The Ultimate All-Natural Hair Lightening Spray
UPDATE: This post originally ran on May 24th 2014 but with summer finally — gloriously! — here and more time spent outdoors, we wanted to share it again!
For as long as I can remember, going to the beach without a bottle of lemon juice was unheard of. My mom passed down this hair lightening trick to me when we would take after-school beach trips as I was growing up. Ever since then, sun kissed hair is what I look forward to during the warm months. As soon as I hop out of the salt water, I spray some lemon juice all over my hair before laying out under the warm sun. It’s the simplest thing to do if you want to lighten up your locks during the spring and summer.
As the north starts to get warm, we have beaches and pools on our radar. I wanted to create the ultimate natural hair lightening spray using some of my previous knowledge, but also wanted to find out about some other natural lighteners. After some research, I discovered the perfect combination of ingredients to lighten up your hair safely and naturally.
Lemons: When lemon juice is added to the hair, it acts as an accelerant to the sun’s ability to naturally lighten. The acidic properties of lemons mix just right with sunlight, giving off a gradual highlight.
Chamomile: The natural coloring and chemicals of chamomile flowers work together to bring out lighter tones in the hair. Chamomile also helps in fixing split ends.
Honey: When honey is mixed with distilled water, it undergoes a chemical process that will allow you to quickly lighten your hair.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon naturally contains peroxide, which is a chemical used in hair lightening, but the cinnamon won’t dry out your hair…and it smells amazing!
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil won’t lighten your hair, but it will help to keep your locks moisturized so the other ingredients don’t dry it out.
First, brew some chamomile tea. I let mine steep for about 5 minutes. Aquire some sort of spray bottle (I used this one), and fill it up halfway with the tea. Next, add in all of the other ingredients:
Juice of 3 lemons
2 crushed up cinnamon sticks (or a teaspoon of cinnamon)
Squirt of honey
1 teaspoon coconut oil
Once all of the other ingredients have been added, fill up the rest of the bottle with warm water.
Give a good shake to the bottle before spraying it on your hair to make sure everything is mixed up. You can spray it all over your hair, or apply to the ends for an ombre’d look. My favorite time to use this spray is when I’m at the beach. After dampening my hair with salt water, I’ll spray some on all over. The sun will maximize all of the ingredients’ lightening powers. You can also spray this on damp hair before bed. Just be sure to wear a shower cap since they honey in the spray will make your hair a bit sticky, then rinse it out in the morning!
Over time, you will start to see your hair become gradually lighter. Enjoy!
More homemade beauty products from the BLDG 25 Blog.
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