There are numerous chemical and natural ways to lighten hair. The best method for you will be determined by a number of factors, most importantly: what your natural hair color is, and whether you already have color treatments in your hair. What’s always important to remember when considering changing your hair color and wanting to bleach hair at home is the ultimate health of your hair. Even using natural ways to lighten hair can have a damaging effect when used too often, so don’t assume that staying away from the bleach will mean you are guaranteed beautiful, healthy hair. Below, we share with you the essentials for making hair lighter in a modern and responsible way.

• First, the hair’s cuticle layer is made permeable to the lightening solution. This allows the hydrogen peroxide to penetrate deep into the hair shaft where it oxidizes the existing pigments, rendering them colorless.
• Different lightening solutions contain their own concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and therefore bleach the natural pigments to various degrees. It’s therefore important to ensure you select the correct formula when you’re going to bleach hair at home.
• You should always adhere to the prescribed leave-in times (generally 30 to 45 minutes). Hair will be left with a reddish or yellow tinge if the process is interrupted prematurely, while leaving the lightening agent in too long will damage the hair and leave it straw-like and porous.

Have you recently chemically straightened or gotten permed hair? If so, you should plan to wait at least two weeks before choosing to lighten your locks with hair bleach, as otherwise it could become very over-processed. If bleaching is part of your regular routine, you shouldn’t always apply it to your entire head: instead, using it only on the roots is much gentler and will prevent excessive damage to the tips.
Hair highlights are a far gentler way of lightening dark hair. The streaks can be bleached two to six shades lighter than your natural hair, and also let you experiment with caramel tones. What’s more, roots are far less visible than when lightening your entire head, so you don’t need as many salon visits.

Part of knowing how to lighten hair is also knowing the appropriate aftercare routine to follow. Without follow-up care, your hair will quickly become dry, damaged and susceptible to breakage. If you use hair bleach at home to lighten your hair, it’s especially important to follow these routines.
Be sure to apply a rich conditioner to your freshly bleached hair for 3 minutes immediately after rinsing the solution out of your hair. The nourishing ingredients strengthen the hair and provide it with a silky luster. Continue to use a rich conditioning treatment at least once a week and consider even using a purple or blue shampoo depending on the extent of your blonde coloring and use of hair bleach.

Subtle nuances can have the most amazing effects. If you are content to go blonde in baby steps or just aim to add some dazzling brilliance to your hair, then you can opt for more natural methods of home hair lightening. There are a number of products you will have in your kitchen that can offer a natural and gentle lightening effect. These include:

• Lemon juice
• Apple cider vinegar
• Chamomile
• Cinnamon
• Honey
• Sea salt

Mixing any of these to form a solution with warm water and leaving it in your hair prior to sitting in the sun will help to lighten your hair. For an even simpler option, consider a home hair lightening spray. These sprays lighten hair by a quarter of a shade with every application. Heat or the sun’s rays intensify the effect, meaning that they even work under a blow dryer. Even these sprays, however, are not meant for continuous daily use but rather for use over a limited period.

Of course, Schwarzkopf has many hair bleach products to try at home if you want a fast and guaranteed lightening solution for your hair.