How to Lighten Hair with Lemon Juice: DIY Hair Dye

Want to dye your hair, without harming your hair with chemicals that are present in most of the hair dyes? There are various natural ways to dye your hair without harming your hair. Lemon juice is one of the best ways to dye, or rather highlight or lighten your hair.

Steps to Dye Your Hair With Lemon Juice:

Prepare dye solution:

You need lemons to make your dye. You have to take enough lemons to give full coverage to your hair or partial if you are only highlighting some of your hair. Take the lemons and roll them on a hard surface by applying some pressure on them with the heel of your hand.  This is an easy way to extract maximum juice form the lemons or any other citrus fruits.

Apply hair dye:

Cut the lemons in quarters and squeeze the juice out of the lemon pieces. Now take a cup of water and boil it. Mix equal volumes of freshly squeezed lemon juice and hot water. Always make sure that both these ingredients are mixed in equal volumes. It may make your hair more frizzy if you hair dries out quickly. In that case you can add equal part of orange juice also. If you have a dry hair, you can also mix a little of conditioner to the lemon mixture. Mix them well before you apply it on your hair.

Hair Coating to be done twice:

Now take the mixture in a spray bottle and spray it all over your hair. Once you have fully covered your hair with this lemon juice, you have to take a sparse bristled brush and run it across your hair. Some want to get highlights instead of fully covering your hair. In that case, you have to soak a strip of gauze in lemon mixture and wipe a portion of your hair with the gauze by taking it in your hand. To get the desirable contrast, you will have to apply more than one coating on your hair portions. It is also important that you keep some clips with you. Once you have completely coated a portion of hair with the strips, you will have to attach a clip so that you can pick them up easily every time.

Soak in the sun:

Once you have applied the lemon mixture on your hair, you will have to sit in the sunlight. Make sure that you sit for at least one hour in the sun for the colour change to get noticed. So, find a comfortable spot outside, and sit in the sunlight facing away from the sun. This will make your hair get exposed maximum to the sun. Since you are going to sit in the sun for a long time, it is very important that you wear a sunscreen. You can wear a sunscreen with SPF 15. Apply it thickly on your face, neck and other exposed parts of your skin well. After you have spent an hour in the sun, you will have to apply the juice once again on your hair and soak for half an hour.

Natural additives for hair:

Once you have finished sitting in the sun and the colour is set, complete the hair lightening process by washing your hair. Deep condition your hair. This is important because lemon juice can lower the pH level of your hair. This makes your hair dry out fast. By deep conditioning your hair, you can make your highlighted tresses look smooth and silky.

Give the process time to work. You cannot expect sudden changes in your hair. It takes time. Apply it for three or four weeks to get good results. You can see the following colour changes after 3 to 4 weeks:

• Dark brown hair turns to light brown or ecru
• Dark blonde changes to light blonde
• Light brown turns in to golden blonde
• Dark red becomes dark blonde
• Light red turns to light brown or blonde
• Black does not show much change

There are many additives that you can put into your natural hair lightener to improve the effect of the lightener. These also help in making your hair soft and smooth.

Here are some of the additives you can incorporate into your natural hair lightener:

Cassia:

Cassia looks very similar to cinnamon. But it is slightly golden in colour and has a different taste. This plant contains a faint golden or alight yellow dye. Cassia is also known as ‘neutral henna’. Crush it into powder and then mix the powder with lemon juice. Applying this on your hair will give a golden glow to your hair.

Chamomile tea:

Steep the tea in hot water and then add lemon juice. This mixture helps in giving your hair lovely golden highlights.

Cinnamon:

By adding cinnamon to lemon juice, you will be able to give your hair a brown, golden tinge. It is most effective on darker hair. It also gives a good smell to your hair.

Hydrogen peroxide:

Drench you hair with diluted hydrogen peroxide for lightening your hair or for highlighting the hair. This is not natural, but is very effective.

Honey:

Adding honey to lemon juice is an effective way to condition your hair and reduce the frizz. Combining lemon juice with honey and cinnamon will give you an excellent conditioner hair lightener.

Now that you have learnt how to dye your hair with lemon juice, try it out and het the desired colour. Lemon juice helps in giving you parlour-like streaks at home, without the need to spend a fortune in the parlour. Not only does it dye your hair, but it also conditions your hair and makes your hair soft, voluminous and healthier.