1. Rhubarb Rinse
This amazing plant from the ancient times has got a root that can work wonders as a lightening agent for light brown and blond tresses. The reason behind the same is the presence of oxalic acid in the root that works as a fixative and makes the rhubarb rinse last really long. The root contains emodin and chrysophanic acid, which are natural dyes binding to keratin in your locks.
All you have to get from the health stores is some chopped and dried rhubarb root. You can even get the root right from your garden if you grow the same, followed by scrubbing and dicing it. Take a stainless steel pot and begin by simmering 3-4 tablespoons of the dried root in a quart of water. Let the mixture steep overnight, followed by straining it using a sieve in the morning.
To make sure you like the color, test the dye on a strand of hair, and then rinse your hair with the mixture once you have washed them with a shampoo. You can pour it several times to get the desired color, and finally rinse your hair with water. Dry your hair in the sun to make the color come out gracefully. You will achieve a soft, golden color, while experiencing a lovely conditioning effect on your tresses.
2. Chamomile Tea
There’s something special about chamomile which makes it so widely used round the world for centuries. Not only does chamomile tea treats dandruff troubles, but also helps your hair grow quicker and shinier with a golden element to them. Those with blonde hair will experience a unique radiance and brightness to their hair after treating them with chamomile, while brown hair will turn 2- 3 shades lighter. You can either go for a chamomile rinse or apply it as a hair mask.
To go for a chamomile rinse, you need to take 2-3 cups of water and add about 4 chamomile tea bags to the same once you boil the water. Let the solution cool and remove the tea bags. Wash your hair with a shampoo and apply conditioner as you always do, followed by rinsing your hair with the cooled tea solution. Allow your hair to dry while leaving the mixture in them.
If you want to apply chamomile hair mask, take 6 chamomile tea bags, half cup of yogurt and 2 tablespoons of grape juice. Dip the tea bags in a cup of boiled water, allow it to cool and remove the bags. Mix yogurt and grape juice to the solution, followed by washing your hair with a shampoo and conditioner. Once your hair get dry, apply the tea mask from root to the tip, emphasizing on the dry sections of your scalp. Cover your head for 15-20 minutes with a shower cap, and then rinse them using lukewarm water and a bit of shampoo. Lastly, wash them with cold water. Repeat the process twice a week to achieve your desired hair tone.
3. Baking Soda
There’s no doubt that baking soda has got some amazing uses in the daily life, but did you know that this kitchen staple also helps to lighten your hair naturally? Plus, it also gets your locks rid of all harmful chemicals and toxins.
Add enough water to a teaspoon of baking soda to make a paste in a bowl. Make sure the mixture is not too thick or too dilute to let it cover the hair properly. Massage the blend onto your scalp and throughout the hair, further letting it stay for 15-20 minutes. You can also apply the mixture on strips of hair, covering them with foil paper if you are looking to get highlights. Finally, wash off your hair with cold water.
Combining baking soda with a shampoo yields a hair-lightening shampoo which can help you accelerate the lightning process if applied daily. All you need to do is mix equal amounts of the two right when you are ready to wash your hair. Wet them and apply the mixture on your hair, letting it sit for a few minutes under running warm water. Rinse the mixture thoroughly.
The treatment may leave your hair a little dry, so apply a good conditioner once you are done with the washing. Baking soda shampoo lightens your hair gradually, and create soft highlights instead of a strong color. Once you get the color you want, use the mixture only once a week to work on the roots.
4. Salt Spray
You must have witnessed those lovely tresses of the surfers going from darker shades to light tones, and even ending up in a bright blonde. What causes this marvelous effect is the action of the sea salt and sun on their hair, making it oh so charming. But, you can get that done at home almost effortlessly.
All you need to do is spray warm salt water on your hair. But, you must make sure to use some coconut oil or regular oil on your hair to lighten them without getting them all dry as salt steals away the moisture from the hair.
Add some salt in hot water and stir the solution, followed by letting it cool down a little. Shampoo your hair and let them dry, further pouring in the salt solution covering the hair thoroughly. Towel dry the tresses and make sure you don’t rinse them. If you have thick or curly hair, rub a tablespoon oil in your hands and cover your hair with the same. Finally, bask in the sun to achieve a lighter color.
The hair that take little time to get all dry and get a lot of exposure are likely to bleach out the maximum. Once they are dry, wet your hair again using the salt water solution. When you get the highlights that you want, you can stop doing the same, and finally, condition your hair.
5. Olive Oil
Most of us are well aware of the fact that olive oil is a miraculous hair conditioner, but what’s less known is that it is an equally wonderful lightening agent as well. It flaunts great moisturizing properties that make it worthy enough of getting a spot in your bathroom to let your hair get stronger and healthier.
Take a good amount of olive oil and comb it through your hair, further heading outside to let them stay in the sun for about an hour. Wash out the oil, and you will find your hair much more moisturized and of course, naturally lighter in color. To make it work even better, you can add a little lemon juice to the oil before combing it to your hair. Repeat thrice every week until you see the highlights you wish for.
Another method is to mix one-fourth cup of honey and the same amount of olive oil together and warm the same for a few minutes. Apply in the sections where you want the highlights and let it stay for about an hour. Five minutes earlier to washing your hair, apply it throughout the hair and focusing on the ends. Finally, wash out the oil thoroughly.
You will be happy to know that olive oil will also help you manage brittle ends or frizzy hair just like a piece of cake, making them really soft and shinier.
6. Lemon Juice
Here comes the most popular and simply method to lighten your hair, lemon juice, which is perfect for blonde tresses as well as darker hair – all credits to the presence of citric acid. But, this method must only be used when you are planning to spend the whole day outdoors. The sun will help to bleach your strands by opening the cuticles and allowing the lemon juice to lift their color.
Add a cup of lemon juice and about one-fourth cup of warm water and mix them well. Spray the mixture onto your hair, while making sure that you add ample amounts of the same around the roots. Stay in the sunlight for a good deal of time to allow citric acid to lighten your hair naturally. Until you achieve the desired results, you must reapply the mixture and bask in the sun once per hour. However, you should not stay in the sunlight for more than a half and hour in one go to avoid overexposing your hair.
Wash out after you are done in the sunlight, or you can also leave the lemon juice in your hair overnight. The juice will lead to some dryness, so make sure you moisturize and condition your tresses before and after the process. What’s great about lemon juice is that it lightens dark blond or light brown hair without leaving any reddish tones.
7. Raw Honey
Honey is one awesome natural hair dry that not only lightens your hair beautifully, bu also saves a great deal of dollars you would otherwise spend on artificial treatments. Raw honey contains glucose oxidase, which results in the production of hydrogen peroxide that works as a great bleaching agent for your lovely locks.
To try the remedy at home, what you need to gather is some honey that’s rich in hydrogen peroxide, along with some distilled water. combine water and honey in a bowl in 1 to 4 ratio. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for about an hour. Take an applicator bottle, fill it with the mixture, and apply it all over your wet tresses. You can also brush it over selective sections for highlights using a hard makeup brush.
It is quite significant to keep your hair wet all the time when you have applied honey to them in order to keep the bleaching action of hydrogen peroxide going. It is advised to use a shower cap for the same, and wait for an hour to let the honey do all the magic. Rinse the mixture out using some conditioner, and voila ! It’s all about you and your gorgeous locks.
8. Cinnamon
Another all natural hair lightening mask loved by beauty experts is cinnamon that changes your hair color with a great element of minimalism, while keeping things totally safe. And yes, it has got an amazing fragrance to it as well. Being natural sunscreen, it will not only make your hair silky and soft, but will also protect them from the harmful effects of the sun rays.
Add some cinnamon powder to about half cup of conditioner, making a thick paste of the two ingredients. Take a wide toothed comb and apply the mix onto your tresses, followed by twisting your hair into a nice bun. You can leave it on for about 3-4 hours before rinsing, or can even put on a shower cap and let it sit for the whole night. The longer you leave it, the better the results. Finally, wash the solution from your hair.
A key point to note here is that cinnamon doesn’t showcase very drastic results in the very first application, and you must be willing to be a little patient while going for cinnamon to lighten your hair. However, it will surely lighten them up to 2 tones with gradual application, ending up in some spectacular results and super smooth hair.
9. Vitamin C
Vitamin C sports a lovely softening effect on your hair as well as can lighten your hair for quite a long time. It opens the hair cuticles to bring the effect to life, and works great when used in the form of a solution. Additionally, it can speed up the lightening effect of the sun on your tresses.
You can find Vitamin C tablets easily available at most health stores, that too at a very budget-friendly price. What you need to do is place about 15-20 tablets in a Ziploc bag and use something heavy yet sturdy enough to transform the tablets into a fine powder. Mix the powder with a good amount of shampoo in a bowl (for medium length, it is advised to use about one-fourth cop of shampoo). Apply the paste onto your tresses using an applicator brush or your hands. Make a bun and cover your head with a shower cap, leaving the paste in your hair for about 2 hours before finally rinsing and conditioning it well.
While you wash your hair, you will be actually able to see the color going down the drain. What happens is that the paste opens your cuticle layer and the action of the shampoo washes away maximum of the color molecules accumulated into the hair shaft. Isn’t it quite an interesting thing to hear about, let alone actually experiencing it !
10. Henna
If you are looking for getting oh so thick, long and shiny hair, you would love the effect that henna can have on your tresses. The ingredient can be readily found in the stores, but you must make sure you are buying natural henna to get reliable and safe results. Simply grab some powdered henna and get going towards the process.
It showcases stunning end results when applied in coordination with some yogurt. So you begin by mixing the powder henna with yogurt to achieve a good consistency, followed by letting it sit overnight. In the morning, separate your hair into thinner sections using plastic gloves and clip away the top section of those divisions. Apply the henna and yogurt blend advancing towards the bottom area from the top. Make sure you wipe off the mix if it gets on your forehead to avoid any staining of the skin. After the application, wrap a piece of cloth around your head, covering all the hair. Leave the mixture on for about an hour before rinsing it out thoroughly. If you wish for a stronger color, you can always apply it again and leave it a little longer before washing your hair with some water, followed by applying a good shampoo for color treated tresses.
You must not use henna that has got chemicals in it or is black in color. Before applying it to all your hair, you can test its action on a small section and determine the time for which you should leave it in your tresses for getting your choice of color.
It’s surely no less than a miracle to achieve gorgeous natural highlights without exposing your hair to harsh chemicals, while cutting on some extra hair-treatments costs at the same time. And, when getting pretty tresses has been made such a surprisingly easy to achieve task with the aforesaid remedies to lighten your hair naturally, why wait to get the color of your dreams ?
