Hard Water The Hairy Details

Hard Water The Hairy Details I absolutely love living in Geneva!  The downtown area is totally idyllic with its cute shops and amazing restaurants.  I get the perks and space of suburban living (can you say Super Target?!).  I am also a quick train ride into the beautiful city of Chicago to visit my best friend.  Mid-week dinners and some wine completely saves my sanity these days.  It is a great fit for sure! There is just one little thing.  We have well water.  Seems harmless, right?  I actually thought it sounded innocent as well upon our move in August. What is wrong with well water? Back story: Shortly after moving to Geneva I was in this pretty girls wedding. It was an amazing day/night/morning.  I was honored to be a bridesmaid, fo-sho! I realized, after tackling the mass that was my after-wedding-hair, that there was serious breakage to the top of my hair.  I initially thought it was due to all the spraying, teasing, and pinning that went on the day before. Wrong. As the days and weeks passed I experienced more and more breakage.  I went to diagnose my condition online.  (Always a good idea, right?!) Come to find out we had hard water.  This is because our water supply comes from local wells. Well water = hell water.  Hell for my hair that is!  Well water is hard, ie: it is loaded with minerals that gunk up your tresses. So whats a girl to do? A quick fix to hard water is to install a water softener.  We couldnt do that because we are renting an apartment.  Another option for slowing the damage of hard water is to install a shower head that pulls the minerals out of the water.  I bought this beauty: It is the Jonathan Antin Shower Head and Filter.  It made me feel better but I wanted more.  So I did what any girl would do, I went to Pinterest.  After much digging I found a simple but very effective solution: vinegar! I simply soap up then spray my hair with vinegar before rinsing.  The vinegar allows the hard water to rinse the soap and dirt from my hair without leaving the mineral deposits behind.  I had a spray bottle laying around and put it directly onto the vinegar bottle! If you are worried about the smell, there is NONE.  It rinses out with no smell and you are left to enjoy normal hair once more. *Note: I have never colored my hair so I do not know what the vinegar would do to your color.