If you’re someone that doesn’t need a quick solution for dark spots or other areas you just want whiter then you may want to give a home remedy a try. One of the most effective home options is using lemon juice based mixtures. While it doesn’t work anywhere near as fast as a skin lightener or laser surgery, if you use these concoctions on your skin daily for several months (5 to 7 months or longer) you’ll gradually notice a difference.
Using Lemon Juice for Dark Spots and Lightening
The main thing in lemons that lightens skin is the naturally occurring citric acid. Unfortunately, this ingredient is rather weak when it’s not combined with other known lightening agents such as arbutin or even kojic acid. It does work by itself but it takes a very long time.
There are multiple ways you can use lemon to lighten your skin including:
- Applying lemon juice to the skin
- Combining a few ingredients with lemon to create a homemade lotion
- Drinking a bit of lemon juice daily
Below we’ve provided a few tips and examples of how to do it the most effective and safest ways.
Applying it Directly
You can put lemon directly on your skin in one of two ways:
- Juicing it and dabbing the juice on the skin
- Using the outside of the fruit
If you want to go the juice route you simply need to wash off the lemons under cold water, cut them up into halves, and then squeeze the juice out into a small dish. Then take cotton balls, soak them in the juice, and use to rub the liquid on your face or whichever body area you want to lighten. Leave the juice on the skin for 20 minutes or so then wash it off with water.
You can also use the rind of the lemon. That’s the outside part, not the soft fruit portion. If you want to do that, chop up the find into small pieces and rub it across your skin. This acts as a natural cleanser and will also leave behind some of the citric acid that helps to brighten up your skin.
Making a Lemon-Based Lightening Cream
If you want to be a bit more adventurous there is a more effective way of using lemons to whiten your skin. By combining lemon with a couple other components you can create a cheap, natural lotion to use. In order to do this you’ll need:
- Lemons
- Bottle of 100% Glycerin
- Honey
Mix these ingredients together equally in a bowl or cup. Then use the substance as a lotion on the parts of your body that you wish to lighten. This also makes for a great moisturizer for your skin.
Drinking Lemon Juice
This one is pretty obvious. You simply need to drink a bit of lemon juice every day. Yes, it’s sour, but ingesting it helps your body get the citric acid and nutrients directly which will naturally be pushed to your skin as well. It isn’t the most fun option but it’s certainly the simplest.
Faster & More Effective Options
As we mentioned before, lemon juice does work for whitening the skin but it can take a very, very long time. By itself the citric acid in lemons is a very weak ingredient. Sure, it’s found in most seen-in-stores skin lighteners but it’s a very small component. It’s also, despite being natural, not the healthiest option. Too much acid can wreak havoc on your body, teeth, and essential bodily functions.
If you want fast results you’re much better off using a skin whitener or dark spot corrector. Most these days are made mostly from natural ingredients and derivatives, they pack more punch than a homemade remedy, and you get to see the fruits of your labor much quicker.
We’ve reviewed numerous products designed to lighten the skin and fight against dark spots. The products we highly recommend are:
- Alchimie Pigment Lightening Serum
- Civant Meladerm Pigment Correction Cream
- Murad Environmental Shield Rapid Dark Spot Correcting Serum
- Clinique Even Better Clinical Radical Dark Spot Corrector
- Neutrogena Rapid Tone Repair Brightening Serum Capsules
These products stand out amongst hundreds of others. They’re extremely easy to use, do wonders for your skin, provide results quickly, and can be used in combination with other cosmetics and makeup. They’ve been proven to work well on practically all skin tones and skin types. Yes, even those disdainfully cursed with absurdly sensitive skin. If you’re looking to lighten your complexion and combat excessive melanin production – we highly recommend checking them out.