate the hair roots and help restore moisture. In addition, they can repair chemically damaged hair. These oils can be used to create a mask or combed into hair from ends to roots, left on for 20 minutes, and washed out.

Apply olive oil to your hair and comb it before going outside to let it soak up the sun for about an hour. After rinsing off the oil, your hair will be noticeably softer, more hydrated, and lighter in color.

When applying oil to your hair, particularly on the ends, you can boost its effectiveness by mixing in a few drops of lemon juice. Finally, remove any traces of oil by giving it a thorough rinse. Repeat this procedure three times every week until you achieve the desired results.

Honey

Honey’s beneficial effects on our hair come primarily from an enzyme called glucose oxidase. Its role is to prevent sugars from deteriorating and to facilitate their breakdown. But adding water, which could cause the honey to decay, triggers the enzyme to produce very small levels of hydrogen peroxide.

Honey’s whitening effects may not become noticeable until later when used alone. The oxidizing benefits of honey are amplified by the addition of spices like cinnamon and cardamom.

Add your honey mixture to damp hair if you want a jump start. To prevent your hair from becoming wet and to keep it out of the way while you shower, tie it up in a bun and cover it with a shower cap. Depending on how light you want to go and how dark your hair is, you’ll need to coat your hair for anywhere from 1 to 4 hours.

Lemon

There’s a good chance that you have at least one lemon in your refrigerator right now. If you want your hair to look like it has natural highlights, squeeze some lemon juice onto your hair and dry it in the sun.

It is the most effective and least time-consuming method for natural-looking at-home hair lightening. Lemon juice penetrates the hair shaft to oxidize melanin pigments from the inside. It is best to combine water, lemon juice, and a teaspoon of hair oil (or olive oil) in a spray bottle and use it on your hair before venturing outside; give the mixture a good shake and spritz it all over your hair. Lemon juice’s natural bleaching ability is boosted when exposed to sunlight. But this method is only effective on lighter hair colors.

Chamomile

Chamomile tea soothes your body before bed and can also work to lighten strands when combined with honey. One of the numerous pigments in this little flower’s petals is apigenin. Upon application, apigenin produces a golden hue that may adhere to the hair strand.

Brew a pot of camomile tea and drink it slowly. As soon as it reaches a temperature where you can comfortably hold it in your hand, pour it through your hair. Use a spray bottle, and apply it when it has cooled. Wrap your hair up and give it at least an hour to soak in. Wash and condition your hair, or use a hair mask if you’re feeling dryness.

You can use the sun or a blow dryer to activate the bleaching chemical. It’s gentler than other natural products because it’s less forceful.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb contains pectin, which will adhere to your hair if you leave it in there for a long. Prepare two cups of boiling water and add the rhubarb that you have chopped. The juice needs to be strained and then cooled for a short while. You should let this mixture sit in your hair for at least 10 minutes. To finish, give it a thorough cleaning.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C’s citric acid content makes it a powerful hair-lightening agent. You put vitamin C in a spray bottle with some water, smash it up, and then apply it in this manner. It lightens the hair and washes away mineral buildup.

Mask with cinnamon and honey

Try this method if you want to lighten your hair without damaging it. Cinnamon and honey create a magical combination. When you mix honey with cinnamon, the hydrogen peroxide traces in the honey are released. A chemical reaction between this and the glucose oxidase in honey will lighten light brown hair by one to two shades.

Make a mask for your hair that will provide additional moisture by combining one tablespoon of cinnamon, two teaspoons of honey, and one tablespoon of olive oil. Combine all of the ingredients, and then add some conditioner to help it thin out.

Then, after adding the honey and cinnamon, let the mixture remain for half an hour to allow the hydrogen peroxide to begin working. After you have applied the mixture, roll your hair into a bun and cover it with a shower cap. Set the timer for four hours minimum. Let it sit overnight, and then you will see the wonder.

Henna

Henna is not a hair lightener but gives dark hair beautiful highlights. If you have dark hair, red or burgundy henna can give you beautiful highlights. Mix the pack with warm water until it has the consistency.

After that, add to the hair. Leave it for four to six hours with a shower cap on it. Henna is great for the hair and hair follicles because it makes them soft and strong.

Apple cider vinegar

A natural and effective way to lighten your hair is to use apple cider vinegar. Regardless of hair’s natural texture, apple cider vinegar can help keep it at a neutral pH level. Applying this treatment will result in noticeable lightening of your hair color by at least one shade. It is a mild method of strand lightening, so you may need to repeat the process several times to see the effects. In addition, it cleans the scalp and hair by getting rid of oil and other deposits.

You may do this as often as twice a week without worrying about drying out or harming your hair because apple cider vinegar is far more benign than lemon juice reacting to direct sunlight. Put the mixture on your head, let it sit for 30-35 minutes, and then wash it off.

Wrong Ways to Lighten Your Hair at Home. Even if they are effective at lightening hair, there are some ingredients at home that you should not use because they are far too harmful to the hair.

Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda

Baking soda lightens hair but can be even more damaging than traditional hair bleach. It raises the cuticle of the hair due to the high alkaline content that it contains. The hair cuticle is just sitting there, ready to be torn off, so combing causes mechanical damage.

Baking soda leaves the cuticle open, allowing water to penetrate the hair, leading to fatigue if you continue to wash it. Eventually, it becomes so mushy and damaged that only growing new hair can fix the problem.

Salty water and salt

If you like beach trips, you may have noticed how salt water lightens your hair after a swim. The hair cuticles are lifted by salt. After that, the sun can bleach the melanin inside the hair shaft. To get lighter hair, you have to sit in the sun more than once with salt water in your hair.

But there are several problems with this process. First, people at the beach say their new blonde hair is dehydrated and brittle. Second, salt has sharp crystals. When these crystals get stuck between the hair shaft and the cuticle, they do a lot of damage. They also damage the hair cuticle by rubbing against it.

Hydrogen peroxide

When it comes to lightening your hair, the bleaching power of hydrogen peroxide is very comparable to that of hair bleach. Straight from the bottle, it performs exceptionally well. Many brands of hydrogen peroxide-based blonde hair colors are now on the market.

However, it is corrosive to the cuticle layer of the hair. It is a chemical, so avoiding your hair as much as possible is better.

White vinegar

You are welcome to use apple cider vinegar, but you should keep clear of white vinegar. It is far too drying for the hair, and after you’ve done it, you’ll probably have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to get the moisture back into your hair.

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Safety measures

Before using any natural lightener on your hair, conduct a strand test to see whether or not your hair is sensitive to the product and whether or not you like the resulting shade. Check it on your hair. Such as:

• Use a small amount of the lightener you want to use on a section of hair.
• Don’t rinse the bleach out of your hair before the time.
• Then, remove it with water and check whether or not your skin has a reaction.
• Also, look at how light or dark the results are to see if you like them.

Remember that bleach and other chemicals can harm your hair but that many common household items and methods can also temporarily dry out or alter the quality of your hair. To prevent your hair from drying out and make it more manageable, use a deep conditioner.

Many of these tips for highlighting say to sit outside for a long time to get the sun’s bleaching effect. Make sure you wear good sunscreen to protect your skin.

How to take care to lighten hair?

Whether you lighten your hair with a natural lightener like lemon juice or a chemical lightening solution containing bleach and peroxide, your hair will require additional care and attention. Below are some of the tips that you can do to take care of your hair

Wash hair less

Reduce the number of times you wash your hair each week as the first and easiest step towards maintaining the health of your bleached hair. Invest in a quality shower cap to ensure that your hair stays dry while you’re under the water.

You do not need to refrain from washing for an extended period; instead, you should reduce the frequency with which you do so. Since freshly lightened hair is extremely dry hair, it is not going to appear to have an excessive amount of dirt in it.

Buy a microfiber towel and a silk pillowcase

The benefits of using silk pillowcases and microfiber bath towels are real. They protect the strands of hair from being pulled, broken, or stretched without reason, particularly in the area around the hairline. Their materials are exceptionally gentle and absorbent, so they don’t cause additional frizz or damage to the hair while preserving its natural texture.

Use a mask and hair oils on your hair

For thousands of years, women in warmer areas have used natural oils to keep their hair healthy and shiny. These oils help repair and restructure hair fibers thanks to the essential formulations used in their production.

After each lightening treatment, you must give your hair moisture and hydration. Therefore, massage it with oils that can deeply penetrate the skin and repair the damage from the inside out.

Use purple shampoo

Use a shampoo with purple pigments to eliminate brassy tones and bring out the blonde in your hair. But you should wait at least two weeks after lightening your hair before using one of these products again. After that, you can use it once in the time between the washings of a few items.

In addition, if the ends of your hair are already shiny, you should only apply shampoo to the roots. Mixing it with your regular shampoo is all you need to do if you want to use it on your highlights.

You should not use purple shampoo if your hair appears extremely dry and damaged.

Hair conditioner

Change the conditioner you use on your lightened hair to one that does not contain sulfates, has a high protein content, and moisturizes your hair. You should use conditioners high in protein to re-nourish and protect the integrity of your hair.

You can use hair conditioning treatments that you can make at home. Spending hundreds of dollars on a visit to your hairstylist to get conditioning treatments for your hair is unnecessary. You can purchase some products of excellent quality that will help restore strength and repair bleached hair, and some of them will even help you keep your hair’s color.

Things not to do in lightening hair

When you bleach your hair to achieve the most up-to-date hair colors and styles, your hair goes through a significant amount of stress, and the sooner you take steps to repair the damage, the better. When you lighten your hair, don’t do the following:

Don’t use hot styling tools

Your hair will become more fragile after you light it, and any styling technique that involves a hot tool, such as a blow dryer, straightening iron, or curling wand, will damage it further. The wisest course of action is to abstain from using styling tools for at least three to four weeks.

Avoid using harsh hair products

When you light your hair, whether it is a chemical or natural thing, it needs gentle care, not harsh shampoos that can take away the moisture

Switch to herbal shampoos and conditioners that clean your hair. You can also make hair masks at home that clean the hair without taking away its natural oils

Don’t forget to use conditioners and oils

You must not, under any circumstances, neglect to apply conditioners to your bleached hair, regardless of how busy you may be. Conditioners replenish the moisture stripped from your hair and assist in restoring it to its previous healthy state.

If you want your hair to have more shine and moisture, you might want to think about getting an oil massage. Next, give your hair a thorough cleansing with a shampoo and then condition it.

FAQ

Conclusion

Bleaching hair seems to be a trend that won’t go away. However, hair damages quickly by the chemical solutions during bleaching. Many people, then, choose to bleach their hair at home with mild, all-natural products rather than risk that.

If you’re seeking a gentler way to lighten your hair, read this article on lightening hair without damage. We have discussed which is preferable, bleach or commercial treatments. You can use these methods to lighten your hair a few shades safely. The result may not be as noticeable as chemical processes, but it may be healthier for your hair.

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