That sour little fruit has a lot of amazing skin care benefits. Bright and colorful, lemons will do wonders if you are prone to blemishes, is great to detox and is refreshing and brightening to your skin.

The thing is, I hadn’t really known all of the benefits (with the exception of lightening my hair in the summer) until a few years ago I made the switch from flavored water to spring water with fresh lemon in it.

While switching up how I was eating, it was suggested to me that my favorite Pure Life flavored water may be preventing my weight loss (preservatives, etc.) It was recommended that I opt for regular spring water and add fresh, sliced lemons to it.

I’ve always drank a lot of water, with my only downfall being 2 cups of ice coffee in the morning, but never added fresh fruit simply due to the wait time for it to diffuse. (I am a want-it-now kind of girl.) About 3 months into drinking strictly fresh lemon in my water I noticed that I hadn’t gotten a blemish the entire time.

This is highly unusual, especially since I am prone to them at least once a month (if you know what I mean!) Also, because sometimes I don’t follow my own advice and end up forgetting to wash my face before bed forever clogging my pores.

I’m very good about a daily skin care routine (exfoliate, serum, moisturize, etc.), but not so good around 10pm when I’m tired (especially on weekends.)

So now 6 months into doing my usual skin care routine and drinking a lot of fresh lemon water, I have been blemish-free the entire time. In fact, when I just had a facial at The Lodge at Woodloch, the esthetician told me that I didn’t really have much congestion in my pores. Score! Lemon essential oil is amazing as an ingredient in skin and body care products too. It serves as an antiseptic, is cooling to the skin and is also quite a way to wake up your senses with its invigorating fragrance.

In fact, it’s part of A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Energizing Citrus body wash, body lotion and salt scrub. With antioxidants and minerals like calcium, magnesium, Vitamin C and potassium, your skin will reap the benefits when applied topically as part of a skin care product (I never recommend applying the essential oil alone to your skin as it can cause photodermatitis.) Of course, it also has wonderful health benefits when consumed via a healthy diet.

When applying products that contain lemon in it, just be sure to wear a good broad spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen, as you may burn a little more easier than others when exposed to direct sun light.

Also, in case you were wondering if lemon juice can fade acne scars, this is a great post to read: Does Lemon Juice Fade Acne Scars?

The one downside is that citric acid is very harsh on your tooth enamel. Definitely make sure you brush your teeth with a flouride toothpaste twice per day. Wait at least 30 minutes after drinking or eating fruit, as this is when your teeth are most vulnerable.