Is Hard Water Wrecking Your Hair?

Are you tired of hearing about my trials and tribulations in Arizona? I only share my lows so that you can all benefit from my experiences. Truly, what better way to avoid your own issues than by learning from someone else’s experiences?

The dry air didn’t just wreak havoc on my skin’s moisture content. It also annihilated the health of my hair…or so I thought.

Here is another one of my famous true stories…there might be affiliate links involved.

My hair was just back to its healthy, happy self (following a forced hiatus from the Morrocco Method line of products) when we relocated to Arizona. No biggie. I had my arsenal of trusted products from Morrocco Method so all would be well. Right? Wrong. So so wrong.

It only took a week folks – ONE WEEK – for all heck to break loose with my hair. Here is a little chart showing you what happened and in what order.

 
You see what happened here? Nothing good.

I chalked it up to dry air throwing my once balance scalp and hair totally over-the-top off its rocker. So I sent a desperate message to my peeps at Morrocco Method and they gave me the run down on what I should do.

1. Try the Pine Shale Shampoo, which helps with the dandruff and greasiness.

2. Apply Pearl Creme Rinse to your brittle ends, leaving in for 15 minutes before rinsing.

3. When you get out of the shower, apply the Blood of the Dragon Styling Gel immediately.

4. Do a deep conditioning treatment with Euro Oil. Apply to your scalp, massage, and then brush through with the boar bristle brush. Wrap up your hair and cover with a beanie to keep it warmed for a few hours or even overnight. Then wash out with the ACV Shampoo.

With the exception of step #4, I was basically doing all of this. So I added in the Euro Oil. I patiently waited two weeks (no not to wash it out!) Nothing. Nada. In fact, my hair looked even more disastrous, it pained me to even touch it because it felt too nasty, and my beloved boar bristle brush was suffering from all the gunk that was coming out of my hair.

WHAT ON EARTH WAS GOING ON?!?!?

Hard water people. Chlorine filled hard water.

Duh. Arizona is a state built upon load and loads of minerals. The soil is about as mineral rich as it comes here in the U.S. so of course the water is hard. Couple that with the mass amounts of chlorine they add to the water and you have the perfect storm for once-healthy hair. The dry air doesn’t help of course, but it alone was not causing my hair woes.

So did I “fix” my hair and if so how did I do it?

This was stupid easy people. So easy that I overlooked it at first.

Get a water filter!

See – stupid easy.

Now, if you really want to go full boar here, you should look at getting a whole house water filter that has a water softening option. I’m on the fence about water softening in general because it actually can have a negative environmental impact. But for sure – a whole house filter.

If something like this one is out of your price range, look into getting a shower and bathtub filter. There are a lot of brands out there but there are the ones I suggest:

I use this WaterChef® SF-7C Premium Shower Filter System. I love that it has the hose as that makes washing the little one a lot easier at times. It also makes it easy to clean the shower (because as those of you with hard water know – cleaning the shower is an all-day affair).

If you prefer a shower head that stays put, I like the Berkey KDSF-HEAD KDF Shower Filter with Massaging Shower Head.

For filtering at the faucet for baths, I suggest the Sprite Chrome Bath Ball Filter

It took about three weeks after I installed the shower filter before I noticed some real improvement in my hair. While it was still a bit “limp” and weighted down looking, overall it looked a lot like its old self. The flakey scalp was gone. That sticky gunky feeling was almost gone. My soft curls were creeping back. And my hair stopped stinking.

I was treating my scalp with the Zen Detox weekly throughout this process. I feel that this too has made a positive difference. I also have been washing my hair every other day. Right now, I just feel like that is what works best.

Have you ever experienced hard water hair? What helped you?