How to Lighten Dark & Brown Hair without Bleach-No Damage, Naturally at Home | Hair Mag (2024)

FAQs

How can I lighten my dark brown hair without damaging it? ›

To try out this method while mitigating the risk of damage, combine one cup of baking soda with no more than three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Mix it up and apply the paste to your hair, letting the mask sit 30 minutes for lighter hair and 45 minutes for darker.

Natural bleaching agents like apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, chamomile tea, or cinnamon and honey can lighten hair gently and naturally with minimal damage. Rinse your hair in a solution of warm water and one or more of these lightening agents, then sit in the sun to dry.

Create a lightening solution with apple cider vinegar.

Mix ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water. Shampoo and condition your hair as your normally would, then apply the apple cider vinegar mixture to your hair. Leave the mixture on your hair for about 20 minutes, then rinse with water.

Baking soda can also lighten hair that isn't dyed, but not when it's used by itself. To lighten nondyed hair, you have to use baking soda as a base with hydrogen peroxide. This is a bleaching agent that lightens hair.

Can lemon juice damage hair? Fresh lemon juice will not dry out or damage your hair. However, prolonged exposure to the sun can damage your hair's outer sheath, called the cuticle. For this reason, you'll want to limit the amount of time you spend in the sun after applying lemon juice to your hair.

Apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar is an easy and cheap option for lightening your hair. Rinse your hair in vinegar and then rinse it again in cold water to lift color and revitalize dull strands.

Lemon juice provides a safe, natural, cost effective way to lighten your hair color. While lemon juice is more gentle than some hair dyes and hair bleach, it's still acidic. This means there's a risk of the juice drying out your hair and scalp.

Along with gently removing product buildup and excess oil from your scalp, ACV can also help lighten your hair (especially if your natural highlights are on the warmer side). Fill a spray bottle with equal parts ACV and water, let it sit on your hair for a few minutes, and then rinse it out.

If you leave toothpaste on any of your hair for a significant length of time, the toothpaste will draw moisture out of your hair strand, leaving it dry and prone to breakage. It may also damage the hair follicle if applied to your skin or scalp.

How do you make homemade hair lightener? ›

A mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda is an effective DIY lightening method. While you actually use hair bleach here, you only need one teaspoon of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and mix it with two teaspoons of aluminum-free baking soda.

Cinnamon alone may lighten hair. You'll find this ingredient added to various other DIY hair “bleaching” recipes, but you may try using this ingredient on its own to achieve highlights and overall lightening.

To use vitamin C to remove hair dye, you can try mixing a cup 1/2 of vitamin C tablets with a clarifying shampoo. Leave it on for 30 to 60 minutes, rinse out, and follow with a hydrating conditioner.

Apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar are easy and cheap options for lightening your hair. Rinse your hair in vinegar and then rinse it again in cold water to lift color and revitalize dull strands. Top with a gloss or conditioner to seal in moisture—this is crucial if you've had a bleach mishap before.

Vinegar and Water:

Use equal parts of white vinegar with warm water. Apply this mixture on to hair and leave it there for 10 minutes. The natural vinegar will also help clear product buildup from your scalp. The acidic content will work on the hair dye and bring your hair back to its original state.

Bath salts which contain sodium bicarbonate and Epsom salts are of great help to remove unwanted hair color easily. Add a certain amount of bath salts to the water and soak your hair in that water for around 15-20 minutes.

The easiest way to use baking soda on your hair is to mix it with water until it forms a paste. Apply it to your scalp and down the length of your wet hair. You can let it sit anywhere from one to three minutes and then rinse clean.

It's possible—but it certainly won't be done well. Even though applying a toothpaste that contains hydrogen peroxide to your strands may result in lighter hair, this procedure offers unpredictable results and can cause hair damage. Also, think of the globby mess!

People can also make a hair mask with lemon and honey. To make and apply a lemon and honey hair mask, a person can: Mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with 3 tablespoons of honey. Apply the mixture to the scalp and leave it on for 20 minutes.

The citric acid in lemon is a mild bleaching agent.

When applied, it oxidizes the melanin in your hair and lightens your natural hair color. However, it may not work effectively for those with dark hair, while those with light brown and blonde hair can certainly bank on lemon juice to get those sun-kissed highlights.

Does lime juice make your hair lighter? ›

3. Natural Hair Lightener. Yes, citrus can lighten your hair and yes, you will need to have at least light brown hair naturally to see a noticeable difference. Limes, just like lemons, have natural lightening properties when applied directly on your strands.

“ACV is too acidic and will damage your hair.” This is technically true- if you use undiluted apple cider vinegar. Pure ACV is extremely acidic and will definitely start degrading your hair, and we don't recommend using diluted ACV more often than once a week.

Apple cider vinegar to lighten hair

Let it sit for at least 30 minutes before washing it out. You may have to repeat a few times until you see results.

Vinegar can make a great hair rinse, bringing out the natural shine. It does not strip permanent hair coloring but can change the shade, so it is best avoided by people who dye their hair.

Lemon is a cheap and effective answer to your oily hair worries. The astringent and toning effect of lemon balances your scalp's natural oil production and remove any excess oil which may be causing your hair to feel heavy. Lemon juice also works to restore scalp pH balance and adds body and sheen to your hair.

Combine a fourth cup of strong chamomile tea with one fourth cup apple cider vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Spray the mixture to saturate your hair, let dry, and leave in overnight. This hack can also be used in the sun to increase its lightening effects.

Sometimes you end up with dye on your skin or the color in your hair is not what you expected. No worries: you may be able to remove hair color with lemon juice and baking soda. Lemon juice lightens the hair and removes built-up product, and baking soda acts as a mild scouring agent.

It's best to dilute the ACV when using and then thoroughly rinse out the mixture. But please be careful with this mixture because as we mentioned earlier, ACV is a very powerful ingredient and can damage the scalp when not used with care. ACV is very acidic and when used too often, or too heavily can damage the hair.

However, when used alone it can fade color and make the hair feel dry and look dull, making following up with a good conditioner or treatment necessary," explains Friese. On the other hand, ACV is meant to remove buildup, seal in hair color, and enhance shine.

How long does it take for hydrogen peroxide to lighten hair? Leave the hydrogen peroxide in your hair for about 30 minutes. Depending on how dark your hair is, how light you want it, and how much irritation the chemical may cause, you'll want to experiment and play around with it.

Can toothpaste and baking soda lighten hair? ›

However, there is no evidence to support the claims that toothpaste can act as a hair-lightening agent. Applying toothpaste to the hair may dry your strands due to baking soda and other ingredients.

DYING MY HAIR WITH TOOTH PASTE *& Removing Hair Color w

Although toothpaste contains ingredients that keep the mouth clean and prevent dental disease, it does not follow that it will benefit the skin in the same way. The chemicals in toothpaste can irritate the skin, causing dryness that can stimulate the oil glands in the face.

In terms of timing, Monahan says that it typically takes three to four applications for noticeable lightening from lemon juice. While that may not seem like much, keep in mind that the more you expose your hair to citric acid, the more you're deteriorating it over time.

Summertime can naturally lighten the hair thanks to increased UV exposure. Swimming in the sea can also lighten the hair, however salt sprays alone will not produce a lightening effect on the hair, meaning that they can be used by anyone with any hair colour.

Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda can lighten your hair 1-2 shades in 1 treatment. When used in small amounts, 3% hydrogen peroxide and baking soda shouldn't damage your hair. However, your hair may show signs of damage if it's already been dyed or treated with chemicals, or if your hair is naturally dry.

Honey has an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide, This lightens your hair by breaking down the natural pigment, much like bleach.

If you apply blonde hair dye on dark hair, you will never reach a blond hair colour. You will however damage your hair from the chemicals in hair dye and risk ending up with dry, brassy, straw-like hair. If you have dark hair and you want to go blonde, you'll have to bleach it.

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Can you lift dark hair without bleach? ›

Is It Actually Possible to Lighten Hair Without Bleach? "Yes, you can use color to get lift," says celebrity colorist and Matrix brand ambassador, Rachel Bodt. "The biggest question/issue is if you have previous color in your hair, which can change how much lift you get out of it."

Light brown, red, dark red, blue, magenta, purple, and even lighter colors, like blonde, are possible without bleach. Just because you're not using bleach, it doesn't mean that you can't achieve your desired shade. What is this?

To dye your hair from brown to blonde without bleach, start by mixing 2 parts lemon juice with 1 part water in a spray bottle. Lemon juice has natural bleaching properties that can help lighten your hair. When you've mixed the solution, spray it all over your hair and use a comb to spread it evenly.

Baking soda has a pH of 9, which is far higher than that of the scalp. Using a product with such a high pH may harm the hair. Over time, baking soda can strip the natural oil from the hair, lead to breakage, and make the hair fragile.

To try out this method while mitigating the risk of damage, combine one cup of baking soda with no more than three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. Mix it up and apply the paste to your hair, letting the mask sit 30 minutes for lighter hair and 45 minutes for darker.

Dawn dish soap also acts as a mild bleach and can, therefore, be used to remove or lighten hair dye on your hair.

You can lighten your dark brown hair with natural ingredients such as green tea, honey, cinnamon, henna, or coffee. You can opt for a lighter brunette shade or go for funkier shades like purple or blue to change up your look.

Garnier Nutrisse Ultra Color B3, Café con Leche, is a high lift shade with ultra reflective warm tones designed to lighten dark hair up to 3 levels with out any bleach. Is This Shade Right For Me? B3 is best for anyone with natural hair between medium brown and black.

Balayage, a diffuse bleaching technique, is done by hand with a brush or a sponge. Lightening occurs along the length of the hair and over a number of extremely fine strands, which then blend into the hair as if they were lightened naturally by the sun.

A blue shampoo will neutralize orange tones. For hair that has been bleached blonde, use a specifically purple shampoo, and for hair that has been bleached to a lighter brown, use a blue-tinted purple shampoo. Purple shampoos work by balancing out yellow tones, since purple and yellow are opposite on the color wheel.

How do I go from dark brown to light brown? ›

If your current hair color is a medium or dark brown and you haven't dyed it in the past, you can use a light brown hair dye to achieve the color that you want. This is achieved by mixing the hair dye with 20 vol or 30 vol peroxide, which will give you lightening as well as deposit the new color.

"Color will not remove color, meaning you cannot just put a brown color on top of [dyed] black and it will magically turn brown," Lee explains. "You have to use a color remover or lightener first to remove the black then layer on top of a brown color."

You'll need to be in the salon every 4-6 weeks as you begin the journey. Never trust a colorist who claims they can take your hair from very dark to light in just one session! Do it right, plan ahead, and have a consultation at the salon to let them know your desires to go from dark to light.

Apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar are easy and cheap options for lightening your hair. Rinse your hair in vinegar and then rinse it again in cold water to lift color and revitalize dull strands. Top with a gloss or conditioner to seal in moisture—this is crucial if you've had a bleach mishap before.

The first option for coloring dark hair without bleach is to use temporary hair color that's made to work with a dark base color. These hair dyes are specifically formulated to be vibrant and true without having to lighten your dark strands prior. They're also super convenient for experimenting since they wash out.

You can dye your black hair any color without bleach. Light brown, red, dark red, blue, magenta, purple, and even lighter colors, like blonde, are possible without bleach. Just because you're not using bleach, it doesn't mean that you can't achieve your desired shade.

Lightening your hair more than three shades requires higher volumes of peroxide, which can cause more hair damage. This also means you might not be able to dye it as light as you'd like in one application. You should wait at least 14 days between bleaching sessions.

Unfortunately, these colour pigments cannot be lightened or changed, despite common belief, by simply popping another colour on your hair. So if you want to go blonde from brown you will need to use a 'bleach' to do so.

Hydrogen peroxide and ammonia are the most commonly used bleaching agents. They are often mixed together, because when used separately, they are unstable and very slow in lightening the hair.

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What would happen if I put blonde hair dye on brown hair? ›

If you apply blonde hair dye on dark hair, you will never reach a blond hair colour. You will however damage your hair from the chemicals in hair dye and risk ending up with dry, brassy, straw-like hair. If you have dark hair and you want to go blonde, you'll have to bleach it.