Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Tuesday Beauty Tips!! Lighten Hair Naturally!

I had a request from my good friend Queen over at Relationship Rant to do a post on lighting hair naturally! Here you go Queen!

It is estimated that two out of every five American women color their hair, so there are no shortage of people who can benefit from utilizing more natural methods of hair color.

For Natural Blondes:

Lemon juice is by far the most popular method for lightening hair at home. Beware of commercial lighteners that claim to use lemon juice; they are often strong chemical products in disguise with very little lemon juice inside the bottle. Lemon juice in itself is strongly acidic, so diluting it will keep it from damaging your hair. It should be mixed with at least an equal amount of water, more if your hair is already damaged or if you are concerned with graying.

Olive oil contains lightening agents in addition to its undeniable ability to give hair a certain softness and sheen. It's excellent for counteracting any drying effects lemon juice may have on your hair. Mix a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a cup of water with one tablespoon of pure lemon juice. Massage mixture into damp hair.  You can also use a spray bottle or comb through for more of a highlighting effect.  Lemon juice by itself will not lighten the hair. Lemon juice AND the ultraviolet rays of the sun will lighten your hair.  For best results sit in the sun until hair is dried.  Rinse well; two shampoos may be required to completely remove the olive oil.  You may have to try this method a number of times to achieve the desired result.
 
Use dried marigolds:
Put 1 cup of water, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, and some dried marigold flowers in a pot and bring it to a boil. Strain out the flowers and let the liquid cool completely. Put it into a spray bottle, spritz it on dry hair, massage it into the scalp, and let the hair air-dry. Highlights appear in under an hour.

Another method is to steep five chamomile tea bags in boiling water. When the tea is completely cool, spray it on your hair, comb it through, and sit in the sun for about 30 minutes to bring out natural highlights.

For Natural Redheads:

Follow the same brewed tea method if you’re a redhead, except use cherry or blackberry tea. A can of beet juice mixed with a little water will give redheads highlights, too.

Give dark hair a cup of coffee

If you have brown hair, make a pot of extra-strong coffee. Let it cool completely. Pour the cold coffee into a spray bottle, and spritz it all over your hair. Sit in the sun for about half an hour. This won’t lighten your overall color, but it will brighten your natural highlights.

19 comments:

  1. I have actually tried the lemon juice when I was pregnant. I think it did a decent job. Not what you would get out of a bottle, but it was good enough.

    ReplyDelete
  2. when I graduated from High School my mom decided it was time for me to brighten up my dulling dishwater blonde hair(I was born with blonde hair, and it slowly got darker as I got older...now at 41...it is dark brown!)...anyway...she got me this Sun In stuff...it actually had a fake lemony smell..and I remember it took many days and one sunburn later to finally see any results...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unfortunately I have to pay big bucks now that there is a lot of gray and my hair is naturally very dark. But I have a light-brown haired daughter and she lets me put some lemon juice in her hair when we go to the pool. she is getting some lovely highlights.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I'm going to try the coffee one.

    Thanks for the tips!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heyy! I posted a link to this on my blog! I hope you check it out!!

    http://yourworkistodiscoveryourworld.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the coffee idea....afraid I might find myself randomly sucking on my hair all day, though!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh gosh...why didn't I know about this sooner ! Now I can make my dark gray hair into light gray hair. I have heard light gray haired men have more fun :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Okay, I am totally trying the coffee trick! Thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great advice, but I have to go spend the big bucks to get my wavy, thick, naturally dark with too much gray hair lightened...ugh! And I have to do it every six weeks! Wonder what I could do with all that extra money if I just didn't highlight it anymore? Hmmm....

    Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stopping by from FMBT!I'm your newest follower! You are so beautiful. I can't believe you haven't been a model for your whole life. I am so trying the coffee technique. Never had heard that one before. Hope you can stop by and visit my blog.
    Debi
    http://motherhoodthetruth.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. thanks for sharing all these tips for hair. I have never heard of any of these, may have to try. Have a good day.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi, My son is a natural blond but his hair color is so unusual that everyone asks me if I use products to lighten his hair. I don't. He's only 11 years!!! His natural hair color lightens up with the sun.

    I'm here through FMBT and I grabbed your badge of 40 and over. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Java! First, thanks for the highlighting tip! I am 50% gray with very dark brown/black hair . . . and I've been coloring my roots with light highlights since I don't know when. I do enjoy the look, but hate it when my gal gets carried away and tries to make me a full blond! Arrggghh!

    Secondly, Thanks for allowing me to be a co-host with you. I am currently on vacation in Hawaii, so I'm not sure how to co-host this coming Friday without a recipe post. Do you want me to do this anyway or wait 2 more Fridays for when I return home?

    Thanks so much again! Roz from la bella vita
    ALOHA!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've heard of the lemon juice but was never quite sure how to mix it. Thanks for the tip...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Spray cold coffee on my hair to brighten it? Cool! Won't hurt to see if it works.

    Haupi

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love learning about home remedies. Thanks for sharing. Im a new follower from Tuesday Tag-Along! Love if you'd stop by my website and become a blog friend - http://artpark78.com/blog1

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi, visiting from Trailing Tuesday! I am already a follower, just wanted to say Hi.

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love using the lemon juice trick for highlighting my hair. I bought a bottle of Sun-In a few years back and thought it smelled like lemon juice. So I gave it a try. Wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  19. The provided info on natural Beauty Tips for Hair was very innovative, Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

I love, love, love comments!! Thank you for taking the time and for making my day!! I read every single one and if you ask a question please be sure that I will get back to you as soon as I can!