Lighten Your Hair Instead of Dyeing

The old standbys like lemon juice and chamomile tea can lighten your natural color but won't turn your brown hair to blond. It takes time, but they will lighten it. You can use straight lemon juice or dilute it with one part water to three parts juice, or steep one part teat to two parts water for at least 20 minutes. You can put it in a spray bottle, and spritz it onto dry hair in the mornings and let the sunlight speed up the process. Results can take a few days or even weeks, but you have to be patient and persistent. Your lighter shad will last until your hair starts to grow out.

Lightening your hair significantly takes chemicals that strip the pigment so you may want to consider highlights instead of dyeing your hair completely. Less dye will come into contact with your scalp, besides, the chemicals can cause irritation and even leech into your bloodstream and create more complications for you.

There was a study done that found women who regularly use hair dye have twice the risk of bladder cancer.

If you like your red hair, then you’re in luck because Henna, a tropical plant and the only 100% natural hair dye available, will give you a bold auburn or reddish-brown color. But be aware that there are other products that claim to promise other hues, they’re not for real. Any other color of henna has been modified with metallic salts which coat and damage your hair. If you do use henna made from the metallic salts, then be aware that it can mix with the ammonia of of other dyes and it’ll give you an array of unwanted colors, like seaweed green. So if you want blond hair then Henna isn’t what you want, but if you want to WOW up your dark hair then it’s just what the doctor ordered.

If you’re looking for something to cover the gray that’s popped up, then you may have quite a challenge. First of all, gray hair has no natural melanin, and a heavy saturation of dye is needed to make the color look as natural as it possibly can. Second, there are some stylist who say that gray hairs’ cuticles are tougher or more “slippery” than those of brown, blond, or red hairs, so dye doesn’t stick to the shafts of gray hair as well.

If your not sure about quitting the dye and letting your roots show or your natural color is darker or grayer then what you have now, then maybe you should try getting what is called lowlight. It breaks up any harsh lines between colors by dyeing some strands of hair darker. Lowlights can also work best for pregnant women or others who don’t want to give up the coloring scene all together but want protection from the dangers of dyeing your hair. With lowlights there’s no dye chemical that comes in contact with the scalp or skin. There is help out there for those who aren’t ready to take the plunge into ammonia free hair dye, you can go to Bye Bye Hair Dye on Facebook and meet others who have gone natural and posted pictures documenting the process. That way you can see that it can be done.