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Does Honey Make Your Hair White? [THE TRUTH]

If you’re wondering “Does honey make your hair white?”, the short answer is no.

In some cases honey does have minimal lightening effects on hair, nothing even close to the color white though, and works nothing like Clairol's Professional BW2 hair powder lightener products do.

We’ll get more detailed in this article about the myth that honey turns dark hair white, and I’ll show you how you can get healthier, better-looking hair from using this sweet substance too!

So, let’s get down to beeznizz my beauty! Shall we?

You see, honey is one of the most versatile health and beauty substances in nature. Though it's made from tiny bees (and some ants and wasps), it has provided humans with big health and beauty benefits for centuries.

Since honey can be used for anything from baking to beauty, how would this liquid gold fair as a hair lightener? Many people who consider honey for hair lightening are afraid that it could turn their hair white.

Is that true, though?

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Does Honey Make Your Hair White? The Confusing Myth Origin Of Honey Turning Black Hair White

So many folks ask “Does honey make your hair white?”...

It’s amazing, where did this myth even come from?

Well, where there’s smoke there’s gonna be fire, whether alot or a little.... So, here’s what has thrown people off about honey’s effect on hair whitening:

1. Honey possesses an enzyme called glucose oxidase. The chemical properties in glucose oxidase break down glucose sugars and generate hydrogen peroxide, which is a type of bleach substance. These low levels of H2O2 can cause your hair color to slightly lighten but won’t turn hair white or gray. In reality, the quantity of hydrogen peroxide produced is almost negligible.
2. Honey has been used in hair and skin and beauty care for centuries. It was one of Queen Cleopatra’s favorite beauty ingredients. In ancient times, many wealthy women used honey as a hair mask and washed it off with plain water. They didn’t have specially-formulated shampoos and world-renowned conditioners at that time. So, this resulted in some sticky honey residue left behind which then attracted dust and dirt from the atmosphere and resulted in infection of the scalp, hair fall and greying(which could appear white to some). But honey, when used properly and washed away correctly, can work wonders on the hair without whitening.

All-in-all, the science tells us that honey does not cause graying or whitening of hair.

Oftentimes, those wondering does honey make your hair white or not just need a little education about how true hair bleaching works.

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Honey Does Not Make Your Hair White - So How Does Bleaching Work?

Before diving into the effects of honey and lightening hair, it would help you to understand how people bleach hair in the first place.

Hair bleaching happens when a bleaching agent, usually hydrogen peroxide, enters the hair cuticle, swells it, and, with an oxide agent, removes all of the natural pigment from the cuticle. The stronger the bleaching agent is the faster the lightning process happens, but faster doesn’t always mean better.

Though bleaching is a necessary step in the hair dying process, it can be dangerous for anyone who wants to have a healthy scalp and hair. If you bleach your hair too often or use a bleach that lightens too quickly, you can end up with stiff, brittle, and damaged hair – you could even end up with no hair at all.

With that being said, it only emphasizes the fact that people with type 3 and type 4 hair should be very cautious in bleaching and lightening their hair. Always make sure you go to a specialist who understands your hair type and needs.

So, if honey does have the effects on hair that it’s rumored to have, your issues may be more serious than whether or not it can turn your hair white. If honey is strong enough to turn your hair white, can it accidentally damage it as well?

Some women are also concerned about facial hair and does honey make your hair white above the lip? Let’s talk about it...

Does Honey Make Facial Hair White?

Does honey make your hair white above the lip or on your face? The answer is no. So if you’re wanting to make the appearance of a peach fuzz mustache change, it’s best to just remove the hair.

Yes, while it’s true that honey has a particular agent that lightens some hair colors, it does not make it white or transparent. Just like how the natural acidity of lemons lighten your hair, the naturally occurring lightening agent in honey (hydrogen peroxide) is a safer alternative to store-bought hair lightening products, yet not super-effective.

Honey only has trace amounts of a chemical compound called “hydrogen peroxide”. This compound is very well known in the cosmetics industry because of its hair lightening effect.

However, the right amount for best effect is mainly found in  store-bought hair lightening products, the level of peroxides vary depending on how light you want your hair to turn.

In honey, only a small amount of this chemical is present and therefore can only give you a subtle and more natural looking lightening effect.

An easy explanation of how this compound lightens hair is that it works its way into your hair shaft and dissolves the natural pigment of your hair.

When natural pigments are dissolved, your hair changes color. Usually, hair lightening products require another chemical (ammonia)to help hydrogen peroxide reach your hair shaft and dissolve your natural hair pigment.

[RELATED ARTICLE: Learn the best way to go natural...]

Honey Does Not Make Your Hair White - So How Can Honey Help?

Since people have been using honey for centuries as a beauty product, we have quite a bit of historical and scientific evidence behind what honey can and cannot do for your hair.

Does honey make your hair white? No. Yet, honey is a perfect cocktail of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for hair. Due to honey’s nutritional and salve-like chemical makeup, it’s been used to heal wounds and ease irritation.

But in the vain of beauty, honey is known for having so many hair and beauty benefits:

• It stimulates hair growth
• Softens hair
• Promotes shine
• Reduces scalp irritation
• Reduces the appearance of dandruff
• Makes hair stronger

With all of these great benefits, what are some of the detriments to honey?

Can Too Much Honey Hurt You?

We all know the saying, “too much of a good thing.” Well, this saying also applies to honey. Just like any delicious treat there are always rare risks involved. But what risks are they specifically?

• Raw honey has a high risk of containing dead bees in it, if you have an allergy to be stings or pollen this could put you in danger.
• Children younger than twelve months old could be in danger of botchulim if they consume honey.
• People with blood sugar or blood clotting issues may want to avoid honey. It could raise your blood pressure or even cause prevent blood from properly coagulating.

After all of my research, there was little to no risk of honey damaging hair. So, all that’s left is, finally, determining if hair can turn your hair white.

The Wrap Up: Does Honey Make Your Hair White?

So let’s recap this “does honey make your hair white” conversation: Now that we know a little about bleaching and honey, we can put two-and-two together to figure out if honey can turn your hair white and if it can cause any severe damage.

Based on the research we have available today, we can see that there is no evidence that honey can turn your hair white, gray or transparent.

Honey is a very weak developer. It’s true that there is hydrogen peroxide within its chemical makeup, but it’s not enough to turn your hair white.

For the women who have tried to lighten their hair by two or three shades, they were able to accomplish this over the course of two months or more (and that’s with them lightening it once a week).

Are There Natural Lighteners and Bleaches?

One of the earliest recorded incidents of people dying their hair was 1500 BC with the Egyptians.

Men and woman would dye their gray hairs with henna powder to keep them looking young. However, as history continued, hair dying has become less about retaining youth and more about self expression and improving confidence.

Today, we can use olive oil, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, and other household products to lighten our hair.

If you’re looking for a natural solution to lightening your hair, you can rest assured that there are many DIY homeopathic products to help lighten hair.

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