Ever been horrified by the limescale in your kettle? Or failed to get your taps looking shiny and new again? Since that’s the same water we’ve been washing our hair in, it’s no wonder our hair is struggling to reach its fullest, most luxurious potential. 

And because water damage can be a long-term obstacle, we’re essentially swimming upstream when it comes to the cumulative damage caused.

Regular haircuts, the correct products and prayers can’t solve our hair troubles if we’re causing damage with every wash. And the sneaky reasons why water can mess with our tresses have shocked us to the core. 

Who knew we had to worry about copper particles?

Luckily, there are solutions to every obstacle once you know these inside hacks. A few tweaks to your home and routine will give your hair the glow-up it deserves. 

Hard water doesn’t just affect taste. Take a deep breath, there’s a lot to take in, but in short, it might be the reason for your thinning hair. We’ve all been on that holiday that transformed our hair to a mane of dreams because the water was soft. This is because hard water can contain compounds of magnesium and calcium. 

According to The Water Quality Association, this can leave a film on your hair, which can stop cleaning and moisturising products getting through to your hair.

 Other signs of hard water can include: frizzy and tangled hair, lack of volume, brittle hair and dull tones. And you might think it’s no big deal right now, but long-term, it can change the longevity of your locks.

Solution: we filter the water we drink, and it might be time to add a filter to your shower head. Filtering the water from the pipes to your scalp will remove the hardness caused by the build-up of those pesky minerals. It’ll also reduce limescale wear and tear to your bathroom. Win-win!

We hate to break it to you, but every time you wash your hair, tiny particles of copper that are lifted from the worse-for-wear pipes, could penetrate your hair and cause breakage and colour fading. 

Exposure to copper builds up over time, so with every wash, hair is at greater risk of sun damage, split ends, fly-aways and discoloured hair. And the bad news doesn’t end there, with a shocking report that in certain parts of the UK tap water contains up to 64% concentration of metal. So it’s hard to stand a chance against the cumulative build-up of copper.

Solution: we’ve got you. L’Oréal’s Metal Detox at-home routine is actual gold dust to help protect from metal and UV damage. The Metal Detox Leave-In Hair Cream helps to protect against colour fading and excess metal particles. It is specifically formulated with glicoamine – a patent molecule with the ability to neutralise metal within the hair fibre.

“Glicoamine is a molecule that’s small enough to penetrate individual hair fibres,” explains L’Oréal colour specialist, Roz Orr.

“It targets and surrounds metal particles, using its chelating properties to bond with them and neutralise them, even when they’re sparsely distributed.”

Combine with the rest of the Metal Detox range and you’re covered with up to 97% less breakage* and 2x shiner** hair with the neutralising shampoo, protector mask and hair oil.

An out-of-whack pH level won’t just affect your tropical fish, it can also affect both the appearance and behaviour of your hair. Add it to the list of perils of hard water and learn with us. When your hair has healthy pH levels, the cuticles are tight and closed and thus your hair looks smooth and shiny. 

But if the pH is too high you might find your hair becomes a frizzy brittle minefield. You’re also at greater risk of dandruff from a dry scalp, not to mention the horrors of hair breakage. 

When the pH is healthy on the other hand, your hair can maintain strength as it grows and will have the smooth sleek appearance we all long for.

Solution: you can invest in a whole house acid neutraliser to rebalance the acidity of the water that reaches your taps. It’s installed at the entry point to your home’s water supply. It doesn’t cost a bomb and will impact the water you’re drinking and washing with. 

Chlorine isn’t just for swimming pools, it’s also added to the mains water supply to get rid of nasty bacteria that can make us sick. In spite of the fact that by the time it trickles out of our taps, it’s meant to have dissipated, higher levels can still affect our hair and skin. 

This can cause very dry hair because the chemical strips out our natural oils. And those of us who’ve come home from a holiday with different-coloured hair to the hair we went with will know that chlorine can fade and change hair colour too.

Solution: nourishing your hair is key to counteracting the damage of chlorine. Natural oils including jojoba and coconut oil have omega-3 and vitamin E in them which are an excellent way to replenish and protect hair. 

And if you’re concerned about colour fading and changing, the Metal Detox Anti-deposit Hair Oil is perfect for removing copper particles in the hair and smoothing your tresses without weighing them down.

Taking a shower so hot that it leaves you breathless may be one of life’s great pleasures, but your hair suffers from every hot wash. Dull and frizzy hair can occur because too-hot water is stripping away your natural oils. That dreaded limp look might be down to a scalp stripped of its moisture. On top of that, when you stand under deliciously scalding water, your roots can get weaker and your hair more brittle, thus your hair fall increases. Finally, repeated hair washing with the dial turned up to the max may lead to a dry scalp, which is when things get itchy and flaky. Not ideal.

Solution: don’t freak out, we don’t all have to get on board with ice cold showers next winter – cold water isn’t the one for your hair either (hello, flat hair). Your hair is simply screaming for lukewarm water, just turn the dial down before your head goes under.

Ready to maintain long-lasting colour and protect your tresses from excess copper? L’Oréal Professionnel’s Metal Detox Leave-In Hair Cream and range of Metal Detox at-home products are the perfect way to help your hair combat metal damage for a healthy mane. Find out more here.

* Instrumental test on Metal Detox Concentrated Oil, 2022.

** Instrumental test on Metal Detox High Protection Cream, 2023.