So after the recent drama and the lack of hair content, I deciding to bring this site back to my roots for a bit (no pun intended). Every summer, I get the itch to dye my natural hair. I always loved seeing certain naturalistas with blonde curls and highlighted hair. What always stopped me was the color damage and the dryness that followed their hair months after their color treatment. Many of them even did a mini chop afterwards.
I decided to look for some natural alternatives and there was a common denominator in each article: honey. Honey actually contains glucose which then breaks down into hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent responsible for most of our commercial hair dyes. Because these traces of hydrogen peroxide are small, you won’t get a harsh or dramatic change. But at the same time, you are guarenteed little to no damage since it’s natural.
Besides, honey is proven to help with conditioning, moisturizing, and providing shine for your hair (as shown by Viv HairTherapy in the thumbnail). So even if you don’t get your results, you did your hair a favor. Nice job!
How I Dyed My Hair With Honey
There are many ways to utilize honey when you’re dying your hair. Honestly, I went with the cinnamon method which can also be seen here. But basically I added a bunch of honey into a bowl, added about a half spoon of cinnamon, added some coconut oil in the mix, with the addition of some conditioner. I let the bowl sit for about 45 min to let the hydrogen peroxide activate.
I tried to go for highlights with some lighter tips. I really took my time sectioning and applying the mix onto my hair. I let it sit for about and hour and a half under a shower cap. After washing it out, twisting my hair up like usual, I noticed some parts lightened up. Now, I do have a mix of brown and black hair and I didn’t want to give full props to the honey just yet. But, when my hair dried completely: this was basically my verdict.
It Does Work…But Hold Your Horses
On my next twist out, I notice some really noticeable differences in some parts of my hair. I’m assuming the peroxide processed longer with these areas. Other parts, I didn’t see much of a difference as they remained pretty dark. I wasn’t expecting big results just because the amount of hydrogen peroxide is pretty small. This is what many articles emphasized.
But, the differences were enough for me to notice the first round especially under the sun. Did I wish I can go lighter? Honestly, I would have loved to. The recommended thing to do is to keep doing the honey application each time you’re ready to wash your hair. The more you do this, the lighter your hair will be and you can stop until you see your desired results. And although I could have done this, I was too lazy to keep up. Besides I don’t want to waste the honey I use for my teas.
Do I Think It’s Worth It?
Now I haven’t done this application too many times, so I can’t document any major impacts it had to my hair. My hair as of now feels exactly the same, but I don’t know for sure if it would have been any worse if I applied the honey four more times. All I know is that my hair would have most likely been lighter.
I’m assuming, nothing would have happened. Most articles infer there’s no permanent damage to this particular method. Besides as mentioned earlier, honey has some great benefits on the hair. So overall, I do think it’s worth it if you want to try something new and experiment with your hair. Now results may vary, but for certain it’s was a nice way to slightly change up your look if you aren’t going for something dramatic or harsh to your hair.