When Life Gives You Lemons...Rub Them All Over Your Face!

   
   Ok so first a little history!I have suffered with acne since having my son six years ago...damn hormones...when overnight I literally went from a fresh-faced teenager to a pimple-filled stranger. I had never really had to 'care' for my skin before, it kind of looked after itself. I didn't have the slightest clue about cleansers, let alone all the steps which followed them, and I kid you not, I actually spent my teen years scrubbing my face with a body buffer!! Extreme exfoliation or what?! Still makes me shudder.

  So back to the sudden break out, I found myself faced with extremely congested, oily, unbearable skin. In sheer desperation I began trialling several methods raved about in various acne forums to help 'cure' my acne woes. Cue the lemon; the raved about 'miracle remedy'. Many have touted the huge assortment of benefits the standard lemon has to offer our skin. To name a few:

Reduces oil: The acid in lemon juice has mild astringent qualities. The astringents work by constricting the body tissues and pushing the oil out of your skin. Yummy!

Kills bacteria: The citric acid of lemon juice also acts as an antiseptic. Since bacteria have a difficult time adjusting to acidic environments, the lemon juice can help reduce the number of bacteria that are living inside or on top of your skin.

Cheap: An inexpensive alternative to mainstream skincare products!

Reduces redness: Many find that applying an astringent like lemon juice greatly reduces the redness caused by acne.

Scar therapy: Some believe lemon juice is a natural way to reduce scars caused by acne. 

   Sounded too good to be true but I was willing to give it a whirl. In fact, I've never wanted a lemon more! 
   So the method goes...simply slice open a lemon and rub it across your face, it's as easy as that! 
   This is to be done at least once a day, waiting for a minimum of ten minutes before rinsing off with warm water (some recommend sleeping overnight with the lemon juice on your skin, however I was personally a little too nervous to do this!). It is also recommended that you add a few drops of honey to a lemon before applying it directly to areas suffering heavily with blackheads. 

    So I applied the lemon juice to my skin and waited...It did burn and sting a little upon application which did worry me but I figured at least it was doing something, right?! I washed it off after ten minutes, moisturised and went to bed! I must admit, when I awoke the next morning I was pleasantly surprised to see that my skin was more even in tone, my pores seemed smaller and my oiliness was  greatly reduced. So I continued this process each evening happy in the knowledge that my skin was on the mend!

     However after roughly one week, the fairytale soon turned into a nightmare. Sure my spots may have been shrivelling at the mere sight of a lemon but something worse was happening. My face was taking on the appearance of a ninety year old woman; it was dehydrated, peeling, any healing spots seemed to be taking a ridiculously long time to do so. What was going on??

    Basically after a little research, I discovered that this seemingly wondorous fruit could actually cause more harm to your skin than do good. The listed negative side effects of using lemon juice for acne include:

Lack of Clinical Studies: There have actually been no studies to prove/support the acne-fighting capabilities of lemon juice nor the potential damage it can do to the skin's surface. Many dermatologists believe that since lemon juice is extremely acidic it can potentially disturb the natural PH balance of skin causing several negative side effects. I personally believe this is exactly why my skin became extremely dehydrated, a problem I have unfortunately struggled with since!

Dry skin: If you have dry to normal skin, the lemon juice may cause excessively dry and flakey skin which let's be honest, is not exactly the 'glowing' look we were going for!

Painful: The acid in lemon juice may cause your pimples to sting or possibly even bleed. Yikes!!

Lightens skin: Astringents like lemon juice can cause your skin to lighten where you’ve applied it, which I know some express is a welcome result, but for me,being extremely pale-skinned already, I didn't like the extra ghostliness about my face. Furthermore please be sensible with this, lemon juice contains limonene which when exposed to UV rays can cause discoluration of the skin. Therefore it is a MUST to couple this method with a strong SPF.

Not for dark skin: Those with darker skin tones should avoid using lemon juice as an acne treatment as it can cause dark spots to appear where applied.

  So there you have it! If however you still wish to give lemon juice a try, after all, all skin is individual, these are the best practices I have found:

Wash your face: Gently rub lukewarm water and a mild soap on your skin using your fingertips. Wash with warm water and allow your skin to dry for 5-10 minutes.

Create treatment: Cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze each half into a bowl.

Apply treatment: Dip a cotton ball into the freshly squeezed juice. Dab the wet cotton ball to your affected area. A small stinging or itching sensation is normal. If the stinging is unmanageable add water to the solution to dilute the acidity.

Wait 20 minutes and rinse: Allow the lemon juice to dry, letting your skin absorb all of the acid. After 20 to 30 minutes rinse your face with warm water. Apply moisturiser if necessary.

   I soon ditched the topical application of lemons, left with worse skin than I'd had to begin with. The lesson I learnt from this experience was to always do my research first (though I cannot say this was my only disaster!!) Not just looking for articles/posts to support what I wanted to hear but both sides of the argument. Hopefully I have offered an insight into that here for others looking to try out the so-called 'miracle acne remedy' sitting in your fruit bowl!!