@victoria_knight_
We often take water for granted when we are not discussing drinking or cooking with it. When showering and washing our hair it becomes an afterthought but not all water is created equal and it can affect your curls in a negative way. As if we do not have enough things to worry about for keeping our curls healthy and happy, hard water needs to be added to the list of things for our curls to avoid.
Hard water is water with a high mineral content with those minerals usually being calcium and magnesium. Not harmful to one’s overall health, hard water is not kind to your skin or hair and with our delicate curls we need to be aware of what it may be doing.
Hard water can cause build-up on hair which creates a film that dulls the curls and can even cause dryness and frizz. The water can make shampoo less effective and even negatively affect the hair’s cuticle and all in turn creates weighed down, dry and frizz tresses. The simplest solution is to add a shower filter to your bathroom but quite often they are pricey and the filter will need to be replaced periodically which creates a consistent bill. We’ve decided to share some inexpensive alternatives to shower filters for fighting hard water.
Clarifying Shampoo
Clarifying shampoos are designed to deep cleanse your scalp and hair by cutting through hair gunk like product build up and of course, hard water. They are designed for mineral deposits and even chlorine and despite curly girls loving cleansing conditioners, clarifying shampoos are necessary from time to time and most certainly if living with hard water.
Here are some popular options that work well but will not harm your curls: Elucence Volume Clarifying Shampoo and Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture Jamaican Black Castor & Murumuru Oils Pure Clarifying Shampoo.
Scalp Exfoliation
Scalp exfoliating is getting more play as it should since scalp health is a direct connection to hair health. Scalp exfoliation not only increase blood flow to the hair follicles and promotes hair growth but will also help to alleviate any scalp issues that can often occur from hard water build-up. This may need to be used in conjunction with other methods since it concentrates on the scalp and not the hair but a scalp exfoliation will be most effective is suffering from scalp ailments.
There are several DIY recipes that will be kinder to your wallet than an OTC like this one below:
Simple Sugar Scalp Scrub
· ½ cup Sugar
· 1 cup Olive oil
· A few drops of essential oil (optional)
· Mix sugar and oil(s) to make scrub and section hair before applying to scalp. Massage for a few minutes with fingertips before rinsing and shampooing hair. Style as usual.
ACV
Apple Cider Vinegar or ACV is produced by apple juice that is fermented to apple cider before being re fermented into ACV. A popular natural ingredient that many use for balancing the pH levels in hair, ACV is great for removing scaly build up from products and hard water. After cleansing hair, simply mix 1 tablespoon to three cups of distilled or filtered water before massaging throughout your whole head. Allow to sit for a few minutes before rinsing and can be used weekly.
Vodka
Strange, I know but vodka is a great way to boost your shampoo to hard water removal level simply by adding a teaspoon or more to your regular shampoo bottle depending on your liking. Wash hair as you normally do with your new mixture since the vodka will remove product build-up, oil and yes the mineral deposits in hard water. Oh, it’s also great for maintaining the natural pH levels in hair that often creates frizz when off kilter so take that as an added bonus. After you are done simply whip up a screwdriver and enjoy the rest of your day!
Getting rid of hard water does not require breaking the bank and with these four techniques you can try each one to see which you prefer or keep all four on hand and at the ready. I realize that these are not permanent solutions, but they will work and great to try until you can get a shower filter.
Which one do you want to try?
Sabrina
