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Got hard water? Water that comes from limestone or sandstone aquifers in particular tends to contain minerals which cause it to be "hard." Primarily calcium and magnesium. These minerals interfere with many detergents, including soap. They can deposit on your skin, your shower, in plumbing. People with itchy skin or eczema and dermatitis often try (or at least wonder about) water softeners to relieve their symptoms. First off, a shower-head water filter does nothing to remove minerals from water. These filters can remove chlorine and some "heavy" metals, but do not soften. That's another story. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 A study in England tested 336 children, ages 6 to 16 years of age. All had eczema. All were treated for eczema with medication, but half were also given an ion-exchange water softener to test for 12 weeks. Nurses evaluated the physical eczema symptoms and found no difference in measurable indicators of disease  between the group which used soften...

You know it’s coming. Winter. If you live in the more Northerly latitudes, especially away from the oceans, this means cold, dry air, indoor heating and generally a desiccated time for your skin and hair. Itchy skin, rough, cracking hands, chapped lips, windburn… ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 Dry, rough skin on feet This is going to be similar to the “sensitive skin” post because dry skin is sensitive skin – it’s more vulnerable to tearing and injury, loses more water, you want to scratch the itch which damages skin. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 The ability to respond to dry environments is where skin and hair diverge. Skin can try to respond to this but hair cannot. The stratum corneum (upper layer of skin) contains “Natural Moisturizing Factor” a blend of lipids and humectants (fats and water-attracting chemicals) which attract and hold water - the key ingredient that keeps skin soft, flexible and moist (as opposed to cracking, peeling and flaking). When the air gets dry, your skin starts b...

I work outdoors, sometimes all day for a week at a time in spring, summer or autumn. So I know a thing or two about what makes an ideal hat. What does this have to do with hair, skin and the meaning of life? Bear with me, please. 1) A proper hat protects your eyes. Shading the eyes prevents migraines, cataracts and squinting which can cause headaches. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 2) A good hat keeps the sun off your scalp and hair. Hair protects the scalp. Hats protect the hair and scalp.  When hair is exposed to 200 hours of ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, the cuticle edges begin to fuse as the cuticle “shrinks.” As it shrinks, tiny openings are created and these are known as "porosities." After 400 hours, porosity continues to increase with further cuticle damage, and after 1200 hours, the cuticle becomes rigid, brittle, and may crack, leading to even further increases in porosity. If your hair grows the "average" of up to 6 inches per year (15 cm) and you get s...

From scalp to toes, it’s all skin. Some of it is modified (thick skin on heels, for example) some of it is thinner than in other places (scalp, eyelids). But as living tissue (except for the top layers – that’s all dead and even though it’s constantly shedding cells), it’s not inert. This post is about to the nature of the top layer of skin – and why you need to protect it. ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 A little skin architecture: ©Science-y Hair Blog 2013 The Stratum corneum is the top layer of skin and if you have sensitive skin, this is the place where your efforts can make the most difference. Don’t think of it as a pile of dead skin cells – it’s way more active than that. Imagine a brick wall. The corneocytes are the bricks made of protein (lots of keratin – like hair) which can hold a lot of water. There are around a dozen layers of these, linked by proteins at the outer layer of the corneocyte and surrounded. These protein bonds are the “mortar.” Lipids and ceramides and other compo...