Citrus fruits are often used in the best organic skin care products in Pakistan because vitamin C, among other nutrients, is said to have a profusion of skin benefits but such products can be a bit pricey.

One ends up looking for inexpensive alternatives or home remedies for fulfilling the skin’s nutritional requirements and lemons often come up in online searches. Blogs are littered with homemade skin care product tutorials and so are social media platforms like Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube that convince you to start applying lemon juice on your skin to remove whiteheads, wrinkles, lines, dead cells and whatnot. However, knowing exactly what potential benefits and risks using lemon on the face entails will equip you better to choose carefully between buying an off the shelf product and making one at home.

Is saving a few pennies worth the risk?

Lemons are obviously a more affordable choice compared to organic skin care products in Pakistan and serums containing vitamin C and proponents of DIY routines will tell you how applying a drop of lemon juice dries up your pimples and lights up your face but what about the dangers of using these remedies? We know nature can be fierce and not all foods or plants can be used in all circumstances. Expert opinion on the matter by Dr. Adam Mamelak who is a dermatologist based in Austin warns us against blindly trying techniques given on the internet. In most cases these are advocated by people who themselves have limited knowledge or are trying to push forth some other agenda.

But everybody says lemons are great for your skin…

There are several widely advocated benefits of lemon juice like for treating acne through bringing down natural oil production and inflammation, reducing scarring and patches of discoloration and removing blackheads through washing away the dead cells. What most people fail to mention is that there are differences between dabbing a lemon wedge on your face and the same ingredient being used in a self-care product that you use. Serums for instance often have lemon extracts mentioned on the label but a great deal of hard work goes into the testing, quality and safety of the product formula that you use unlike the simple process of slicing up a fresh fruit.

According to the Brooklyn based dermatologist Dr. Susan Bard, the vitamin C or ascorbic acid present as an active ingredient in lemons can help lighten your skin tone and is a strong antioxidant but it is still an acid that can cause burns on your skin. After all, there isn’t the same sort of standardization involved in natural processes and if you compare 2 different lemons you will find considerable difference in their constituent breakdown as well as other factors like taste. It is due to this reason that she does not suggest direct application of lemon slices or juice on the face. Alternatively you can choose a serum because they have a predefined quantity of acid content along with consistency, quality control and safety.

The dark side of Mother Nature

No matter how many risks of using lemon juice directly on your skin someone brings to light, you may still be thinking how bad can it be, really? I mean we all consume them regularly and plants are supposed to be amazing for our health right, so what is the worst that it can do? Well a bunch of things actually, starting from causing irritation on your face. It is one of the most common responses ranging from slight irritation that barely lasts a few minutes to really intense for sensitive skin that keeps worsening into other symptoms. These can include redness, peeling and dryness along with some serious conditions like phytophotodermatitis or margarita burn.

This condition is much more serious and affectees get burns, welts and blisters which naturally cause scarring along with intense pains. It mostly occurs when you apply lemon juice on your skin and go out in the sun. This is because UV rays coupled with citrus substances lead to allergic reaction and inflammation alongside sunburn. In no case whatsoever should you get direct sunlight exposure right after applying lemon juice and the same caution needs to be exercised even with vitamin C serums. Always apply a good sunscreen whether or not you have used lemon based products before going out.

There have been reported incidents of even dilute lemon juice causing other serious conditions like chemical leukoderma. One woman for example made a DIY toner using alcohol, lemon juice and glycerin in order to deal with her dark spots and freckles but instead of losing them she got this condition with white spots and patchy skin. You can still consume lemons in beverages and food obviously and benefit from the nutrients contained within them, even with skin care goals in mind.