Bad Hair Day: SVU. Episode 1: Hard Water

If haircare was like crime solving, those of us with curly hair would definitely belong in the special victims' unit.

dun dun! (mallet noise)

I am a problem solver. If something is wrong, and I don't know why, I can not just accept it and move on. I need to know what the cause of the problem is and how I can fix it. Because everything is fixable, right?
Maybe.

So, with a little help from the scientific method, and various hair care boards, I bring you my (flexible and adjustable) bad hair day solutions:

Do you ever feel like your hair has been looking bad for a few weeks, even though you haven't changed your routine at all, and the weather hasn't changed drastically? I do. Here are some various symptoms, and my solutions. Please be aware, this is just for my 3c, fine, thin, henna'ed and bkt'ed hair!

Newest problem first!

1. Dull, limp, dirty (but not greasy) looking hair with brittle, breaking ends:



Read on for my solution, and a cool map that shows where the water is hard in the USA!

Solution:

Don't let the brittle ends fool you, this is not a protein/moisture balance issue. This is hard water. Hard water is the (new-ish) bane of my existence. I lived in Chicago for so long, where the water is perfect. Really. Chicago has the best drinking water in the USA. It sits next to the largest freshwater lake, and its residents get free, delicious, not-hard water whenever they want. While other states focus their energy on water conservation, and while other countries deal with issues such as contamination, Chicagoans just swim in the good stuff.

My story:
I lived in Central America for six months this year. Three of those months were in Nicaragua. My hair looked terrible the whole time. My henna wouldn't take. My deep conditioners were useless. Vinegar rinses did nothing except stink up the bathroom (I'm pretty sure my landlord hated me). Nowhere in Nicaragua can chelating shampoo be purchased. There are no sulfate free shampoos. Basically, all you can use is a very harsh detergent shampoo, or a silicone laden Garnier type thing. My hair was simultaneously dry and coated.
This year, I lived in graduate student housing, here in Colorado, for a month. HARD water. I think the Aubrey Organics swimmer's shampoo helped a little, but I honestly believe the only way to deal with really hard water is to buy a filter. After I moved, I used the Aubrey shampoo in my new place 1X and my hair was back to normal. Crazy.

Summary: Hard water advice:

DO:

- buy a water filter
 - get a chelating shampoo or a swimmer's shampoo: I use Aubrey Organics, as it is still sulfate free, and it relies on decyl glucoside to cleanse, which is a harsher detergent than usual, but it's not as harsh as the Olefin-Sulfonate in Kinky Curly Come Clean.
- continue to use a moisturizing, silicone free conditioner. Buildup won't get worse, so long as you are using a shampoo, as suggested above.

DON'T:

- do a protein treatment as soon as you see brittle ends. This is terrible on top of hard water.
- use a soap bar/shampoo bar on your hair. Soap leaves a film behind (scum even!), and when soap hits the hard water, a reaction occurs that causes an even filmier film than usual, which is bad news. It is bad news because this film is preventing your hair from being moisturized. Water can not penetrate it effectively, and it is really problematic in the long run.
- deep condition your little heart out. Your deep conditioning will be for naught if you are doing it on top of hard water buildup.
- use product loaded with silicones. I am not anti-cone, and I think silicones are fine for hair types that can handle them, along with sulfate shampoos. But, in hard water, silicones can add to that filmy-film problem.
- be a militant CG-er. CG is the curly girl method, which means you are using conditioner only, and you are not shampooing. Yes, CG method can effectively cleanse hair, but it can not effective remove hard water buildup. This is no time to no-poo.

Wondering where the hard water is? Here's a map, courtesy of the government :)

I want to say something detective-y now, like, "I should have known, my vic was my perp all along!" but that doesn't make too much sense. Anyway.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Bad Hair Day: SVU - Aloe? Aloe? Is anyone there?
You better believe it's going to be punny :)