Lightening Hair for Summer

As one of those people who had very blonde hair as a child, which darkened with age, I well know what it's like to want to have lighter, blonder hair. The sun can bleach blonde hair, making it lighter, but there is always a temptation to try something to accelerate and enhance this process. However, if you want to grow long hair, you need to always be aware of looking after it and not causing unnecessary damage, so how can blonde and light brown hair be lightened without damaging it?

Lemon juice
Lemon juice is one of the most popular and well-known methods of lightening blonde hair, and it does work. However, the acidity of lemon juice is very damaging to hair, and those who have used lemon juice often complain that their hair is now 'straw-like' and vow never again. The acid of the lemon juice weakens the proteins in hair, causing long-lasting damage that is hard to repair. Lemon juice is best avoided if you wish to maintain healthy, long hair.

Sun-in and temporary hair dyes
First, temporary hair dyes work by depositing a layer of color on hair, and cannot lighten it. The only way to lighten hair with chemical dyes is to strip the natural color. This is permanent and will also damage hair to some degree. Sun-in is a form of bleaching, and will cause damage.

Honey
Honey is not a well-known method of lightening hair, but it is one which definitely works. Not only does it work, but trials by many of the long-haired at the Long Hair Community have recorded no cases of damage to the hair. Honey may leave a slight residue if not washed out properly, but even if this happens, washing again or using a vinegar rinse produces healthy, lighter hair. The current recommendations from the Long Hair Community's honey thread and honey guru ktani, are to use a 4:1 dilution of honey to water by weight. This means mixing 1/8th cup honey with 3/4 cup distilled water, for example. This should be applied to dry hair and left for about an hour, covered with saran wrap to keep it moist. It should then be shampooed out. Any honey should work, but darker honeys, and Jarrah honey in particular, have been found to work best. If it doesn't work, try a different honey. Honey works by producing peroxide, but other honey components are believed to protect the hair from damage. The effects of honey will obviously be more gradual than a chemical dye, but the pay-off is healthy hair. For more information, see the Long Hair Community's honey thread and current honey recommendations in full. If you like, a little extra virgin olive oil can be added (up to a tablespoon), as this boosts the effects. Too much will not be damaging, but will leave an oily residue. Honey lightening has also been reported to work on henna'ed hair.

Cinnamon
Another natural method of hair lightening discovered at the Long Hair Community is the use of cinnamon. Cinnamon generates a weak peroxide, and again, no cases of damaged hair have been reported. Cinnamon is a much weaker bleaching agent that those in chemical products, which much reduces its damaging effects. Cinnamon can be added to a honey lightening receipe, but caution should be exercised as cinnamon is a skin irritant. Patch test your mixture first and avoid it coming into contact with your skin.

If you'd like to lighten your hair this summer, we hope that this was useful in enabling you to make an informed choice about which method to use!

Washing long hair

Given how slowly hair grows, the ends of long hair are years old, and will inevitably accumulate some damage. Long hair therefore needs special care to protect it and prevent further damage. If you have short hair, damage is constantly trimmed away, so health of the hair is not so much of a concern. Although a simple regimen of shampoo and conditioner may work well, many with long hair find that their hair really benefits from something different.

Long hair often benefits from dilution of shampoo. The detergents in most shampoos do do some damage to hair, so dilution makes the shampoo much more gentle on your hair. There are also concerns about the effect of certain chemicals on the body, for example some may contribute to cancer, so decreasing your exposure is good. Try diluting your shampoo with a little water - it'll still lather, and you'll probably find that your hair actually looks better for it. I have also found that diluting shampoo with honey gives good results. Honey dissolves in water, so it's not hard to wash out of hair. It is a humectant, holding water, so helps keep your hair hydrated. A 50:50 shampoo:honey dilution makes my hair soft and shiny, with more 'body'.

Everyone's hair reacts to different regimens differently, and when trying something different, a short period of adjustment is generally required, so try to commit to at least a couple of weeks trying something different before you decide if it's for you or not. Remember, you can always mix and match the different methods once you learn about how your hair reacts - for example, you could do conditioner only with the odd shampooing if that's what suits your hair.

Condition, wash, condition
This is fairly similar to the familiar shampoo and condition, but pays more attention to conditioning the ends of the hair. First, apply conditioner to the lengths of your hair, from your ears down. Then apply a little shampoo to your head, and wash from your ears up. This hair is really the main part of your hair which gets 'dirty' and oily, and the conditioner should be sufficient to cleanse the ends. The surfactants in shampoo do damage hair, so it's better to keep it away from the ends of your hair, which are important to protect as they will have more years of accumulated damage. Gently massage your head with the shampoo and rinse. Finally, apply conditioner to all your hair. This method should help protect your delicate ends much more than simply shampoo-conditioner only.

Conditioner only
This method uses only conditioner. Most conditioners contain mild detergents so they can be easily rinsed out, and these are generally enough to clean your hair too. Apply a generous amount of conditioner to your wet hair as soon as you get in the shower, then leave it on your hair for a few minutes while you get on with whatever else you need to do in the shower. When you are otherwise ready to get out of the shower, rinse out the conditioner. You may need to experiment with different conditioners to see which suits your hair. Blondes may find that conditioner only makes hair darker, so regular shampooings may be necessary.

Help, my hair hates conditioner!
Sometimes, conditioner just seems to make hair lank and dull. This could be because it is the wrong conditioner for your hair, so experiment with different ones before ruling conditioner out (we'll be writing soon about ingredients in shampoo and conditioner). However, some people find that their hair just does not like conditioner. If you decide to just use shampoo on your hair, try to dilute it, as described above, as preventing damage is even more important if a conditioner is not used. A quick, simple way to condition hair without conditioner is to use a honey rinse. Dissolve a little honey (try half a teaspoon initially) in a cup of water, pour over your hair and leave it on. You'll probably need to experiment with the concentration of honey (too much will make your hair 'crunchy' - just shampoo again and it will be removed), but it should make your hair soft and shiny. We'll be writing more about other, natural conditioning methods soon.