Lightening henna'ed hair Part II

I lightened my henna'ed hair and lived to tell.

I had to take a head on shot for my graduate school ID:

The florescent lighting in my bathroom is awful. I will take some shots in daylight soon.

Still, you can see the gradation of my hair. It's quite light on top, while the ends are very dark.

Behold, my hair lightening secret:

Not so secret, huh?

Pretty basic, a spray with hydrogen peroxide, some preservatives, and some citrus oils.

I bought it for the low risk factor, low price, and fear factor. Fear factor? Yes, I am afraid of chemical dyes. Unlike most, I am not one to shy away from scientific invention, but rather, I know my hair, and it is damaged by most anything. I liked the control aspect, just being able to spray it where I wanted it.

I first thought I would try Garnier Herbashine gloss, a color-less shine treatment that lifted Little Golden Lamb's hair by about a shade due to the hydrogen peroxide in the ingredient list, sans any colored dye. Sadly, it has been discontinued, and there are no current drugstore substitutes.

Next, I was told by several retail associates to purchase a 10 developer and a clear demi gloss (colorless). I just couldn't do it. I have no idea if it would be any better or worse that what I purchased, but my gut told me to stay away. I like to be an educated consumer, and I felt anything but educated as I perused the hair color aisle in Sally's.

I also chose the easy lites because the instructions stated that a flat iron was necessary in order to see results, and I had no plan of flat ironing my hair. Essentially, I was expecting to see little to no results.

It worked quite well. 

I was very stingy on application. I only applied it to the top 3 inches of my hair.

I should, here, add a caveat. I only BKT my new growth. I haven't done a full head BKT application in several years. I never wanted straight hair. I prefer (on my face) 2a or 2b curls (bouncy large ringlets or waves), and I find that BKT helps me achieve that look with minimal damage. I was open to lightening (or faux bleaching with a very low level of hydrogen peroxide) the top layer of my hair because that is the area that I primarily want straighter - and curls tend to straighten out after some heat or chemical damage. I do not use heat on any other area of my hair. My hair is layered, so applying the solution to a specific area was quite easy.

I was so impressed with my result, that I attempted to lighten past the first 3 or 4 inches, but the rest of my hair has undergone so many henna applications, that it is more resistant to lightening.

I also purchased this:

This one comes with a warning, stating that it is only for blondes. The ingredients are almost identical to the Marc Anthony spray, yet it smells better.

I didn't find it worked as well as the Marc Anthony, so I returned it.

I also tried out some cassia that I had purchased from Henna Sooq. I mixed my cassia with chamomile tea, lemon juice, yogurt, honey, and a pinch of cardamom (chamomile, lemon, honey are natural lighteners, with cardamom as a peroxide booster for the honey). 

The cassia toned down the henna a bit. It darkened a bit as well, but I like the color and I plan on continuing to use the Marc Anthony Easy Lites every so often, and supplementing with cassia treatments.

So, to summarize (I almost typed summerize - freudian slip?): gentlemen may prefer blondes, and blondes may have more fun, but over the counter hydrogen peroxide lighteners don't discriminate :)

AND...........even if you thought I had covered absolutely everything...........please, hold on to your hats. Stay tuned for part III!