Beauty

Water could be more damaging than you would think

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It’s still summer which means warm, sunny weather is sticking around for a while longer. Swimming or just floating on a raft in a pool is the perfect way to cool down after spend hours having fun in the heat. After a long, hot day a shower sounds great, right? Showers, just like pools, have an oxidizing chemical, Chlorine, which is very damaging to skin and hair. So, swimming and showers may be relaxing for your mind, but not so much for your body.
According to freedrinkingwater.com, chlorine is the lead chemical used to make our tap water safe for drinking and showers. In today’s society, it is normal for people to shower every day. If skin experiences chlorine every day it can become irritated. The heat from the shower opens pores and the chlorine can be absorbed even easier. Chlorine has an oxidizing effect on human skin because it splits hydrogen from water, causing the release of  oxygen and hydrogen chloride. These gas compounds have been scientifically proven to cause tissue damage to our bodies at the molecular level.

Chlorine attacks the epidermis and strips it of its protective oils which will leave the skin dry and cracked. With the daily hit of chlorine in the shower over time premature wrinkling can occur that even lotion and oils cannot cure.

To stop the chemical from drying out and permanently damaging your skin start taking chlorine-free showers.Smartskincare.com advises us to avoid using hot water and cleansing your skin more than once a day.

Realizebeauty blog says, “Replacing lost moisture is a good thing but becoming water-logged is another.Once your skin has too much water in it the barrier function of the skin is compromised meaning that the skin can start to let stuff in that you might not want. In addition to that it can also let go of things that you want such as the skin’s natural moisturising factor. Both of these factors would leave your skin dryer than it started!”
L’Oreal Company did a study and it says sunlight may be less damaging for hair than water. :

“It particularly accentuates the negative effects of sunlight, hair’s other great enemy. Melanin degradation is encouraged and sun linked decoloration intensifies. Keratin itself is altered, making the hair fragile and easily damaged.”

Hair absorbs water without saturating it in the shower or while swimming. It takes up water vapour, which is always in the air to a greater or lesser extent. This is why hair is so unmanageable in humid weather.
NaturallyCurly reports that “The truth is that while we need moisture in our hair in order for it to be healthy, water can also be very damaging to your hair. In fact, the more damaged your hair is, the more damaging water is to it.”
When hair gets wet it absorbs some of the water and the weight of water causes tensile strength (the ability to be drawn or stretched out) to be lost. Because of this loss when wet hair is brushed it can be more prone to breakage and tangling.

Tips for Preventing  Damage:

To help with this problem use conditioner with slip properties to help with detangling. Running a comb slowly through wet hair will help keep it healthy but will not prevent damage.Wet hair can also cause swelling of the hair and then result in uneven shrinkage when drying or evaporating. This can cause the hair follicles to get fatigued and break when put under stress.  Healing this kind of breakage can be done with fatty acids found in coconut oil.

Bag and system
Umbrellaproduct.com sells a water protectant cleansing treatment for hair. Four different products are sold raincoat, drizzle, downpour and drench.    Their “Primer (Pre-Cleansing Waterproofing Gel)”, coats the hair and skin to protect it from the damaging effects of follicle fatigue or Hygral Fatigue.  The “Umbrella Gel Cleanser” is formulated with polymers and natural organic Coconut Oil to block and repel water during the foaming experience. Hair gets less wet so it dries in a fraction of the time, while drastically reducing the damaging effects of water.  Umbrella Product is not only good for your hair (and skincare coming soon), It’s good for the environment and animals. Their brand promise is “UMBRELLA uses pure, natural, organic materials wherever possible without compromising the science. We are not an organic brand. We are a pure brand. ‘everything in the world is toxic – it depends on the dosage’.”

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Josey graduated from Malone University with a communication arts degree with an emphasis in public relations and marketing minor. She was the editor in chief of the student newspaper, The Aviso. When she was about 12 years old she read her first magazine and instantly knew she wanted to write for one. She absolutely loves telling a story through her writing.

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