Lighten Your Hair With Lemon Juice

Will a light bulb work just as well as the sun when I'm highlighting my hair with lemon juice?

By vicky from UK

Answers:

Lighten Your Hair With Lemon Juice

As an ex-hairdresser do yourself a favor and do not use the lemon juice, it is way to acidic for hair, it will lighten it, but it will also cause it to become dry, frizzy and very dull as all oils and natural moisture will have been stripped from the hair. You can't replace what you have drawn out with the lemon juice and make it soft and supple to the touch again, and any natural shine is long gone until you grow out the new hair.

You will have to cut off the damaged hair as even professional coloring will not work very well either so you can end up with "German Shepherd hair" referring to the color blotchiness, it is not a pretty sight. And no, a light bulb would not work as it needs more heat and the sun is what activates the lemon and the hair to basically counteract each other.

The warmth from the sun opens the cuticle of the hair allowing the lemon juice acids inside to strip out or "burn out" the color. A bad choice, but it is your hair. A better choice would be a Clairol Frost and Tip kit, easy and not harmful as the lemon juice would be. Good luck and hope it doesn't come out looking like you have tiger stripes as you also are not able to control where the lemon juice will spread to. With the professional frost kit you can control where it goes and what hair it will be acted on to lighten. (09/21/2009)

By Beau

Lighten Your Hair With Lemon Juice

I also was a hairstylist, retired after thirty years behind the chair. Knew my trade well enough to have worked full time in the studios and those actors and actresses certainly don't trust just anyone with their hair. Both my parents retired as hairstylists, too.

Back to the question at hand, if all you want is a "minimal amount of lightening" then by all means use it instead of the chemicals that are "ultra lift" in lightening kits and can dry your hair out if not used correctly. All you have to do is use it when your hair is dirty/oily. Those natural oils will help reduce the chances of the hair drying out. For even lightening, so you don't get strange streaks or missed spots, just spray hair very well with the juice and gently comb through.

Do not use a lightbulb. Just put a shower cap or plastic bag over your hair and sit under a hairdryer or use a blow dryer on low heat for a few minutes while moving it around evenly. The heat will open the cuticle layer allowing the lemon juice in. Afterward shampoo with a mild shampoo and condition.

If you want more than minimal lightening please be kind to yourself and find a good hairstylist. Best way to find one is ask people who's hair color you like and looks healthy and ask who does theirs. (09/22/2009)

By Deeli