I Applied Onion Juice On My Face For 40 Days And The Results Were Amazing
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When you think of quality skincare, what images pop up in your brain? Your brain immediately conjures up images of fancy products by those luxury foreign brands, doesn’t it? I used to think along the same lines till I got to know that the solution to all my skin woes was right here in my kitchen all along – onion. This humble vegetable not only adds flavor to our food, but it also provides extensive health benefits as well. Being a good source of nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, and antioxidants, it is also great for skin and hair (1), (2).
After learning these facts, I decided to do an experiment and apply onion juice on my face for 40 days. Given below are my observations that I recorded during this trial period. During this time, I decided to forgo all of my usual cosmetic treatments such as facials, clean-ups, etc. and did not use any other cosmetic products, so as to test the effectiveness of this onion juice hack.
Treating My Pigmentation Problem
Ever since I went through puberty, I had developed these light brown patches on my forehead, and temples. This pigmentation is also known as melasma. No matter what products I used I could never get rid of them. Since onion is known to treat scarring, I decided to use it for treating these patches as well (3).
I used a mixture of onion juice and lemon juice for this purpose, with two tablespoons of onion juice and one tablespoon of lemon juice. To obtain the onion juice, I first grated an onion and then squeezed the shredded onion through a muslin cloth. By doing this I had obtained about half a bowl of onion juice and an equal quantity of tears as well turns out beauty really is a pain. I took the amount I needed to make the paste and kept the rest in the refrigerator. However, and this is important, do make a note of this, I never used the juice if it was older than three days.
The First 10 Day Period
I decided to observe the effects of onion juice and record them over small periods of 10 days to see if they were having any effect on my melasma. For the first 10 days, I would get up every morning and instead of using my non-comedogenic facewash, I would wash my face with water, and then apply the onion-lemon juice mixture all over it, taking care to exclude the area around my eyes. I would leave it on for about 20 minutes and then wash my face with warm water. Since the mixture had onion, I was afraid it would smell a lot, but the fragrance of the lemon masked the pungent odor of the onion very well. However, I must confess, I myself couldn’t stand the smell and I would cheat a little by using a rose-scented face spray.
Over the 10-day period, I observed that the edges of my dark patches were dissolving a little and they seemed to be edging towards my complexion. This was a huge improvement for me and I decided to double the dosage and follow the same ritual in the evening as well.
Day 11–30
For the next twenty days, I included the onion juice hack in my night routine as well. However, this time the results were more mixed. While the dark patches were still lightening, the change was less discernible. The progress wasn’t as fast as I expected it to be. To top it all, around day 22, I got my periods and during the next five days, I had to limit the frequency of the onion juice routine to once a day as I had breakouts all over my face. By the end of this period, I had seen consistent but very slow progress and I was a bit disappointed with that.
Day 31–40
During the last leg of this experiment, I noticed huge improvements. I had moved beyond the plateau stage and was back on track. At the end of this period, the patches were barely visible, and not only that, regular application of this concoction had also banished the problem of uneven skin tone. I had glowing skin, without any blemishes.
However, keeping in mind the adage, “Too much of anything is bad” I decided to stop the experiment here itself. This is my advice to anyone who wants to follow this ritual. Since it is organic, you can go for it without any inhibitions. However, to be safe, do a patch test to see if you are not allergic to the chemicals in onion juice. As with everything, moderate your usage according to your skin. If it is sensitive, it might be better if you don’t use this hack every day.
Beauty might be skin-deep, but it pays to keep your skin nourished and healthy in the long run. Do you know of any other ways by which we can use onion to get great skin? Share your tips and hacks in the comments below.
