Lighten Hair with Lemon Juice – All You Want to Know about Lemon for Hair

How much does it cost to get your hair lightened at a salon? The average range is $60 to $150. You may cost more due to the hair length, hair salon service, and many other factors. It is expensive and unsafe to go outside to change hair color, especially in 2020.

If you just want to lighten hair color, fresh lemon juice can help you. It costs about $1 to bleach your hair. All you need to buy is lemon. Then you can lighten your hair blonde with lemon juice. To be more specific, you can create a lighter effect on blondes. As for dark hairs, it turns out an orange tone after dyeing with lemon juice.

Why lemon juice can change hair color? Actually, the acidity of lemon deteriorates the cuticle layer of hair, which makes your hair turns out to be a different color. When you combine lemon juice with sunlight, its reaction can expose the underlying lighter color. In other words, you can lighten and bleach hair with the help of lemon juice citric acid.

Will lemon juice hair lightening last permanently? Yes, it is. You can permanently lighten hair with lemon juice. It is your reliable and organic hair lightener. Here is the complete tutorial to lighten hair and make your hair blonder with lemon juice.

• Before: What to Prepare to Lighten Hair Naturally
• During: How to Lighten Your Hair with Lemon Juice
• After: 10+ FAQs of Lightening Hair with Lemon Juice

Before: What to Prepare to Lighten Hair Naturally

Lemon juice can be used as an organic hair lightener. It is super easy to lighten hair with lemon juice at home. Just mix lemon juice and water into a spray bottle. Then you can apply lemon juice and water mixture to your hair. It takes several times to lighten your hair with noticeable effects. So if you are not satisfied with the current lightened hair color, you can get more tries.

The lemon juice treatment needs to be exposed to direct sunlight. Thus, you should also protect your skin from the sun with sunscreen. Otherwise, the long-time sunlight exposure will cause sunburn and other related problems.

What do you need to prepare to DIY hair lightening with lemon juice? You can check the following list.

1. 3 – 5 fresh lemons (depends on your hair length)
2. Lukewarm water
3. Leave-in conditioner (optional)
4. Spray bottle
5. Mixing bowl
6. Sunburn with SPF 30+/50+
7. Deep conditioner (commercial or homemade hair conditioners)

During: How to Lighten Your Hair with Lemon Juice

Lemon juice can lighten your hair naturally, especially for light hair. There is no need to wash your hair before lemon hair lightening. Just use lemon juice on unwashed hair to lighten it. You can lighten hair from dark brown to light brown with lemon juice. (light brown to dark blonde, dark blonde to light blonde, light blonde to white blonde…)

What’s more, you had better choose a sunny day to get blonder highlights using lemon juice. Lemon plus sunlight can create a double effect. Now, let’s check the tutorial to naturally brighten hair with lemon juice.

Step 1: Make Preparation for Lemon Juice Hair Lightening Spray

1. Cut lemons in half. Squeeze the juice from fresh lemons into a mixing bowl. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remove lemon seeds.
2. Add lukewarm water into fresh lemon juice. You can mix one part lemon juice with two parts of lukewarm water. If you have a leave-in conditioner, you can mix two parts of lemon juice with a one-part leave-in conditioner instead.
3. Mix them together. Then transfer the lemon juice mixture into a clean spray bottle. You can give it a good shake to mix the ingredients together.
4. The citric acid from lemon juice can create a lightening effect on your skin as well. To protect your skin from UVA and UVB rays, don’t forget to wear enough sun cream on your face and body. It is suggested to use SPF 50 sunscreen. Moreover, you need to reapply sunscreen to block sun rays continually.

Step 2:  Spray Lemon Juice on Your Hair

1. Spray the lemon juice mixture all over your hair. If you want to lighten roots, tips, or streaks on your hair, you can spray hair lemon juice on those areas only.
2. If you want to make a full dye, you can use a brush to brush your hair.
3. Make sure all your hair fibers are damped with lemon juice. But there is no need to soak your hair with lemon juice.
4. You can use a cotton ball to soak the lemon juice mixture, then highlight with specific hair strands. Thus, you can get natural highlights on your hair.

Step 3: Lighten Your Hair with Lemon Juice and Sun

1. Stay under the direct sunlight for about 1 or 2 hours. It depends on where you live, and which season you are in.
2. If you DIY lemon juice hair treatment on a cloudy or rainy day, you need to wait for 4, 6, or even 8 hours. How your hair lightened depends on the sunlight exposure time.
3. Your hair will be hard and a little fragile when the lemon juice dries. It is normal. The citric acid attacks will open the outer layer of your hair. Then the chemical reaction between lemon juice and the sun can aggravate it.

Step 4: Rinse, Condition, and Dry Your Lightened Hair

1. Rinse lemon juice mixture out of your hair completely.
2. Use a deep conditioner or hydrating mask on your hair. This step is important. To make your lemon juice lightened hair smooth again, you need to moisturize it from the root to the end of your hair.
3. Use clean water to rinse out your hair thoroughly. Dry your hair (check the difference between air dry and blow dry).
4. If your hair is still dry, you can apply some moisturizing spray or cream on the hair end.
5. Style your hair to make it better.

Step 5:  Repeat Lemon Juice Highlights

1. The first time lemon juice lightening effect is subtle. It takes several times to get noticeable and natural hair highlights.
2. Dye your hair with lemon juice as Step 1 to Step 4 shows once a week. You can shorten this lemon hair lightening for 3 to 4 days in a row as well. Your hair color can be lighter and lighter.
3. Deep condition your hair every time after lightening with lemon juice.
4. After 4 lemon juice hair lightening processes, you can see your hair is one shade lighter than before.
5. It is suggested to give your hair a rest after lightening hair. Because lemon juice will dry out your hair while bleaching. You need to leave some hair recovery time before dyeing, curling, or straighten.

After: 10+ FAQs of Lightening Hair with Lemon Juice

1.    Will lemon juice ruin your hair?

No. Lemon juice can take the color out of your hair permanently. If you leave lemon juice on your skin during hair brightening, you may have a burning feeling. Your hair will be crunchy after lemon juice hair dye. But fresh lemon juice won’t damage your hair. It is the long-time exposure to the sun that opens the hair cuticles and lifts the hair color. You can reduce the side effects of lemon juice for hair by applying deep conditioner.

2.    Can you use bottled lemon juice to lighten hair?

No. Organic lemon juice is much better than artificial lemon juice. The preservatives and other chemicals are bad for hair healthy. Just squeeze out the juice from fresh lemons to reduce hair melanin and lighten your hair.

3.    Can you use lemon juice on black hair?

Yes. You can lighten black hair with lemon juice to brassy and even a little orange. But sometimes there is no obvious result on extremely dark hair, especially you dye black hair before. If you lighten red hair with lemon juice, you can get golden highlights.

4.    Can you apply lemon directly to the scalp?

Yes. Lemon juice can be your herbal shampoo. You can apply lemon on hair to clean your scalp. Though the lemon citric acid and AHA may cause scalp burns. If you feel uncomfortable with lemon juice hair spray, you can wash it out with lukewarm water immediately.

5.    How long does it take for lemon juice to lighten hair?

Generally speaking, it takes one to two hours to lighten your hair with fresh lemon juice. You need to repeat 3 or 4 times to get the direct lemon juice hair before and after comparison. So the entire lemon hair lightening process costs 8 to 10 hours.

6.    Can you lighten hair with lemon juice overnight?

It depends. It’s okay to leave lemon juice on normal hair textures. But if you have dry hair, leaving lemon juice on hair overnight will cause dryness and itchiness.

7.    Does lemon juice stop hair growth?

No. Lemon juice is not harmful for hair. You will not suffer from hair loss because of applying lemon on your hair. Actually, its rich vitamin C, antioxidants, and other nutrients can activate dormant hair follicles and grow hair.

8.    Can you lighten hair with lemon juice without the sun?

Yes. It is proved that you can use lemon juice and sun to lighten hair. The sunlight can create the lightening effects on your hair. If you want to lighten your hair naturally without sun, you can use a blow dryer to replace the sun as a heat source. To use lemon juice and hairdryer to lighten hair successfully, you need to turn up the heat and blow your hair for 30 minutes. Of course, your hair has been spritzed with lemon juice mixture thoroughly before.

9.    Can lemon cure dandruff?

Yes. Lemon juice can reduce oil and dandruff on your hair and scalp. The citric acid in fresh lemon juice can help you get rid of dandruff naturally. By the way, the antimicrobial properties contained in lemon can kill fungus on the scalp effectively.

10.What are the side effects of using lemon on hair?

Skin irritation and contact reaction are the main risks of lightening hair with lemon juice. You can make a test to avoid potential irritations. Just apply a small amount of lemon juice on your inconspicuous skin and scalp area. Go outside under the direct sun for a while. If nothing happens, you can use lemon juice as your natural hair lightener.

11.What happens to use lemon juice on bleached hair?

To some degree, applying lemon juice on hair is a mild way to bleach your hair. Therefore, if your hair is bleached before, applying lemon juice on your hair means you bleach hair twice. Your hair will be breakage, split ends and fragile. Of course, your hair color will be a little lighter than before.

12.Are there any other natural hair lighteners?

1. One part of apple cider vinegar and six parts of water. Apply apple cider vinegar on your hair to lighten strands slightly.
2. Combine baking soda and peroxide into a paste. Leave it on your hair for 30 to 60 minutes. Your hair can be 1 or 2 shades lighter. (Is backing soda good or bad for hair)
3. Create a mask with 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Then put this honey and cinnamon mask on the hair for at least 4 hours. Use a shower cap to bun your hair. You can even lighten up hair with honey and cinnamon overnight.

That’s all to lighten hair with lemon juice at home by yourself. You can permanently dye or lighten your hair with fresh lemon juice only. Well, it costs almost nothing to life hair color without bleaching. No harsh chemicals or difficult steps. This home hair dye is easy to operate and works for all hair types. You can change hair from dark to light naturally. Do you have any other questions about lemon for hair? If Yes, you can feel free to contact me and leave messages in the comments below.