You know the saying, ‘When life give you lemons, make lemonade‘? … Oh, please! When life give you lemons, make lemon juice and give yourself some highlights!
My friend and I used to do this sometimes in the summer, a tip given by my mom ages ago. Get freshly squeezed lemon juice, and put it in the areas you want your hair to be lighter. Lemon juice is a great natural bleach. My friend would use a wide tooth comb to comb in the lemon juice so that it would separate and would create pretty hightlights. For me, I wanted a lighter color all over so I poured the whole cup of lemon juice on my head. After that, sit out in the sun for a while (20 minutes should be enough) and after you wash and dry your hair, I promise you’ll have a very nice, natural looking color. A great tip for summer or for those who have their natural hair color and want to spice it up abit.
Has anyone tried this beauty tip themselves? :)
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Wow, I had no idea you could do that! I have 2 questions :)
Do you apply it to dry or wet hair?
Is it lemon juice (lemons, water and sugar) or is it just the squeezed lemons?
Hey Rosa, so sorry – I should’ve been clearer!
1) Apply it on dry hair. :)
2) It is squeezed lemon, nothing else. Take a fresh lemon, squeeze all the gunk out, take the juice, and apply it to your hair … sit out in the sun for as long as you want (or as light as you want your hair), and voila! I did this about 3 different times though, cause lemon bleaches very little at a time, but I wanted a real difference so I tried it a few times. It depends on how light you want your hair to be :)
I hope to hear about your experience if you do try it out! :)
OMG! This is like the best hair tip ever! =D I am so trying this. Hehe.
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Yay :) Let me know how it goes!
sounds good!!!!
Lemons are great for hair. I start using a home made mask for about 1 month now. I mix the juice from a fresh sqeezed lemon with 2 spoons of honey and wash my hair. This helps my hair stay non greasy for a longer time than usual and give a good clean to the hair roots. I see that it’s really working because my hair doesn’t become oily in the day day or two like it did before.
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Tavia, thanks for the great tip! I know lemon is great for oily hair as it really ‘cleans’. Have you ever noticed it lightening your hair as well? :)
honey + water = amazing for hair. Honey mixed with water (I think it’s 1 part honey with 2 parts water) releases a sort of natural peroxide that delicately lightens the hair. When you combine it with lemon juice, i’m assuming that it’s like a dual-action highlighting mask for hair. It’s definitely something to try. Anyway, great post renee!
Hey Jackie, thanks for sharing that with us! My readers are all so smart :) I will have to try out these DIY hair masks, I haven’t heard anything about honey but it really is worth a try. Have you tried it yourself? :)
yep, i’ve tried it :) Over the course of 5 weeks (using the mask once a week), i’ve noticed that my hair has gotten a lot shinier and lighter. I previously had my stylist put in highlights a few months ago and the honey mask brightened them up. My stylist even marveled at how radiant my hair was. I love it!
here are the directions on how to make it (i don’t bother with the saran wrap or cap, i just slather it all over my hair and when it gets dry, i splash some more water on it):
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1220564/lighten_your_hair_with_honey.html?cat=69
Maybe is to early to tell, cause I’ve been using this only 4 times. But I will let you know if I see a change of color, I’m a natural blonde anyway so….I don’t want to wake up one morning with platinum blonde hair :) I’m kidding.
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It may be too early to tell, yeah, but also because you already have light hair! ;) May take awhile … if you see it happening you may want to stop for a bit in case you do wake up with platinum blonde, haha! :-P
I just found this site & I love it all (especially the Jennifer Aniston hair article) . My experience with lemon juice & hair isn’t a good one though. I used to have silky straight hair up until i was about 15- then i decided that i wanted to bleach it. Mum at the time wouldn’t let me buy “Sun-in” for my hair soo i would squeeze lemon juice on it & lay out in the sun. .. my hair went from a nice medium-dark brown to a gross orangey blonde & my hair got sooo soo dry & damaged that it turned my hair frizzy & curley
:( . My hair dresser could not believe how damaged my hair had got -luckily im 21 now & those ends are long gone …but it did take a VERY long time to repair/ grow out my damaged hair so I would not advise it.
Hey Sarah. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you around more! :) I am so sorry to hear about your experience. Did you mix the lemon juice with bleach? My friends and I have been doing this for years and it’s the least damaging thing we’ve done to our hair, it always looks very natural. :( I guess for different hair types it could react differently?
This may sound stupid, but do you have to go outside in the sun for it to work?? xx
Not stupid at all, Lois! I think the sun definitely ‘speeds’ up the process – I know leaving the lemon in your hair for 20 minutes at home will not do as much as sitting out in the sun, since it helps bleach it. I used to do it at home myself but I found the sun would do it much quicker. If you want to avoid the sun, you can apply it at home, but leave it on longer, perhaps 40 mins? And you may have to do this about 3 times before you notice a difference.
Let me know how it goes :D
is this thing just for the color r the weight of hair too??
Hey! Not sure what you mean by weight, but yup, it’s definitely for the color! :)
will this work on people with black hair and will it turn brown?
It sure will, Marianne! :) You may need to do this a few times, though.
did you know that you can use lemon juice out of the bottle…it doesnt work as well but it still works!!! Try it…and enjoy
Would This Worl on like, VERY dark brown hair? XD
xx
Yes, works on any hair color! :)
i read that chamomille tea also works especially for dark hair because of color and texture but it says ( i found this info online searching for homemade bleach) tea will lighten dark hair and bring out natural highlights. the tea was recommended for very dark hair. where lemon was suggested for naturally light hair. some people suggest mixing the two and advised sun as well for significant and fast results. they did mention dark hair turns orange with peroxide and lemon, and light hair suffered from dry and brittle results. i would suggest oiling your hair or a deep condition before, or, and after bleaching, or abuse of any sort. good luck hope this helps and please always research before doing ANYTHING!!!
Hi! Ummmm, im 11 and i want highlights for my bday, but my mom said no. Then we heard about this whole lemon juice things and she said i could do this, but idk if it will work cause i have dirty blonde hair and from what i’ve read on other sites it says it BARELY lightens hair. Help?