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Home » Beauty

10 Ways to Lighten your Hair Naturally [Homemade Recipes]

Modified: Jan 16, 2023 by Vanessa Goodpaster-Beaty · This post may contain affiliate links · 150 Comments

Lighten Your Hair Naturally for Summer with These Great Homemade Recipes

Everyone wants lighter hair in summer.

hair lightening

Well, maybe not everyone but most people do prefer a lighter look for the warmer months.

If you tend to want to highlight your hair during the summer but prefer to steer clear of harsh chemical lighteners, there is a great homemade recipe that you can try.

Jump to:
  • 1. Honey and Vinegar
  • 2. Tea
  • 3. Rhubarb
  • 4. Baking Soda
  • 5. Cinnamon
  • 6. Vitamin C
  • 7. Henna Powder
  • 8. Vinegar
  • 9. Salt
  • 10. Lemon

These recipes are using all natural ingredients so there is no damage to your hair.

You may remember spritzing lemon juice on your hair when you were younger and hoping that it would lighten. Well, this is about the same thing only with a few key ingredients thrown in.

Homemade lightening is much less expensive than buying highlighter in the store and you can use it more than once because there are no chemicals to cause dry and brittle hair. Here are a few different lightening methods that you can try:

1. Honey and Vinegar

Honey is a great lightening ingredient and the olive oil in this recipe will help to keep hair from drying out. To make it, you need:

  • 2 cups of distilled vinegar
  • 1 cup of raw uncooked honey – you can find this at most health food stores
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of ground cardamom or cinnamon – either one is good so it’s really your choice
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You just have to mix the ingredients together and then apply onto damp hair. You can use a brush or comb to make sure that you get it evenly distributed or just apply it wherever you want highlights.

When you have the mixture applied, just wrap your hair in plastic wrap. If you have one, you can put a shower cap or swim cap on to keep the plastic wrap in place or just wrap a towel around your head.

You want to leave the mixture on overnight and then wash it out in the morning. There is no need to sit in the sunlight. This mixture works because honey has a small trace of hydrogen peroxide which is a lightening agent. Cinnamon and cardamom along with the extra virgin olive oil help to boost the lightening effect.

2. Tea

– Tea, specifically chamomile tea, is a great lightening agent. You can use black tea if you like but chamomile offers a number of properties that will help to keep your hair sleek and healthy. To use tea, you need:

  • 1 Tea Bag
  • Water

You simply boil the water and steep the tea bag for about 10 minutes. Once the tea has cooled, just rinse your hair with it and leave it on for about 15 minutes. You may want to do this 2 or 3 times before you shampoo or rinse to get extra lightening power.

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3. Rhubarb

– Rhubarb works great and is a good choice during the summer. If you grow rhubarb, this one will not cost anything. If not, you can pick up rhubarb at your local grocery or farmer’s market. To lighten hair with rhubarb, you will need:

  • ¼ cup chopped rhubarb
  • 2 cups water

Just bring the rhubarb to a boil and then allow it to cool completely. Strain and use the liquid as a rinse. Leave the rinse on for about 10 minutes and then just rinse clear with water.

4. Baking Soda

– Baking soda is actually great for stripping your hair of chemical buildup and can be used as a lightening agent as well. This takes a while longer than other methods but if you use baking soda on your hair about once each week, you can strip harmful chemicals out and lighten your hair naturally over time.

5. Cinnamon

– Cinnamon is not only a great lightener but it smells great, too. Just take:

  • Cinnamon powder
  • Conditioner

You just have to add cinnamon powder to a small handful of conditioner and then evenly coat your hair from top to bottom. You may want to comb the mixture through to ensure that it coats evenly.

Pull your hair up and keep it secure with a clip. You can use a shower cap to hold your hair in place and leave the mixture on overnight. Rinse and shampoo first thing in the morning.

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This mixture is perfectly safe for hair so you can use it more than once if you want to really see highlights.

6. Vitamin C

– Vitamin C is great for your hair. Not only with it lighten your locks, it helps to keep them healthy. Just take about 8 or 9 Vitamin C tablets, crush them and mix with your favorite shampoo. Shampoo as usual and then condition.

7. Henna Powder

– Henna Powder mixed with chamomile is a great lightening agent. You will need:

  • Henna Powder – You can get this at most natural food stores
  • Chamomile – Powder is best and this also comes from natural food stores
  • Boiling water

You just have to mix equal amounts of each powder to make a thick paste when added to boiling water.

Allow this mixture to cool and then comb it into your wet hair.

Place a shower cap or a plastic bag over your hair and leave the mixture for about an hour – note that if you have darker hair, you can leave it for up to 2 hours. Remove the plastic and rinse the mixture from your hair.

8. Vinegar

– Just rinsing your hair with water and vinegar will help to lighten it. It takes a bit of time for this to work so it is best for those looking for gradual lightening. Just mix one part vinegar with 6 parts water and rinse hair. Leave the rinse on for at least 15 minutes. Apple cider vinegar works the best and smells a bit better.

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9. Salt

– You can mix salt with water and get natural lighting as well. If you have ever swam in salt water, you know how this works. Just mix 1 part salt with about 5 parts water and rinse your hair. Allow to sit in hair for at least 15 minutes and then rinse clean.

10. Lemon

- Of course, if you want to go old school, you can just mix a cup of water with about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and apply it to your hair. Then just sit in the sunlight until your hair dries. This is another natural way to lighten hair that is a bit more subtle.

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  1. Help Me

    June 20, 2017 at 10:11 am

    Did anyone else use the salt one? If so I chose it and #1 it is making my hair less smooth #2 It might just be me but my hair seems to turning darker. Does anyone think I may be using it wrong? If so can you tell me how I need to do it? I also would like to tell people that the salt made my arms itch and a few other places. I would also like to ask another ? I have very, very light brown hair (it was blonde when I was little and became a bit darker. I would like to get my hair back to the blonde it was. Is there any way I could not spend any money on extra things and still be able to lighten my hair. I am okay with using some not so natural things as long as I can find it in my house. Note that I do not carry things like honey, lemon juice and many more. Help me!

    Reply
    • J a stanl

      August 04, 2021 at 4:35 pm

      Hello, I’m going to try the Rhubarb mixture. Years ago, a boyfriend’s mother wanted me to colour her hair, but didn’t want any peroxide etc. So, we went natural colouring. We looked up several, and decided on Rhubarb. It was very effective indeed! We coloured on grey hair, it turned out to be a lovely blonde. Unfortunately, I’m now grey haired, but I’m going to give it a try. Hope you will find this message helpful!

      Reply
  2. Soleny

    August 08, 2017 at 11:09 am

    I have curly hair does iT work to at my hair

    Reply
  3. thea

    October 06, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    I have short hair and it is a light brown, I want is very blond but only want to use the honey, cinnamon or olive oil ones. would it work better to mix them all?

    Reply
    • Rosy

      July 11, 2019 at 3:48 am

      Mix them all together, yes it will work better, but maybe not blond, but it will lighten a few shades.

      Reply
  4. misty

    January 31, 2018 at 3:13 am

    hey

    Reply
  5. Khushi

    March 25, 2018 at 11:42 am

    Conditioner overnight will make hair fall!!!

    Reply
  6. Jules

    July 11, 2019 at 6:34 pm

    Hello. Question:
    I have full highlighted blonde hair. But it isn’t quite as light (more white) as I wanted. I don’t want to bleach again. SO; Can you mix together the chamomile tea with baking soda? I have tried the chamomile tea by itself and left it on overnight, and it didn’t really do much. A few years ago I tried hydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda and it definitely turned my hair the white I wanted...BUT it made my hair very damaged, and I had a lot of hair fall. So I guess I want to know if baking soda added to the chamomile tea will lighten up more levels than just the tea alone??? Please Reply.
    MUCH APPRECIATION ??
    J

    Reply
  7. isha

    September 14, 2019 at 11:50 am

    Hi there,
    I'm Indian and I have very dark black hair. Last night I mixed 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/8 cup lemon juice, and two heaping tablespoons of cinnamon into a paste and applied it liberally to the ends of my hair. Then I slept on it, for 8.5 HOURS. Not a single change. These methods DO NOT WORK ON BLACK HAIR and I am extremely frustrated to have wasted a good night's sleep and 1/3 cup of really good honey on a ridiculous DIY method that turned out to be complete BS. If you have black hair, get off this page right now. You're not doing yourself any good.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      December 22, 2021 at 7:16 am

      Thank you for saving me the same frustration!!

      Reply
  8. Rachel Jantes

    October 27, 2020 at 2:55 am

    I'm not sure what my hair color is, its Black/brown. When its in the sun it looks like dark brown but it looks black to me and other people see a dark brown. Im trying the first one the honey, vinegar, olive oil, and cinnamon and I'm worried if my hair will fall out if I apply it to my whole head of hair. Im Mexican so I'm not really sure if my hair should be black or brown.

    Reply
    • Emma

      January 31, 2021 at 1:23 am

      My hair is the same color and it has copper highlights so I don't know if I want to loose the little bit of red I have on the ends and the highlights. So could someone help me decide what I want to do!!!! Please!

      Reply
  9. Lou

    January 12, 2021 at 8:59 am

    What is healthy for your hair is good for your skin all the same.

    N/A

    Reply
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