Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow It WorksWays to Use ItIs It Safe and Effective?Other Benefits
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
How It Works
Ways to Use It
Is It Safe and Effective?
Other Benefits
The juice from alemon(Citrus limon, from theRutaceaefamily) has multiple benefits for your hair. In fact, many people use lemon juice, combined with exposure to the sun, to lighten their hair naturally.It’s cost-effective, making it an attractive home remedy and an alternative to professional hair bleaching treatments.
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How Does Lemon Juice Lighten Your Hair?
Citric acid, an organic compound found in citrus fruits like lemons, has a natural bleaching effect. That’s why lemon juice is also used in skin and freckle-lightening products.
How to Lighten Hair Using Lemon Juice
To lighten your hair, mix equal parts warm water and lemon juice (mixed with olive oil for a moisturizing effect, if preferred) and spritz it directly on your hair using a spray bottle. Focus on the parts you would most like to brighten up a few shades. Then, spend an hour or two outside in natural sunlight. Some prefer to squeeze lemon juice directly on their roots, which also works. Make sure you don’t squirt it into your eyes!
Some people also combinebaking sodawith lemon juice to lighten their hair, but there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that this is effective. Also, baking soda can upset the pH balance of your hair, leading to brittleness and split ends.
Can Olive Oil and Lemon Juice Really Treat Health Conditions?
In combination with UV rays, lemon juice is effective as a hair lightener. However, it tends to only work on naturally light shades, especially blond hair. If your hair is darker, lemon juice may bring out brassy tones or do nothing at all. The effects will also likely be subtle; don’t expect extremely dramatic results.
In terms of safety, lemon juice does not pose many major risks. For some people, it may irritate or inflame the skin, including thescalp.Also, both sunlight and lemon juice can have a drying effect and lead to hair damage over time. It’s best to stick to a few one-hour sessions of natural hair lightening rather than doing so on a regular basis.
In addition to lightening your hair, lemons have a number of other properties that may make them beneficial for your hair and skin. Lemon juice is:
Summary
However, frequent or prolonged sun exposure is not healthy for your hair. Also, lemon juice will not give you dramatic lightening results. Visit a hair care professional if you’d like to consider other hair coloring options.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
DermNetNZ.Lemon.
Zaid AN, Jaradat NA, Eid AM, et al.Ethnopharmacological survey of home remedies used for treatment of hair and scalp and their methods of preparation in the West Bank-Palestine.BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017;17(1):355. doi:10.1186/s12906-017-1858-1
Zhai X, Gong M, Peng Y, Yang D.Effects of UV induced-photoaging on the hair follicle cycle of C57BL6/J mice.Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2021;14:527-539. doi:10.2147/CCID.S310487
Dias MFRG, Loures AF, Ekelem C.Hair cosmetics for the hair loss patient.Indian J Plast Surg. 2021;54(4):507-513. doi:10.1055/s-0041-1739241
Klimek-Szczykutowicz M, Szopa A, Ekiert H.Citrus limon(lemon) phenomenon- A review of the chemistry, pharmacological properties, applications in the modern pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries, and biotechnological studies.Plants (Basel). 2020;9(1):119. doi:10.3390/plants9010119
American Academy of Dermatology Association.Coloring and perming tips for healthier-looking hair.
Shimizu C, Wakita Y, Inoue T, et al.Effects of lifelong intake of lemon polyphenols on aging and intestinal microbiome in the senescence-accelerated mouse prone 1 (SAMP1).Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):3671. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-40253-x
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