Lemon rinse success! (pic)

**inty** · February 6th, 2011, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by PraiseCheeses

Oh my! Thank you so much for posting this! We seem to have a very similar hairtype, so I'm really hoping if I try it that my curls will look as gorgeous as yours do.

Beautiful!

Good luck! I hope it will work for you. Watch out for tangles, though. I have found that even 1 lemon/5 liters water gave me ends which stuck a bit together and made it somewhat difficult to comb first days. I tend to comb out my hair a day after wash, maybe not a problem for you if you only comb with condish in the shower. Hmmm... I might try this less frequent combing too, actually. I will be also experimnting with various shampoos/conditioners (when I buy them, that is :-P) to see if that makes any difference.

So far, I love the results but poor combability afterwards is somewhat problematic.

**inty** · February 6th, 2011, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by Lianna

When left in, won't burn the scalp when out under the sun? Since lemon + sun = burned skin?

The sun?! if only

there's no sun here in the Netherlands at this time of year... Only fast moving clouds and wind of 7 beaufort

**Lianna** · February 6th, 2011, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by inty

The sun?! if only

there's no sun here in the Netherlands at this time of year... Only fast moving clouds and wind of 7 beaufort

I was worried if I was to do it, the sun is out here everyday all year long, I burn if I stay under it for 20 minutes. I guess I shouldn't be doing this rinse right? Maybe it's okay if I rinse with water after?

**inty** · February 7th, 2011, 12:03 PM

I'd try both: a rinse (and not rinse out) on a very cloudy day, and a rinse (rinsed with water) on a normal (sunny) day, and see... I think it *might* hurt, if you are sensitive to this, or if you know you had this issues before with lemon. But then, again, this rinse is very-very diluted. It barely tastes sour. I think on a day when you're not going to be a lot in the sun, or it is cloudy, shoud be safe to try.

**allmixedup88** · February 7th, 2011, 06:03 PM

your hair is so pretty

**Regan** · August 12th, 2011, 09:17 PM

Does the natural sugar in the lemon juice contribute to an itchy scalp?

**Sigrida** · July 27th, 2012, 03:31 AM

This seems like a great idea worth reviving

**cmg** · July 28th, 2012, 08:35 AM

Indeed. I do it with fresh lime mostly. Love the scent.

/ CMG

**sakuraemily** · August 1st, 2012, 03:52 AM

Originally Posted by inty

Thanks for the compliment, Finchen! You hair looks very thick and nice color, too!

I haven't tried lime juice for rinses... It might work, I think.

I previously tried with bottled lemon juice (you know those yellow plastic bottles which resemble lemon), but that didn't work at all. Maybe freshness is the key?

I have tried citrid acid rinses and ACV in the past, but none of them worked like *this*. They did reduce frizz a bit, did add shine a bit, but only lemon had such a nice effect.

Here's a link to the original thread with recipe:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...ad.php?t=53745

You're right. vitamin c is highly unstable and degrades very quickly on exposure to heat, light, moisture, etc. So freshness is the key

**cmg** · August 1st, 2012, 08:10 PM

pH or acidity is the key here. The hair doesnt mind if its fresh or not. If the lemon remains uncut the acidic level doesnt change.

Here are some measurements of acidity, for common things used in rinses:

Lemon or lemon juice: pH 2-2,5 *
Wine vinegar pH 2,4
Vinegar pH 3,0
Orange juice pH 3,5
Apple cider vinegar pH 4,25-5,0

Note: pH is measured in a logarithmic scale, which indicates that lemon is ten times as acidic as an orange and hundred times as acidic as apple cider vinegar. The individual measurements can also vary between manufacturer etc.
*(same for the concentrate from the bottle: pH 2,4)

Lime has approximately the same pH-level as lemon, even though the percentage of ascorbic acid is lower.

/ CMG