Is Hard Water Bad For Your Hair?

WHAT IS HARD WATER?

This is a term to describe water with a high mineral content. This includes minerals such as Calcium and Magnesium, these minerals can be bad for your hair and skin leading to dryness and irritation. Think of that horrible white limescale that builds up in the shower, if you have bad limescale you most probably live in a hard water area.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOUR HAIR?

The harder the water area the more shampoo you will need to wash your hair. Shampooing opens up the cuticle making the scales on each hair stand up. Washing your hair in hard water can make your hair more tangled than rough than it should be. The soap becomes less effective due to the high mineral contents left on your hair. Conditioner will help close down the cuticles but your hair could feel limp or feel like you have a coating on your hair. Hard water also prevents moisture from entering your hair leading to tangled, dull and limp hair and cause breakage or dandruff. It can also cause your hair colour to fade faster or alter the shade of your hair.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT HARD WATER?

The most effective way is to get a shower filter to make the water soft. This will remove the Calcium, Magnesium and impurity's from the water. This is a cheaper option than getting a water system for the whole home.

DIY METHODS YOU COULD TRY TO REMOVE OR REDUCE HARD WATER

•  A vinegar rinse is a traditional method thought to give your hair more bounce and body to limp hair. It is recommended that you rinse off after use. This seems to slightly defeat the point as you do a final rinse in hard water , this would still/could leave a film on your hair. Also the pH levels would be different for each person depending on how much vinegar to water you use as a rinse.
•  Bottled spring water is another option but could be an expensive one particularly if you have very long hair.
• Using a swimmers shampoo or clarifying shampoo could be worth a go before you invest in a shower or water filter. The only downside is that using these shampoos regularly can be a little drying. 

Hair and Protein sensitivity?

Its a fact your hair is 91 percent protein! So how could you have a sensitivity to it? Good question.


ITS THE TYPE OF PROTEIN YOU USE 

If you think about protein in terms of food some people love chicken and find it a great source of easily digestible protein to help build and repair your body. Now if beans are also protein but can give undesirable side affects to other folks. This is the same with protein with your hair some hair just likes other sources of protein to others.

Adding the right protein to your hair will improve your hair ability to hold on to moisture. Some hair is more porous than other hair types. Protein helps trap moisture into the hair shaft. All lot of hair products contain hydrolyzed wheat protein as this increases the hair's ability to retain moisture , improves smoothness and reduces the hairs porosity.


SIDE AFFECTS OF PROTEIN ON THE HAIR

• Your hair feels lank and waxy.
• Hair feels straw like
• Brakes off easily when you detangle
• Dry hair
• The ends feel crunchy and dry.

ITS ABOUT HOW POROUS YOUR HAIR IS 

If your hair as low porosity it means that your hair cuticles are resistant to opening up to moisture and water. If the product just sits on top of your hair it means that the moisture has escaped and has not been sealed in. You can help this problem by avoiding products that are heavily oil based and applying products to damp hair to increase the chance of trapping in moisture. This could be why some oil products such coconut oil could not work for some people as the hair can have a lot of build up and can make the hair crunchy, or brake off due to lack of moisture in the hair cuticle. Washing your hair with a good clarifying shampoo will help open up the cuticle to then seal in as much moisture as possible.


So if your hair is made up of 91 percent protein it is just finding the right one for your hair, If your hair does not get on with certain proteins oils can help with the problem too. For example fine hair needs less protein than course hair it is finding the right products for you.