How to Naturally Lighten Your Hair – Without Damaging It

Laying out in the sun with my hair under by a hat seemed like no big deal…after all, I always use heat protecting spray when it’s sunny out. Unfortunately, my eyebrows weren’t protected – not by shade, not by a hat, and not by a spray. It never occurred to me to spray my brows as I’ve never had an issue with discoloration. Now that I work mostly out of an outdoor cafe, however, things appear to have changed. Over a year ago I had my eye brows bleached and the bleach was left on too long. I ended up with orange brows that took nearly a year to grow out (I would tint them but that never lasted long…it’s very hard to mask orange!). Now my brows are back to being orange because of the sun!!! Trust me: be careful. If you’re going to go in the sun, protect ALL your hair. Not all is lost, however; there are ways to lighten your hair naturally – without damage – and that includes spending time in the sun.

“It’s pretty simple. If you’d like to naturally lighten your hair, you should spend a lot of time outside in the sun (with your SPF!). Colorists for a long time have tried to mimic what the sun naturally does to make hair dimensional, beautiful, and sun-kissed,” says Roxie Darling, lead colorist at Hairstory. “That said, sun can also be damaging and bleach has come a very long way, and if you speak with your colorist about your concerns, they can use a less aggressive bleach. If your colorist has a thoughtful and patient approach to the lightening process, your hair should suffer very minimal damage if any at all. Most importantly, if you treat your hair well, using detergent-free Purely Perfect Cleansing Creme instead of shampoo, your color will remain healthy even after multiple bleachings – and the color will last much longer. I demand all my clients use it to secure their investment this way.”

If you’re more into DIY Dina Hasanovic, a colorist at the Mark Garrison Salon, has a hands-on suggestion. “You’ll need a handful of camomile flowers (they sell them at organic markets or at a natural health store), a table spoon of coconut oil, a cup of yogurt and a lemon (I prefer to use half a lemon because it’s so acidic and it can damage the hair),” says Hasanovic. “Bring the water to a boil and add the camomile flowers; after that, drain the water into a bowl and make sure no flowers are in it. Add your ingredients and then rinse the hair with the solution. Have another bowl handy to catch some of the solution in case you need to rinse more. Then go out and stay in the sun for about an hour or until hair has lifted to desired color. Then rinse hair really well, shampoo and condition.”