Lemon juice is a popular natural treatment for skin conditions like age spots and acne, but it can also cause irritation and inflammation and may trigger skin conditions. Lemon contains natural fruit acids that can sting, irritate, or burn your skin, making it a risky DIY option for home skin care. Here are some of the potential negative effects of using lemon juice on your face:
Negative effects:
- Skin irritation: This is the most common side effect of using lemon on your face. Because it’s highly acidic, lemon may cause dryness, flakiness, redness, and peeling. These side effects can be more severe if you have sensitive skin.
- Sensitivity to sunlight: Known as phytophotodermatitis, this is a side effect of acids, like those in lemon juice, weakening and damaging the skin barrier. Possible symptoms include redness, swelling, and blistering.
- Hypopigmentation or leukoderma: While lemons are widely used for skin lightening, there are reports of it causing hypopigmentation or leukoderma in certain people. This can lead to your skin losing its natural color in the affected areas and the appearance of white or discolored spots on the face.
Ingredients: Lemon juice contains natural fruit acids, including citric acid, a type of alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), which can help break down dead skin cells that lead to noninflammatory forms of acne, like blackheads. Lemons also have antimicrobial effects, which may help tame Propionibacterium acnes bacteria that lead to inflammatory acne. At the same time, lemon also has antifungal effects, which may help treat Candida rashes as well as scalp fungus that sometimes occurs with seborrheic dermatitis. Lemon juice naturally contains vitamin C, an antioxidant that may help reduce skin damage and premature aging.
In conclusion, while lemon juice has some potential benefits for the skin, it also has several negative effects that make it a risky option for home skin care. If you want to use vitamin C to improve your skin, its better to use a vitamin C serum with a known concentration of vitamin C, which will provide safer, more consistent results.
