Hi everyone! Recently, I have been contemplating dying my hair again, but I am really skeptical about bleaching due to my last experience. (See my post: Hair colouring disaster? The time I died my hair blue and purple) So I decided to research how to lighten hair naturally, and I came across the lemon method. However, the people who mention doing it tend to have hair that isn’t as dark as mine and it made me wonder if it would really work on people like me. Here’s what I did.
Step 1: Squeeze the juice from a lemon
While it is possible to just buy lemon juice, I figured the more natural it is the more effective it’ll be, so I worked with fresh lemons. For every cup of water needed, I used half a lemon, which was about 2.5 inches in diameter. The amount of water needed depends on the size container you use. See step 4 for further instruction on this.
Step 2: Mix the lemon juice with apple cider vinegar and water
I used 1/3 cup ACV for every cup of water.
Step 3 (optional): Add drops of lemon essential oil
This step is optional; since my hair is naturally black or very dark brown, I thought it best to reinforce the lemon water. For every cup of water, I used about 7 drops of lemon essential oil.
Amazon link to lemon essential oil
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Step 4: Apply the mixture to freshly washed hair
I did this by putting the solution inside of a container and soaking my hair in it for 30 seconds. You don’t have to make a lot; just soak different sections at a time. I decided to do this because I wanted to ensure the lemon water penetrated the lock. If you have unlocked hair, then the easiest way would be to just rinse it with the lemon mixture.
Step 5: Apply sunlight until it dries
You can either sit in the sun or go for a walk. I chose to do both; sit for 40 minutes and walk for 20 minutes. My locks didn’t dry completely, but 1 hour is the maximum time that you should leave the lemon water on your hair. The combination of sunlight and the citric acid from the lemons can actually damage the hair cuticle.
Step 6: Rinse hair and apply a moisturizing treatment / conditioner
I believe you should condition your hair after any sort of bleaching process, even one as mild and natural as this.
Step 7: Let hair air dry
It looks lighter, but maybe you have to do it a few times to see greater results? I’ll keep trying different methods on how to lighten hair naturally, to see which works best.
Th next method I tried was: How to lighten hair naturally – does hydrogen peroxide and baking soda really work?
Related posts:
How to dye dark hair naturally: red ochre (iron oxide)
Hair colouring disaster? The time I died my hair blue and purple
How to grow locks: My hair growth and hair repair regimen
How to lighten hair naturally – does hydrogen peroxide and baking soda really work?
Until next time!
~Jay
Is this recently? Your hair colour is definitely lighter.
Yes, this was taken last week. I’m glad you think it’s lighter too! I wasn’t sure if I just had wishful thinking.
Keep the process as natural as possible
Trying to!