Lemon Juice Is a Great Natural Hair Lightener
Hands up: who's put lemon juice on their hair to encourage natural highlights? It really is a natural lightener, but those golden streaks comes at a price. Using neat lemon juice on your hair in the baking hot sun will wreck your roots; lemon juice is an acid, after all. Your hair will also become a playground for wasps and bees.
A better option would be to trust your hair to a professional, especially now there are new products like Olaplex to help protect the hair when it's bleached. But if you must try a DIY approach, at least give your hair half a chance of staying healthy. Mix your lemon juice with water and oil in a spray bottle and spritz into your roots, or try a spray designed to gently lighten the hair like John Freida Sheer Blonde Go Blonder (£6). If this brings back bad memories of Sun-In as a teenager, trust me that things have come a long way since then. For something even gentler, Lush Marilyn (£6.50) is a hair mask full of ingredients (including lemon juice) designed to gently lighten as it deep-conditions.