NATURAL CHECKING Can lemon juice really lighten your hair?

Wrong! Lemons do not like the sun. Lemon juice contains mostly citric acid, a natural bleaching agent does in fact lighten the hair, but is not exactly harmless. If you want to achieve beautiful golden highlights, lemon juice is far from being the most effective and safest solution. When lemon juice and sunlight are combined, the chemical reaction that lightens the hair, also dries it out. Citric acid attacks and opens the hair structure, making it porous and rough. The sun's rays can already damage your hair on their own! That's why you need to protect your hair from the sun. Lemon juice actually accelerates the damaging effects of the sun.

Wrong! Lemon can damage the hair fibre. The acidity of lemon juice can initially act like a vinegar rinse, giving a (false!) impression of extra shine when first applied. But over time, repeated applications of citric acid will damage the hair fibre. With naturally less melanin, blonde hair is less resistant and dulls more quickly than darker shades: the combination of UV rays and citric acid accelerates the depletion of melanin in the hair, making it duller than it really is.

Again, wrong! Lemon can do some funny things. Citric acid has the most effect on naturally light hair. If you have dark hair, the effect will be brassy at best... For those with coloured hair, lemon juice can behave differently to what you might expect!