Publications
Partners
Want to lighten your hair colour without the often damaging effects that come with using hair dye, or are those unsightly, stubborn blackheads on your nose a confidence-killer?
Well, this common household fruit is the answer to several problems – and the best part is, it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg!
There are so many more uses to lemons than drizzling its juice over your food or adding it to your water.
Here are seven surprising ways to use the sour citrus.
Treat dry elbows and knees
No-one wants to spoil the look of their favourite summer frock with unsightly dry elbows and knees.
A quick fix is to add lemon juice to baking soda until it forms a thick paste. Any quantity is fine – it depends on how much you need. Scrub your elbows and knees with it to remove the dry, dead skin.
Rinse thoroughly with cold water and then moisturise with lotion.
Get rid of scars and uneven skin tone
According to Goodhousekeeping.com, studies have shown that the acid in lemon juice can help fade the appearance of scars on the skin. The vitamin C in the juice also helps brighten the skin but it has to be used often before results can be seen.
Apply lemon juice to your face or the scarred area of your body and leave it for 15 minutes. Rinse off with cold water.
It’s important to remember that this treatment should only be done at night, as exposing the skin to the sun will have adverse effects.
Improve weak, discoloured nails
If you’ve ever had one too many gel nail treatments, you’d know that it often stains the nails an unappealing yellowish colour.
To get rid of this, Women’s Health advises you mix olive oil with lemon juice and soak your nails in the mixture.
Not only will this help remove the unwanted colour, it strengthens brittle nails too.
The lemon juice’s acid helps remove the build-up of colour on the nails and the olive oil hydrates the nails.
Get lighter hair without artificial dyes
Squeezing lemon juice on your hair gives you natural highlights, says Robert J Dorin, a hair restoration surgeon.
Speaking to Goodhouskeeping.com, Robert explains that the acid in lemon juice makes your hair lighter when it comes into contact with sun’s rays.
All you have to do is mix lemon juice and warm water in a spray bottle, spritz it on your hair and sit out in the sun for about an hour.
Continue this once a week until you have the shade you’re looking for.
Get dandruff under control
Not only is it uncomfortable and itchy, dandruff is embarrassing too.
To get rid of those unwanted flakes, all you have to do is apply this mixture: water, ginger root, lemon juice and olive oil.
Pour the treatment over your hair and let it dry before washing it out with shampoo.
Regular treatments should take care of dandruff – thank us later!
Lightening dark armpits
So the heat is on but you dare not venture out in something sleeveless because you’re too afraid to lift your arms for fear of exposing your dark armpits?
Once again, lemon juice to the rescue.
Steptohealth.com advises mixing lemon juice with a little bit of oatmeal and honey until it forms a paste, and then applying it to the armpits. Let it set for an hour before washing it off.
But the benefits of lemon juice to the armpits doesn’t stop there. Lemon juice is also a natural deodorant. The citric acid in the juice kills the bacteria that causes bad smells, so not only do you have lighter armpits, you having better-smelling ones too.
Goodbye blackheads
The skin on and around the nose is especially prone to blackheads because it’s one of the oiliest areas of the face.
The juice in a lemon contains astringent and antibacterial properties which helps with eliminating excess oil on the skin and deep-cleanses it. Cut a lemon in half and rub it on the skin. Let it set for 10 minutes before rinsing thoroughly with cold water.
Remember, do this at night and not when you’re about to be exposed to sunlight or you’ll end up damaging your skin further.
Sources: Women’s Health, Steptohealth.com, Goodhousekeeping.com
