Image source
There are many reasons for your hair to appear darker than it was previously. It could be age-related, as a result of exposure to the sun, or other reasons. Luckily, there are many ways of lightening your hair, and one of them is by using a hair lightening shampoo.
Contents
So, what is a hair lightening shampoo?
This is a type of shampoo that has been developed to lighten your hair gradually. If you have colored, natural, or highlighted blonde hair, this shampoo would help you to lighten it as needed. The hair lightening shampoo will work perfectly on dark blonde and medium blonde hair. However, lighter brunettes can also enjoy the results of this shampoo.
What happens is that the shampoo will enhance the existing color of the hair to offer you a subtle lightening effect. But, you should keep in mind that the hair lightening shampoo might not be the best option if you want to achieve immediate results or lift shades. Instead, a bleach would be the best pick for you.
Why Should You Use A Hair Lightening Shampoo?
So yes, you already know that the hair lightening shampoo will help to keep your hair looking lighter than the previous state. What you should know is that the effects of the lightening shampoo will range from one person to the other. Some of the factors that would affect the results include the condition of the hair as well as the color of the hair.
If you have extra-fine or over-processed hair, it is important to choose a sulfate-based lightening shampoo. This is because such hair comes with a drying effect and they tend to break too easily. That being said, here are the reasons for using a hair lightening shampoo.
Eliminates yellow/orange/brassy tones in hair
The hair lightening shampoo will keep the blonde hair bright while removing orange, brassy, or yellow tones. Too many times, these tones are usually caused by excessive exposure to hard water, sunlight, or chlorine. If you have blonde hair that gets dull too often, a lightening shampoo would be the solution for you. It will not only brighten the color but also add some shine to the hair.
Enhances the natural blonde or light-brown hair
Another thing that a lightening shampoo will do is to enhance the natural blonde or light-brown hair accordingly. You can also use the lightening shampoo for a dyed blonde to medium-brown hair for perfect results.
Boosts highlights of your hair
The lightening shampoo will boost the highlights of your hair while keeping them fresh as you visit the salon. Generally, this shampoo will bright out the natural highlights and make the hair look naturally-lightened.
Useful to use during the transition from dyed hair
If you are shifting gradually from a dyed hair back to the natural blonde hair, a lightening shampoo would be your friend. It will help you during this transitioning so that you can get the best out of it.
They help to keep blonde hair bright and fresh for long
For those that are used to go for a regular color appointment for their hair, this shampoo can help you save on the costs of the color appointments.
What Ingredients Should You Look For?
When choosing a good lightening shampoo, you need to highly consider the ingredients of the lightening shampoo. There are some ingredients that you must ensure are in the shampoo, which should help keep your hair lighter.
Here are some of the ingredients you need to check out;
Lemon Juice
This is a popular natural lightening ingredient that is used not only on the hair shampoo but also on other skin lightening products. Naturally, lemon comes with a high citric acid content that works as a mild bleaching agent. So, when you apply the hair shampoo that contains lemon juice, the juice will work with the sun to lighten your hair naturally. Plus, it can also work even without sunlight, especially if it comes with other ingredients.
Lemon juice will work perfectly on blonde to dirty-blonde hair shades, including light-brown hair. Most of the hair lightening shampoo out there come with lemon juice among their primary ingredients.
Honey
Another natural ingredient that is used for bleaching is honey. With honey, it comes with an enzyme named glucose oxidase. This enzyme will act as the major bleaching agent when it gets in contact with the hair.
Chamomile Extract
This stands among the best natural lightening agents out there. It is also very effective, which is why you should also consider it in the lightening shampoo you wish to choose. This one comes with a natural yellow color of chamomile flowers, which will bring out lighter tones to your hair strands. So yes, this must be a top-ingredient to look out for in the lightening shampoo.
Other ingredients that can help enhance the lightening process include vitamins, botanical extracts, or natural oils like jojoba or rosehip.
Above all, you can find some that have violet or yellow color pigments. But there are not exactly natural lightening ingredients. Rather, they will only change the color by adding the pigment to your hair.
Just ensure that you avoid shampoos that contain harsh chemicals and sulfates. Such shampoos may not have beneficial moisturizing ingredients. In the long run, they will make your hair dry and ashy.
How should you use the hair lightening shampoo?
Generally, you should use the shampoo as you would use your regular shampoo. This means that it should be used on a daily basis to help achieve maximum lightening effects.
If you already have the lightening shampoos that don’t contain moisturizing ingredients, ensure that you use your regular moisturizing shampoos in between. You can use your regular shampoo after two weeks or so.
How long will it take to see the results?
This depends on the condition of your hair and what you expect of the shampoo. All in all, lightening shampoos offer refined effects, which is why you should use it constantly until you start experiencing the changes. This means you should continue using it until your hair becomes slightly lighter in color. It can take three weeks or more to experience this.
Even after using the lightening shampoo and experiencing the results as needed, remember that the most important thing is to maintain the blonde hair accordingly. Don’t forget to always use hair products with safe ingredients.
