The different ways to lighten brown hair in 2023

Want to lighten your natural or dyed brown hair? Well, you came to the right place. There are different ways to lift dark or medium brown to a light brown or dark blonde, all preferably while avoiding hair dye disasters and brassiness. I will also tell you which hair dyes work best and which ones you should avoid.

The least risky method: hairpray that makes you blonder

If you don't want anything permanent on your hair, but still want to give your hair a blonde sheen, try a finishing hair spray that strengthens the look of blonde hair and highlights, like the John Frieda Sheer Blonde Crystal Clear Hairspray.



Lightening spray

If you want a slightly stronger effect, you can safely use a blondening spray on your hair, like the John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Spray. The effect is even stronger when you let the spray dry in the sunshine.



I would make sure to moisturize and tone the hair afterwards though. You can quench the hair using the Kerastase Chronologiste Mask.



Before using this mask, you can opt to tone your hair using the Fanola No Orange Shampoo which is perfect for toning brunette hair.



Click on images for more information.

Blondening shampoo?

If that's still not enough, did you know there is blondening shampoo? I tried the John Frieda Go Blonder Shampoo, and I did find that my hair was lifted one tone.



Ash blonde hair dye

But my favourite method is to use an ash blonde hair dye. All you need to do is check the chart on the box of hair dye to see if it can be used to brighten brown hair. You don't even find shades like this, but they exist. Some of my favourites are the Garnier Nutrisse Color 61 in Light Ash Brown and the L'Oreal Excellence Cream in 8.1. I'm from Europe and I did some research. If you are from the US you can use the shade Superior Preference 7.5A Medium Ash Blonde. It's light enough to pull your brown hair darker, ash any shades as dark as even just light brown could potentially make your hair darker. This is why it's always important to check the chart.

If you have very dark hair, they will not recommend ash blonde on you. You will have to use a light brown first to pull the shade closer to blonde and your transformation will have to become more gradual. I once dyed my hair almost dark brown and I wasn't able to lighten it easily with box dyes. I couldn't go for medium browns either, because those turn out dark on dark hair. My best tip in this situation is to check all the boxes at the store until you find one that has a dark blonde with a color chart where dark brown is allowed.

So, dying hair is like a game of rope pulling. If you want the shade of the girl on the box, you might actually want to go for a box with a lighter shade than the box where the model is on. A dark ash blonde on medium brown hair might have zero effect at all. In order to see the slightest difference, you might have to go for medium ash blonde or light ash blonde. The following shade names are recommended: light ash blonde, medium ash blonde, dark blonde, dark ash blonde, light ash brown, cool beige,..

Examples: L'Oreal Excellence Cream in 8.1 Ash Blonde, L'Oreal Superior Preference 8 Medium Blonde Natural, L'Oreal Excellence Cream 8.13 Light Ash Gold Blonde, Garnier Nutrisse 7 Dark Blonde, Garnier Nutrisse 81 Medium Ash Blonde, L'Oreal Excellence Cream 9 Light Natural Blonde and Garnier Belle Color 7.1 Natural Dark Ash Blonde.

Shade names I do not recommend: anything named icey brown, platina, silver, burgundy brown, mocca, gold blonde, truffle, medium brown, dark brown, chocolateExamples: L'Oreal Excellence Cream 8, Schwarzkopf Poly Palette Intensive color in 500 Sweet Mocca,

When all else fails: bleach

If nothing helps to lift your hair, you might want to dry bleach, like the Garnier Nutrisse LB1 Ultra Cool Blonde.



Have fun lightening your hair! Be safe and always do 48 hours test, even if you have used the product before.