Every summer, days in the sun usually take my highlights to a whole 'nother level. I love the extra kick of blonde I get from sitting in the warm sun! But this year, because of my absurd injury and a subsequent cold, it's been pretty much an indoor summer. But now that I'm finally back to normal, I hit the beach yesterday and took it upon myself to concoct something to help lighten up my hair.

I've always had pretty good results with fresh lemon juice squeezed or sprayed on my hair - not anything extreme like bright white streaks, but a subtle refresher/lift for existing color or natural hair. But, the lemon was sticky and drying, leaving my hair too "crunchy" even for a beach day. I'd also heard good things about chamomile but had never tried it - it was time to add this into the mix.

So, 2 ingredients down. Now how about something to keep hair soft and moisturized in the heat? After searching my beauty closet (and my fridge) I came upon the solution.

I mixed 2 parts fresh lemon juice (I squeezed the juice from 3 lemons) with 1 part Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Oil, in a spray bottle. Just make sure you strain the lemon juice first; pieces of pulp can clog the pump. The Tui hair oil is basically corn oil with chamomile, plus some other botanicals, so it filled the need for both the chamomile and the moisturizer.

I went to the beach and spritzed liberally every half hour or so. By the end of the day my hair still felt a little crunchy, but certainly not as bad as with straight lemon juice. And it worked! My highlights definitely "pop" more and my roots are less noticeable.

But the best part is that this mixture smells incredible. The Tui hair oil has a very strong fruity-floral scent on its own, and when it's cut with the citrusy lemons it's absolutely amazing.

What are your favorite homegrown hair treatments?