Is there something in the water?

You're using a pH balanced shampoo, you do your weekly deep conditioning treatments and you've purchased every product under the fluorescent lighting of the drugstores that promise frizz free hair, and yet your hair still isn't getting smooth and shiny. The problem might not be your regiment... it's probably the water.

Using pure clean water would be a luxury for most of us curlies, however when we're in the shower and in a rush, how realistic is it to have a gallon of purified water to rinse your shampoo out and then your conditioner? Not very.

Before I tell you about this nifty gadget I found, I'd like to first explore hard water a little bit and how it effects our hair. Hard water, simply put is water that is hard to deal with. My simple trick to know that I have hard water is by looking at my shower head. If it gets clogged up then most likely it's the minerals in the water that is causing this. According to the website how-to-purify-water.com; A geological survey of the US shows that more than 85% of our water is considered hard water with levels varying according to your area. Well water is the worst since it hasn't been filtered and contains all of the sediments and minerals from below ground. (No this isn't like a mineral spa.) The result of hard water ends up being dull looking hair, shampoo that is hard to lather and dry skin.

I am a solutions kind of girl, and rather than taking this information lightly, I decided I needed to do some digging and find out what I can do at home for a nominal cost. I have found...the Sprite Shower Filter. These filters come in various forms of the filter itself, from those that you mount your own shower head to, to a shower head filter in one. I have the the filter which I use with my own shower head. If you check out their website, you will find a myriad of the benefits. As a user, I can attest to how great this filter is. I've even used it at my parent's house in Florida where they have well water (the nastiest of all hard water) and it even helped to remove the sulfur smell and kept my skin clean. Anyone who has used well water knows that you have this slimey feeling after a shower.

According to their website; www.spritewater.com; Chlorgon & KDF - The only non-carbon filtering media to remove:

-Free Chlorine (Cl-)
-Combined Chlorine (Sodium Hypochlorite)
-Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten egg smell)
-Iron oxide (rust water)
-Dirt, sediment
-Odors
-Plus, its pH balanced

Easy to install, and it can be found in any hardware store such as Home Depot or Lowes. At only around $25, it is well worth the investment.