Secret Beauty Ingredient? Lemons

By Andrea Arterbery,Shine Staff | SHE

You should always keep a few lemons in your kitchen. No, not for cocktails, dressings, or marinades. These sour fruits are a beauty secret weapon that can soften your skin, heal acne, and even whiten your teeth. Unlike typically complicated DIY beauty treatments, there are many clever, easy ways to use lemons in their natural form. Here are seven reasons to be psyched that life has given us lemons.

1.    Lighten and brightens skin.

These vibrant yellow fruits can be used to brighten dull looking skin and remove dark spots. The citric acid serves as a natural lightener and will gradually work to fade spots and even out your skin tone. The most effective ways to apply the juice is through spray form or even mix some of the juice with your own face wash.

2.    Whiten teeth.

Forget the pricey professional dental treatments. Lemons can be used to create teeth whitener! Squeeze some juice from the lemon with baking soda and apply to your teeth with a Q-tip, leave on for one minute, and then gently scrub off with a toothbrush.

3.    Zap blackheads and oily skin.

In addition to brightening skin and leaving a lovely glow, lemons also work to suck out oil. Just squeeze out a bit onto a cotton swab and swipe over the skin at night before going to bed. If blackheads are your worry, mix a few drop of honey with the juice of half a lemon and apply directly to the area where you have blackheads. Let it sit for five to 10 minutes and rinse off with cool water.

4.    Brighten hair color.

Skip a salon visit with this old summertime trick: Before your next outdoor activity, mix lemon juice with your favorite hair conditioner, comb through strands and let the sun work its magic. The combination of the sun's UV rays combined with the acid in the lemon juice and oxygen in the air work create a bleaching process. Natural highlights!

5.    Strengthens nails

If you do your nails a lot, they may be weak from all the peeling and tough nail polish removers. Treat your digits by mixing a tablespoon of olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice and rub the liquid right onto your fingernails. It's best to do this treatment at night, but if you wear gloves after applying the mixture it will penetrate your nails even better.

6.    Relieves dry skin.

From your scalp to your lips to your knees and elbows, lemon juice works wonders to relieve and soothe dry skin. For the scalp, mix lemon juice with coconut oil, olive oil, and raw honey. Rub into the scalp and let sit for about 10 minutes before rinsing. For super smooth skin, simply rub a piece of the lemon onto dry patches at night before bed and then rinse off in the morning.

7.    Heal acne.

Citric acid is really effective in treating problem skin. Simply cut a lemon in half and rub directly onto acne. Let the juice heal your skin overnight, and wash with water in the morning. Please note: citric acid may cause a burning sensation on some forms of severe acne, so consult with a doctor before trying.

 

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