Apply Lemon Juice to Lighten Hair-Natural Remedy for Healthy Hair
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Using lemon juice to lighten hair is one of the most used at-home tricks many people try. There is much debate about whether this trick works or not.
In this article, you will get the answer to most of the common questions people bring up in this concern. And you would learn the steps on how to create a natural-style highlight look using lemon juice, too.
Facts regarding lemon juice to lighten hair
Indeed, there are many important facts related to using lemon juice to lighten hair. They are mentioned in-depth below, starting with the properties of the liquid itself.
1. Lemon juice properties
The main chemical ingredient in lemon juice is natural citric acid, and that does have bleaching properties. This will result in warmer and almost-natural golden highlights in the applied region.
2. Effects of lemon juice on hair
The acid present in the lemon juice simply makes the natural lightening process faster. This mimics the natural sun exposure that lightens hair by opening the outer hair layers. And it makes the strands rough and dry.
Of course, some lemon on hair side effects is visible. But the entire process would not work without the sun exposure step simultaneously, anyway.
The juice acid activates after getting heat exposure, which itself opens up the hair cuticles. After this, you would notice the lemon hair lightening before and after differences.
However, if you are planning on going completely blonde after being brunette, this process is not the home-solution for that.
There are results, but it is comparatively less obvious than actual bleach. At most, it works in the manner of a natural highlighter out in the sunlight.
Of course, the hair with lemon juice starts getting dehydrated, and that is not the best effect overall. So, you need to wash the hair and deeply condition it later. That would get rid of the strong lemon scent too.
3. Steps to follow
Indeed, there is a particular procedure that you would have to follow to perfectly get the golden highlight you desire. There are some specific steps to this, and most of it is very simple after a few practices. All these are explained hereafter.
- Gather ingredients- The first step to any activity is gathering everything you would need to do it. So, the main ingredients you need for bleaching hair with lemon juice are a chamomile tea bag, lemon, and spray bottle each.
- Squeeze the lemon- Firstly, roll the lemon in your palms to soften the core. And then squeeze all the liquid juice out, and calculate the measurement you need.
- Make chamomile tea- Take the tea bag and put it in a cup of boiled water. Let it rest and the tea will come out until you get a strong aroma. Then, let it sit and cool down.
- Mix the two- Take out the spritz bottle and add one-part lemon juice and two-part cold chamomile tea water. In case you have fragile hair, you should add at least a teaspoon-sized portion of conditioner to the solution.
- Spray on the hair- Spray the solution on the hair until it is damp but not too wet. Then, sit under direct sunlight for an hour. Also, you can use a blow dryer to target particular areas for 30 minutes. Here, using the combination of lemon juice and hair dryer to lighten hair gives the best effect.
- Continue repeating the steps- Keep continuing this step repeatedly for days, until one day you would notice the results.
4. The longevity of the effect
Indeed, there are many ways to temporarily or permanently lighten the hair color. Applying lemon on hair falls more under the second category as it would actually open the hair strands.
This means that the natural pigment is broken down following this, and the effect would stay permanently.
Normally, professionally and artificially treated hair starts getting duller over a longer period. But, the interesting thing about lemon for hair is that the UV rays play a role in this process. Thus, the hair becomes brassier over a while.
In case you do not like the effect of the lemon juice to lighten hair, you can add an opposite color on top. For example, in case you have yellow hair, you need to add purple over the hair. That would turn this portion of the hair white.
Similarly, if you have orange/red hair after putting lemon juice to lighten hair, you would need green to make it caramel tone.
5. Lemon benefits
There are some specific benefits of lemon on hair for improving hair growth and making the hair follicles stronger.
However, the use of lemon juice for dandruff is one of the most obvious benefits. Admittedly, it reduces the deposit of product remnants, pollutants, and excess oil too.
6. Lemon drawbacks
Besides the lemon benefits for hair, the drawbacks are more prominent. For one thing, it results in the worsening condition of the pigment in the hair.
Plus, as much as it breaks the cuticles down, it also turns your hair more brittle and dry overall. Therefore, your hair would look duller due to the breakages.
7. Precautions to take
After you use lemon juice to lighten hair, it is necessary that you rinse the juice out soon afterward. The cuticles would contract and get suffocated with the combined assault of the sun and the juice.
Thus, rinsing properly would remove the liquid out faster, slowing this effect down.
Furthermore, you should do this as soon as you feel that the hair is drying up. As a result, your hair would have that highlight effect but not get damaged too much either.
All in all, in the concern of using lemon juice to bleach your hair, you need to consider both the pros and cons. Thereafter, use this easy home-made method, if you so desire.
