Is it possible to lighten virgin hair without bleach??

[alarez1]

Hi there,
So i wanna lighten my virgin dark brown hair to a light golden brown. I want to do minimal damage so i was thinking of using goldwell topchic highlift 11 series, 11A with 30 volume. will it work? can i lighten with a brand from sally's like wella 12A highlift or ion highlift. thanks in advance.

[veronica_voodoo]

i work at sallys and yeah u can lighten virgin hair without bleaching. really virgin hair is the only hair u can lighten without bleaching. a highlift from sallys would work, but also honestly a good box color would do the trick too. if u look at the side of the box where it says if your this youll become this then it should come out pretty true to what it says.

[KittyLost]

I'm not sure, I was under the impression you can only lift hair colour with bleach and that those highlifts are just diluted bleach. I could be wrong though.

[Mathurine]

Well as summer is coming there is one way to do it but the results are varied. Wash your hair as usual but without conditioner. Rinse off your hair with lemon juice - yup you read that right. Then go and sit/walk/play in the sun. The lemon juice strips the dirt out of your hair allowing the sun to penetrate it better which helps to lighten it. It really only effects the upper layers of the hair but it's worth a go if you want to try it.

Obviously next time you wash your hair make sure you wash it properly to get the juice out but having lemon juice in your hair won't kill you and it won't smell awful, so it's not a huge problem.

Just repeat the process as often as you need. It won't lighten it a huge deal like bleach would do but it does help.

Also don't forget sun safety. Keep sun block on while you're out there, protect your skin at all costs.

[KittyLost]

Ah! I forgot about lemon juice! Good call Matty. It also kickstarted my brain to this.

http://www.forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=61

Lightening hair naturally with honey, again mixed results on it working for some people and not on others but damage free.

[pierat]

Any dyes that lighten will contain a bleaching ingredient, but it will do a lot less damage if you only lighten by a few shades.  I find Garnier Nutrisse are good for this kind of thing.  I think it is recommended that you only try to lighten by 1 or 2 levels, but it's trial and error really!

[ChibiChelt]

I was going to suggest sun-in

[Pippachainsaw]

i've heard bad things about sun in. also does it still exist!?

[ChibiChelt]

I saw it yesterday in boots, I thought it didnt get made anymore but it was there

[hamstaoftragedy]

I have never tried it, but rhubarb root is said to lighten dark hair...
And chamomille gives golden highlights...

[Gothicle]

english weather though.. any such thing as the sun over here? lol

[zaralily]

i'm backing up veronica_voodoo! shes bang on! i'm an hair dresser and its true, you dont need to bleach up virgin hair! just a good colour or highlift colour is needed xxxxxxx