About Hair Highlighting With Lemon Juice

If you'd like natural-looking highlights without the use of bleach, consider using lemon juice to highlight your hair. Pure lemon juice is effective, as well as over-the-counter lemon highlighting sprays, like Sun-In. If you have extremely dark brown or black hair, you may not want to use lemon juice to lighten your hair--it can turn your hair orange or red! But if you have medium brown to blond hair, you'll be able to lighten your hair naturally without consulting a hairdresser. Pregnant women unable to dye their hair during pregnancy can also use lemon juice to lighten their hair.

History

Lemon trees are traced to Egypt in about 700 A.D. At first, the lemon was not trusted in some religions and known as fruit made by the devil. Catalan priests believed that the lemon should not be in society because of its strange shape. According to Catalan priests, the lemon was considered to be not as good as the orange because it was not as round. Lemon was the only known cure for scurvy in the 1700s, so it began traveling on ships.

Benefits

Highlighting hair with lemon juice is much safer than hair dyes that contain bleach or other harsh chemicals. Lemon juice is safe for children as well as adults, and it is safe for pregnant women who are not able to dye their hair during pregnancy. If you have small children in the house, it is much safer to keep a bottle of lemon juice in the medicine cabinet than it is to keep a carton of hair dye. Because lemon juice has almost no adverse effects, it is one of the safest ways to lighten your hair.

Considerations

You can lighten your hair by piecing out small sections of hair to drench in pure lemon juice. Fresh-squeezed lemon juice will lighten hair a little bit better than lemon juice from concentrate, but if you are having problems seeing results with bottled lemon juice, add two teaspoons of salt and shake vigorously. The salt will aid the process by opening up your hair shafts to allow for better absorption. If you'd like to lighten your entire head, pour lemon juice over all sections of your hair and comb through.

Misconceptions

It is not necessary to sit in the sun in order to lighten your hair with lemon juice. Companies like Sun-In advise that you sit in the sun to suggest their product is more complicated than mere lemon juice. The sun will assist in lightening your hair, but it has nothing to do with the lemon juice. What is really important is that your hair becomes warm so the lemon juice is absorbed, sort of like a hot oil treatment, or sitting under a heat dryer while waiting for your hair dye to set at the salon. Dry your hair with a hot hairdryer, or sit in the sun until the lemon juice is completely dry. Rinse all of the lemon juice out with hot water. It is completely safe to use lemon juice to lighten your hair more than once.

Warning

Do not attempt to lighten your hair if you have very dark black or brown hair, or you will risk adding red or orange highlights to your hair. It is better to add too little lemon juice to your hair than too much. Because lemon is a natural hair lightener, the results can vary significantly. It's best to experiment with your hair and do what's best for your look. If you lighten your hair with lemon juice too many times, you risk your hair becoming more brittle than usual.

Resources

• Sun-in
• The world's healthiest foods: Lemons
• Lemon as a Hair Lightener