Bring out Natural Red and Blond Highlights

Light, natural-looking highlights can add a lot of dimension and life to blond or red hair, but you don't have to spend a lot of money at the salon to get them. You don't even have to add harsh chemicals to your hair! This article will tell you how to bring out the natural highlights in your hair using inexpensive products you probably already have sitting around your house.

Steps

Using Lemon Juice

  1. Prepare the lemon juice. Roll two large lemons on a hard surface, applying pressure with your palm to break up the membranes inside the lemon and encourage it to juice more easily. Cut the lemons in half. Holding each half over a bowl, squeeze them and catch the juice in the bowl, making sure to keep the seeds separate.
    • If your lemons aren't yielding much juice, trying poking at the membranes with a fork.
  2. Portion off the hair to be highlighted. Decide which sections of your hair you want to highlight. Usually, you want to focus on the top layer of hair — the layer that is visible when your hair is down. Do you want to create highlights all around your head, or do you only want highlights that frame your face? Use clips to separate the hair you want to highlight from the hair you wish to keep your normal base color.
    • You might want to pull the remaining hair into a braid or low ponytail, so it doesn’t mix too much with the hair you’re trying to highlight.
  3. Apply the lemon juice to your hair. Dip an old toothbrush that you don’t need to use anymore into the lemon juice, and use it to transfer the juice to the hair that you want to highlight. Make sure you apply the juice along all the hair you wish to highlight — you might want to highlight the entire strand, or you might want to have your hair highlighted toward the crown, then taper back into your natural color toward the bottom.
    • Undo the clip holding back each section of hair, and only work one section of hair at a time.
    • When you’ve finished applying the lemon juice, pull the hair back up into a clip. This is to keep the lemon juice from getting onto the hair you wish to keep your natural color.
    • Work your way through all the sections of hair you wish to highlight.
  4. Let the lemon juice dry. Before moving on to the next step, the lemon juice needs to dry completely in your hair. If you’re in a hurry, you can speed up the process by blow-drying your hair on hot. However, if you have time and want the best possible results, go sit outside in the sun and let the lemon juice air-dry in your hair.
    • The longer you sit out in the sun, the lighter your highlights will grow.
    • Sit out in the sun for at least 20 minutes for a noticeable difference.
    • Blond and brown hair will lighten slightly in shade, whereas red hair will lighten by taking on a blonder tone. Black and dark brown hair will not change noticeably through this natural method.
  5. Wash your hair. Take a shower, and thoroughly shampoo and condition your hair to remove all remaining lemon juice from your hair.

Using Honey and Vinegar

  1. Create your hair-lightening mixture.[1] In a bowl, create a mixture out of 2 cups of distilled vinegar, 1 cup of raw honey, 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of either ground cardamom or ground cinnamon. Beat it well with a spoon so all the ingredients are evenly spread throughout the mixture.
    • Although this method will work well on all hair colors, people with darker hair should increase the amount of cinnamon they use to ensure a noticeable lightening of the highlighted hair.
  2. Dampen your hair. You don’t want your hair to be soaking wet, so don’t take a full shower. Using your hands, splash water into your hair to get it just slightly wet throughout, all along the length of your hair.
  3. Portion off the hair to be highlighted. Just as in the previous method, decide which sections of your hair you want to highlight and section them off with clips.
    • You might want to pull the remaining hair into a braid or low ponytail, so it doesn’t mix too much with the hair you’re trying to highlight.
    • Because this method requires long-term soaking of the product into your hair, make sure you have good clips that will keep the treated hair in place.
  4. Apply the mixture to your hair. Dip an old toothbrush into the mixture you’ve made, and use it to apply the mixture to the hair that you want to highlight.
    • Undo the clip holding back each section of hair, and only work one section of hair at a time.
    • When you’ve finished applying the mixture, pull the hair back up into a clip.
    • Work your way through all the sections of hair you wish to highlight.
  5. Secure and cover your hair. Make sure the clips you’re using to keep your treated hair separate are securely in place. Reinforce them with bobby pins and hair ties if necessary; just make sure your hair won’t come down and get mixed with the un-highlighted hair.
    • Cover the top of your head (the highlighted section) with something secure; you might use plastic wrap, a tightly-fitted shower cap or swimming cap, or a towel pulled into a turban for drying your hair.
    • Make sure that the un-highlighted hair does not get pulled up into this wrap.
  6. Let it sit overnight. Once your hair is covered, forget about it for at least eight hours. Your best bet is to begin this procedure in the evening, then sleep with the mixture soaking into your hair.
    • Cover your pillow with a towel if you’re worried about getting it dirty.
  7. Wash your hair in the morning. Shampoo and condition your hair with high quality products, making sure all of the mixture has been rinsed. Repeat your shampoo and conditioning routine an extra time if you have trouble getting your hair clean.

Making a Chamomiles Tea Mask

  1. Use the right kind of tea. Teas come in many different varieties and have different chemical makeups; chamomile tea is the type that’s commonly used as a natural hair-lightening product.
  2. Brew the tea. Steep four bags of chamomile tea in 1 cup of hot water for at least 15-20 minutes. The stronger the tea, the better your results will be when you apply it to your hair.
    • Let the tea cool down to room temperature.
  3. Make a hair mask.[2] In a bowl, mix the cooled cup of tea with about two tablespoons of plain yogurt. Depending on how long or short your hair is, you might need more or less yogurt to make enough mask to thoroughly coat your hair.
    • The mixture should come together into a paste that will stick to your hair.
    • If it’s too runny with excessive tea, add more yogurt.
  4. Portion off the hair to be highlighted. Just as in the previous methods, decide which sections of your hair you want to highlight and section them off with clips.
    • Pull the un-highlighted hair into a braid or ponytail to separate it from the treated hair.
  5. Apply the mask to your hair. Using your hands, work the mixture into the hair that you wish to highlight. Work section by section, making sure to keep treated hair separate from untreated hair.
  6. Secure and cover your hair. Make sure the clips you’re using to keep your treated hair separate are securely in place, reinforce them with bobby pins and hair ties if necessary. Cover the treated hair with plastic wrap, a shower or swimming cap, or a towel.
  7. Let it sit for at least an hour. The longer you let the mixture sit in your hair, the more distinct the effects will be. Note that the darker your hair, the longer you’ll have to leave the mask in to achieve a noticeable highlight. If you have darker hair — red, or dirty blonde, for example — leave the mask in for two hours rather than one.
  8. Wash your hair. Take a shower, shampoo and condition as regular until the mask has been completely rinsed from your hair. Reapply shampoo and conditioner as necessary to ensure all the yogurt and tea is washed away.
  9. Repeat once a week. This is a temporary method of highlighting your hair that will fade within the space of about a week. For sustained results, apply this mask every week, preferably on the same schedule — every Saturday, for example.
    • This method works best on lighter hair colors. Blond and light brown and red hair will lighten slightly, giving the effect of natural highlights. Darker hair tones will not respond to this method.



Warnings

  • Soaking your hair in lemon juice will dry it out, so make sure to condition your hair well afterwards.
  • Test the lemon juice on small part of your hair and skin first to make sure there are no allergens. When testing lemon juice on skin, don't go in the sun or it may cause a burn or skin irritation to appear.
  • This will not create highlights! Usually it will only bring out the highlights you already have! (It has been known to turn blonds a reddish orange.)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.diyncrafts.com/2312/homemade/10-ways-to-lighten-your-hair-naturally
  2. ↑ http://www.diybeautytutorials.com/2013/08/diy-lighten-your-hair-naturally-in-1.html
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