How to Lighten Hair with Peroxide and Shampoo?
Whether it’s simply because you want to change your look or it’s a way of expressing your own unique sense of style and personality, lightening your hair can be a great experience.
However, not everyone has the time to go to the salon to go through the process of lightening their hair.
As such, there are a few things you can try at home to lighten your hair a few levels such as using peroxide and shampoo, but you must have enough knowledge of doing so to avoid any mishaps.
After all, you wouldn’t want to destroy your crowning glory, would you?
With that said, here’s a step-by-step about How to Lighten Hair with Peroxide and Shampoo.
See also:
- How Long Does it Take to Dye Hair?
- How to Bleach Hair Blonde Without Damage?
- How to Dye Blonde Hair Without It Going Green?
- How to Fix Orange Hair with Box Dye?
Why Use Peroxide and Shampoo to Lighten Hair?
- Peroxide
If you’ve dyed your hair before, then you might be already familiar with the use of peroxide in hair dye.
Permanent hair dyes contain peroxide and so does the bleach used to lighten the hair. This is because peroxide works in the hair’s innermost part, which holds the color or pigment.
Hydrogen peroxide helps lighten hair by stripping the pigment in the hair, lifting the hair’s color by a few levels before allowing another color to set in.
For example, dark brown hair will be lightened for a bit to absorb the color red.
- Shampoo
On the other hand, certain shampoos can help lighten your hair a bit.
Some ingredients work well for this such as lemon and honey.
Lighting your hair this way also helps keep your hair moisture, ensuring that it remains as healthy as possible while stripping away the color.
How to Lighten Hair with Peroxide?
In this section, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to lightening your hair using peroxide.
However, remember to ensure that your hair is as healthy as possible before lightening your hair to minimize the damage your hair will take from the session.
Let’s begin!
What You Will Need?
- A 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide
- Gloves
- Cotton balls
- Spray bottle (clean and empty)
- Hair clips
- Old towel
- Shower cap/ aluminum foil
- Petroleum jelly
Hair lightening process with Peroxide
Clean your hair
Before you lighten your hair, make sure you cleaned it with shampoo and conditioned it with a good hair conditioner (or you can use the 2-in-1 shampoos and conditioners for convenience)
Organic shampoos are preferred as these don’t contain harsh chemicals that can further damage your hair.
Make sure you don’t use a hair blower to dry your hair as this can damage your hair before you begin the lightnening session.
See also:
- The 25 Best Shampoos and Conditioners for Color-Treated Hair
- The 24 Best Shampoos and Conditioners for Sensitive Scalps
- The 23 Best Shampoos and Conditioners for Natural Red Hair
Protect your skin
Once your hair is dry, make sure you protect your skin by covering your hairline with petroleum jelly.
This will prevent your skin from reacting to the peroxide solution.
Drape a towel over your shoulders to protect your clothes and other exposed areas as well.
Make your lightening solution
To do this, mix half of your peroxide solution with water, taking note of a ratio of 1:1.
Put it in a spray bottle and apply the solution with cotton balls.
Don’t forget to do a strand test first to see if you have any allergic reactions to the peroxide solution. This will also show you what the result would be.
Wear gloves while applying the solution to avoid skin irritation.
Section your hair with the clips
Once you’re satisfied, section your hair using the hair clips and systematically apply your solution to your entire head.
Cover the saturated areas with aluminum foil or shower cap
Covering the dyed areas with foil or a shower cap can help speed up the process as heat can help quicken the lightening process.
Wash after 15 minutes to an hour.
Depending on how light you want your hair to be, you can leave on the solution for 15 minutes to an hour at most.
Once you have your desired results, wash your hair with cold water, and apply a deep conditioner.
Don’t use shampoo but ensure you rinse your hair well.
Lightening Your Hair Using Shampoos
If lightening your hair using peroxide isn’t your preference, you can opt to use specific shampoos to produce similar results.
As mentioned, certain shampoos can help lighten the hair as well. Some ingredients in shampoos can lighten the hair over time, especially with consistent use.
However, this can take longer than using peroxide since you will need to use it consistently over a period of time.
Nevertheless, it can help lighten your hair and with the least damage compared to peroxide and bleach.
With that said, here are some of the shampoos and ingredients that can help lighten the hair.
Shampoos with lemon and honey
Lemon and honey have properties that help lighten the hair, so it’s best to look for shampoos that contain these ingredients if you want to lighten your hair with less damage to it.
Shampoos with apple cider vinegar
Shampoos that incorporate apple cider vinegar in its formula can help lighten your hair, starting from the roots to the tips.
Moreover, it can help nourish the hair, prevent hair loss, as well as reduce the occurrence of gray hair.
Bleaching shampoos
Bleaching shampoos can lighten your hair gradually without damaging it too much.
This is a quicker way to lighten your hair than using peroxide but you will need to condition your hair if you want to reduce the damage.
Saltwater and shampoos
Mixing saltwater with your shampoo can maintain lightened hair, allowing it to retain the color without needing to bleach your hair consistently.
Final Thoughts
The aforementioned guide can help you lighten your hair with peroxide and shampoo at home, allowing you to change your look to reflect your sense of style and personality.
While lightening your hair can be a tricky process, it can be rewarding once you manage to achieve your desired results.
Using peroxide and certain shampoos can help lighten your hair without damaging it too much, unlike when using harsh chemicals like bleach.
Nevertheless, it’s important that you know how to do it properly as this can result in mishaps that can damage your crowning glory.
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