3 Natural Remedies You Should Use With Caution

3 Home Remedies That Are Not As Harmless As They Seem

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As much as I love DIY beauty products + trying out natural remedies for different skin concerns, I’ve learned the hard way that not everything that is natural can be applied on the skin. Today, I'd like to focus on 3 very popular natural remedies that are not as safe as they seem and should always be used with caution. Let's jump right in!

Lemon

Lemon juice is probably one of the most  popular natural remedies on the internet. People believe that it can cure virtually anything – from acne and hyperactive sebaceous glands to scars and  hyperpigmentation.

Lemon juice has acidic nature, hence acts as alternative of chemical exfoliators. It makes skin cells shed more rapidly, which is supposed to  even your skin tone and clear your complexion. It improves the appearance of scars and speeds up the fading of spots from already healed blemishes. Apart from that lemons have high  vitamin C content - potent lightening agent and great antioxidant. So far so good, but are lemons really safe to use?

As you probably know,  skin’s normal pH is slightly acidic – about 5.5. Lemon juice’s pH however is lower - about 2, meaning that it is way too acidic to go directly on your skin. When the normal pH of your skin is altered, the integrity of the acidic mantle of the skin gets disrupted, leading to bad water retention (i.e. dehydrated skin) and increased susceptibility to infections.

When applied topically, without previous dilution, lemon juice can be highly irritating and can cause rashes, redness, increased sensitivity to light (which later may lead to hyperpigmentation), irritations and dry patches.

Nevertheless, it’s not all bad - lemon juice can be used as spot treatment. Dilute it with water 1:1 and apply it with cotton swabs only over the blemish/pimple/spot. If your skin does not react adversely, you can try with pure lemon juice.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is another extremely popular method to get rid of  acne and oily skin. Or at least the internet says so…

Many swear by it and claim that it helped them  “kick” acne out of their lives, but at what price? Just like lemon, apple cider vinegar has very low pH (around 2.4) and while it may help to a certain extent  control acne symptoms, it also destroys the acid mantle of the skin, which as mentioned above, leads to increased risk of developing infections, loss of moisture and even  premature aging.

Another way people use apple cider vinegar to achieve clear skin is by taking it internally. I don’t consider this to be a bad practice (unless you have sensitive stomach), but I am not 100% sure about its efficacy as anti-acne treatment either. There are a lot of controversial claims on the internet, so – decide for yourself.

If you ever want to use it as a toner though, make sure to dilute it with water first (preferably 1:2) and monitor how your skin reacts to it.

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Essential Oils

Essential oils are great and there is no doubt about it. We use them in our products and we know that they can do wonders for the skin.

Nevertheless, using them at home should always be done with caution. Since essential oils are very concentrated, applying them undiluted, directly on the skin, as some recipes over the internet suggest, can be very dangerous. Essential oils can cause severe allergic reactions, accompanied by burning sensation, redness and rashes.

Even if you want to add just a few drops essential oil to a cream/serum/mask, test for allergic reaction first. Experts suggest putting a drop of the essential oil you are planning to use on the inner side of the wrist and rub it gently until fully absorbed. Wait for 24 hours and if there is no redness or rash, it’s okay to use this particular essential oil. Better safe than sorry, right?

As for taking essential oils internally – there is a whole science behind it and I wouldn’t recommend doing it without talking to an expert first. 

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