The utmost important factor for good skin
- Becky Choi
- Oct 22, 2014
- 4 min read
hello beauty fanatics, today I will share with you the utmost important factor in my skincare routine that changed my skin forever...and I will never give it up even if you offered me a million dollars!
how many of you have heard of soft water? yup you heard that right, the most important factor is indeed water - not just any water - but soft water. you may ask what is soft water? is there hard water then? yes there is. almost all of the cities in north america uses hard water.
hard water contains a significant quantity of dissolved minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. hard water also leaves an insoluble soap-curd film on you, causing your hair and skin to feel “squeaky clean”. but it is not really clean, you are in fact covered in dried up residue! have you washed a spoon and let it air dry and there are water marks sometimes even with white edges on the water mark? that is the same residue on your skin! In general, hard water is not harmful for health. In fact, it may be more beneficial for drinking because it is rich in minerals. However, the benefits stop here.
the residue hard water leaves on your skin clog pores, causing breakouts and rough skin that no matter what products you use it doesn't seem to help.
there's also a correlation between hard water and skin disorders, like eczema. "The minerals, such as calcium, that are found in higher concentration may cause loss of moisture in the skin, which can lead to irritating conditions, such as eczema," says New York dermatologist Dr. Eric Schweiger.
soft water is treated water similar to filtering water to remove dissolved minerals in hard water. The easiest way to get soft water is to buy a water softener. They come in all kinds of sizes for any type of configurations you can imagine. The 2 main kinds are ones for the whole house, where it is usually installed in the basement, or portable ones you can install yourself easily in your shower.
ok enough about the scientific explanation of soft and hard water. I will now tell you my experience with soft water and how it changed my skin forever.
being asian and spending my first 10 years of my life in asia, I was not old enough to know how lucky I was because almost all water in asia are soft water. (is that why most asian skin are so nice and smooth?? i've always wondered about that) after living in Toronto for the next 20 years or so, I've tried so many skincare products and can never find my holy grails.
my honeymoon to hong kong last year was life changing, I've noticed that my skin in hong kong was so much better than when I'm in Toronto, no matter what products I try there, they work and my skin is glowing and dewy without much effort. I've also realized that i only need to use 1/4 to 1/3 of the amount i normally use for shampoo, conditioner, cleansers, soap, etc when I use soft water. cha-ching! I've found my solution to better skin - soft water!!
after coming back to Toronto, a few weeks passed by and I'm back to using hard water. my skin begins to get dehydrated and rough again, when I wash my face I can feel the roughness and I find myself searching for new skincare products again. and then I remembered maybe I can find a water softener and maybe it will solve all my problems. nonetheless, I bought a portable water softener from an asian water treatment store and installed it in my stand up shower.
I can tell you that my body wash and shampoo/conditioner lasts 4 times longer now since I only need to use 1/4 to 1/3 of what I used before, my skin is glowing again and almost every product I use is working for me. I mainly use korean skincare products which you will start seeing my reviews on them as I post them later when I have time. also, ever since I've started using soft water, I did not have a single pimple on my face...i am NOT kidding you. not even the monthly hormonal pimples. NADA~ I even forgot how it feels like to have a pimple on my face...
that's why I highly recommend you all to invest in a water softener, I paid about $600 CDN for mine (I did not buy from this site, this is the only site that I can find the exact model I bought with descriptions on it to show you), but there are different kinds and make sure you get a water softener that requires salt, not the ones that claim they can soften water without salt.
Feel free to leave me a comment in the about me section if you have similar experiences or questions regarding this topic! I hope you've enjoyed reading my post...ciao for now :)
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