Hair in California

[Kwantslonghair]

Oh my. I want to move to San Francisco Bay Area. I just came back from a visit there. My hair loved it there. It looked full, shiny, and was soft and manageable.

[rtree721]

I have never been there or Indiana so I can't compare. But was it because it was warmer and closer to the ocean?

[Kwantslonghair]

I think so. And I felt better there. Everything is so negative here. I felt 10 years younger and happy. My so hates my hair and tells me so every day. Tells me to cut it. There I was free to wear it down without hearing all the negative comments. I think it acted better just because I felt better. I would move there if I could.

[longNred]

And I felt better there. Everything is so negative here. I felt 10 years younger and happy. My so hates my hair and tells me so every day. Tells me to cut it. There I was free to wear it down without hearing all the negative comments. I think it acted better just because I felt better. I would move there if I could.

if my hb told me he HATED my hair on a daily basis, good lord.... :mad:

go. go to California and be free and happy! life's too short.

[maborosi]

Huh? I saw your profile pic- your hair is really pretty! :( It's a shame your SO doesn't like it.

I've never been to California- but I imagine San Francisco must be a really nice place to live. The weather is really lovely and it seems like a nice, friendly place.

~maborosi~

[Kwantslonghair]

Thanks maborosi. Yeah. He says I look like a witch with long hair. San Francisco was awesome. It was such a clean place. Santa Cruz was beautiful too, but from what I am told its a college party city. It was a haze of pot smoke in some areas. The beach was beautiful.

[jacqueline101]

I'd say its the climate it did your hair good.

[Madora]

As a native San Franciscan, I loved the climate...but those windy days were something else!

[Kwantslonghair]

Madora. I guess I was lucky and it was not too windy. We went to Alcatraz and the ferry ride was a bit windy though.

[Madora]

Yes, the wind can really stir up those currents..not to mention hair! I rarely wore my hair down for that reason. Dealing with the tangles was a drag..so my hair was up most of the time.

[Kwantslonghair]

Was only in San Fran one day. We were staying with my niece. By we. I mean my daughter, her best friend, and myself. She lives in San Jose.

[akilina]

YES! Well...For me its The whole Northern California area! I live an hour and a half north of SF and my hair absolutely loves it here so much. Before I was in the desert with hard water and my hair could not even grow well. Now that we are here (my hair and I :D ) Its like a whole different head of hair. <3 <3

*its not windy up here*

[Kwantslonghair]

Now that we are here (my hair and I :D )

*its not windy up here*
That is funny!

[akilina]

Also, when our friends from NV come to visit they don't want to leave because our water is so nice on their hair and skin :p My bfs sister has a lot of sensitivities to basically everything and she said it was the best shower shes ever had here :D

I wont lie...part of me wanting to move back here was that I could not take it anymore on my skin as lame as that sounds...My skin is naturally oily and nice but all of the contributing factors in NV made my skin so dry and scaly, and my hair would snap and break no matter what and fall out at an alarming rate. I dread visiting because I have to shower there. Its a huge difference to see how much of my hair falls out just using the water there.

[tweetylonghair]

Obvisiously u didnt go to the real san fran..:whistle: during the summer its cold and damp,foggy and a mess. Winter its miserable I have been to Indianna and yes I understand it cold ,dry,and cloudy 80 % of the time.. However Cali does have its appeal and varied weather most of the time.

[leslissocool]

It could the the water too, there are a lot of places woth soft water in California.

I moved out of SoCal and my hair loves hard water. I am quite shocked actually, my hair doesn't look like a big poof on top anymore, nor it seems so dry, barely any fly aways. We'll se about the growth, my hair is almost at tailbone (I cut 6 inches off, took all the layers out). So far I've had to oil less. But also I'm in the mountains, barely any smog and clear air. Maybe that's a huge factor.

If your hair likes better go for it!

[Kwantslonghair]

My niece said the weather was really good while we were there. I wondered if it might be the water. We live in the country, and although we have a softener. It's still hard water.

[Sharysa]

Glad you had a great time in SF! We're pretty environmentally conscious here, so I guess that would extend to being hair-friendly by default. But speaking as someone who lives in the Bay, winter winds and rain are pretty rough on my hair. And it's winter from around mid-October to March. :P

[leslissocool]

My niece said the weather was really good while we were there. I wondered if it might be the water. We live in the country, and although we have a softener. It's still hard water.

Yeah it's true, it also depends on your hair type. My son's hair looks a bit dull up here with the hard water, while my daughter and I have REALLY coarse hair and our hair looks like we're styling it :lol: she lost her curl and became a true wavy, her naturally poofy hair looks shinier and just not poofy.

I think water is an important factor in hair. Some types love soft water, some don't.

[Kwantslonghair]

Truly. I think my hair did better because I felt better.

[akilina]

Honestly, I think its a lot of factors..Me moving back here involved me literally getting rid of every single stress in the world I had. So you must have had a good stress free trip :o

[jeanniet]

Obvisiously u didnt go to the real san fran..:whistle: during the summer its cold and damp,foggy and a mess. Winter its miserable I have been to Indianna and yes I understand it cold ,dry,and cloudy 80 % of the time.. However Cali does have its appeal and varied weather most of the time.

I'm a Bay Area native, and I LOVE the fog. In fact, I lived in Vegas for a year and hated it because it was depressing waking up to blue sky every morning. I love watching the fog burn off, and then watching it roll in again in the afternoon. I also love never needing air conditioning--or paying for it!

[jeanniet]

My niece said the weather was really good while we were there. I wondered if it might be the water. We live in the country, and although we have a softener. It's still hard water.

Nearly all the water in CA is hard.

[Kwantslonghair]

The only stressful part was not having enough days to see stuff. I could have stayed at the beach. I was hoping to see the mythbusters taping something but we didn't get there till late Sunday evening. I at least got my picture in front of M-5 industries

[jeanniet]

I think maybe some of it might be because of indoor heating not blasting all the time. The people I know in other parts of the country keep their houses much warmer than we do (70-72 vs. mid-60s), and that's all dry air. We have much higher winter humidity. Of course, it's very dry here in the summer, so that's a trade-off.

I do doubt it's the water. There might be a few wells around with soft water, but I don't know any city around here that has soft water, and most of it's at least medium hard. I have well water, so it's not only hard, but has other minerals (iron, especially, although we have an iron filter) that are tough on hair. I do citric acid rinses to combat it.

I'm glad you liked it here! Longer (and gray) hair on older women is pretty common, although I live in a more individualistic part of the Bay Area, so we see lots of long hair, gray hair, dreads--it's great.

[leslissocool]

Nearly all the water in CA is hard.



I do doubt it's the water. There might be a few wells around with soft water, but I don't know any city around here that has soft water, and most of it's at least medium hard. I have well water, so it's not only hard, but has other minerals (iron, especially, although we have an iron filter) that are tough on hair. I do citric acid rinses to combat it.


Where I lived it certainly was no hard water. There was never calcification anywhere, not even fluoride in the water. I have fancy showerheards with massage settings and all and back in cali they looked like new after years, up here there is like white crap everywhere, you can SEE the hard water and you feel it in your hair... It feels heavy.

I do have to say, hard water tastes really good :lol:...

Would Iron in the water help you if you are anemic?

[spirals]

I grew up in southern CA and we had hard wter. I don't know about the northern part of the state. I can see how salt and moisture in the air would contribute to fullness, but any 2s or 3s would have dull rather than shiny hair, as moisture raises the cuticle even more. I love the curls I get here in the humid midwest, but man, my hair never shines.

[ghost]

The Bay Area is pretty cool, isn't it? What did you see/do in San Francisco?
I currently live in Oakland/used to live in Berkeley/went to school in San Francisco and I absolutely adore it, but I wish my hair liked the Bay as much as yours does! I'm a wurly-girl, so my hair gets kind of out of control sometimes, with all the moisture and fog.

[jeanniet]

Where I lived it certainly was no hard water. There was never calcification anywhere, not even fluoride in the water. I have fancy showerheards with massage settings and all and back in cali they looked like new after years, up here there is like white crap everywhere, you can SEE the hard water and you feel it in your hair... It feels heavy.

I do have to say, hard water tastes really good :lol:...

Would Iron in the water help you if you are anemic?

I looked up a water hardness map of CA, and there's only one area in the northeastern part of the state with soft to slightly hard water. Parts of the Bay Area do have less hardness, and SF is one of them, so that could make a hair difference. The rest of the state is moderate to very hard, which includes all of S. CA.

I supposed iron in the water would be helpful if you're anemic, but since it also stains heavily, I don't think you'd want to go that route. Our filter gets most of the iron, but not all, and it really plays havoc with whites. Since we have septic, we can't use bleach, so I have to use an iron removal additive to keep whites from getting totally dingy. I usually try not to buy white shirts.

[Kwantslonghair]

All we got to do was Alcatraz in San Fran. I guess we did go down Lombard street. Checked out M5 and the full house house

[leslissocool]

I looked up a water hardness map of CA, and there's only one area in the northeastern part of the state with soft to slightly hard water. Parts of the Bay Area do have less hardness, and SF is one of them, so that could make a hair difference. The rest of the state is moderate to very hard, which includes all of S. CA.

I supposed iron in the water would be helpful if you're anemic, but since it also stains heavily, I don't think you'd want to go that route. Our filter gets most of the iron, but not all, and it really plays havoc with whites. Since we have septic, we can't use bleach, so I have to use an iron removal additive to keep whites from getting totally dingy. I usually try not to buy white shirts.

Actually, going by the 2011 report, the city I lived in in SoCal had medium, 120 mgs per liter, a lot lower than most of the water in Indiana. Were I live now is 180 more on the moderate-hard.

Regarding iron, I'm severy anemic and have to take a bunch of iron for that... I was wondering if I could add Iron to some water that I keep in the fridge to drink and if that might help me. Man that would be a nightmare to do laundry in O.o

Sorry for the hijack!

[jeanniet]

Actually, going by the 2011 report, the city I lived in in SoCal had medium, 120 mgs per liter, a lot lower than most of the water in Indiana. Were I live now is 180 more on the moderate-hard.

Regarding iron, I'm severy anemic and have to take a bunch of iron for that... I was wondering if I could add Iron to some water that I keep in the fridge to drink and if that might help me. Man that would be a nightmare to do laundry in O.o

Sorry for the hijack!

Yep, moderate would be more on the medium (or below scale). A lot of areas in S. CA are hard+. I think many areas in Europe are much harder than here, so I'm just grateful it's not worse!

[EdG]

There is likely a greater concentration of LHC members in the San Francisco Bay Area than anywhere else. We're known to come out en-masse and cause hair-related surprise on an unsuspecting populace. :D

The water in my area is quite hard. The climate is varied depending on where in the Bay Area you are.
Ed

[Gumball]

There is likely a greater concentration of LHC members in the San Francisco Bay Area than anywhere else. We're known to come out en-masse and cause hair-related surprise on an unsuspecting populace. :D

The water in my area is quite hard. The climate is varied depending on where in the Bay Area you are.
Ed

True story! Although rounding us up takes some effort because we're lazy about planning, but good about joining. ;)

I have no idea how the water is where I am, but I have a filtered shower head so I'm not too concerned. My hair is an equal opportunity grump that I wrangle daily.

[rowie]

I grew up in Daly City, which is South of SF. I dreaded the fog, especially the misty windy foggy days. It made my hair really frizzy!! I personally felt that in the summer, I had a somewhat good experience like you, but in Daly City, or Fog city, that was a rare day for me.

[Dandelion6]

Neat post! I used to live in San Francisco. I miss it so much! My hair absolutely rocked there every day and still does whenever I go back to visit. I would describe the climate as mostly dry but with a small amount of humidity from the fog. I don't know much about the water and it's affect on hair.

[Kwantslonghair]

I actually washed my hair in San Jose. Where my niece lives. But my hair stayed nice wherever we went. I have a lot of fly away and it knots in the back now. I think it's the furnace running causing it. It does not do this in the summer. I have coffee cans of water through out the house to put more moisture in the air. It helps some. Would by a humidifier but so is not gonna buy anything that helps me grow hair.

[hafattack]

I was in SF (1 day) and San Jose (4) in November for a conference. I actually struggled with my hair there but it was before i went sulfate/cone free. Glad you had a good experience.. the area is beautiful!

[trolleypup]

I think so. And I felt better there. Everything is so negative here. I felt 10 years younger and happy. My so hates my hair and tells me so every day. Tells me to cut it. There I was free to wear it down without hearing all the negative comments. I think it acted better just because I felt better. I would move there if I could.

Thanks maborosi. Yeah. He says I look like a witch with long hair
There is NOTHING like being in a place where you can unfurl your wings and be yourself! That's why I came to SF years ago. Expensive as hell, but sooo worth it!

Sorry to hear about your SO. Not that there should be anything wrong with looking like a witch...but then, as an adopted San Franciscan, my tolerance and love for diversity is pretty high.

Obviously, you didn't go to the real San Francisco...:whistle: during the summer it's cold and damp, foggy and a mess. Winter, it's miserable. However Cali does have its appeal and varied weather most of the time.
Beautiful, beautiful fog and cool...and even when it isn't there, and the valley heat is stifling, you know the fog WILL come back! Winter? Cool and damp...unless it isn't...and the isn't can vary from the current 55F and sunny to the 70F and sunny of last week!...or even the cold snap we had a couple weeks ago, lows in the mid 30s and highs only to the mid 40s.

Glad you had a great time in SF! We're pretty environmentally conscious here, so I guess that would extend to being hair-friendly by default. But speaking as someone who lives in the Bay, winter winds and rain are pretty rough on my hair. And it's winter from around mid-October to March. :P
And by winter she means lows between the 30s and 50s and highs from the 40s to the 70s...NO SNOW!

Honestly, I think its a lot of factors..Me moving back here involved me literally getting rid of every single stress in the world I had. So you must have had a good stress free trip :o
*looking for the 'like' button*

Nearly all the water in CA is hard.
Not by any stretch. The maps refer primarily to ground water, however a great deal of California's water supply is surface water, and frequently travels long distances from the source to use. For example, SF's water source in the Sierra Nevada is mapped in the 60-120 range, but the average from the yearly SFWD report is 13. Granted, SF is exceptional, with its pristine high elevation source, but any water source that is primarily from snowmelt is going to be pretty soft. Marin, which has a low elevation watershed supplemented by imported water come in at 60. LA has a mix...ranging from 75 (LA aqueduct (snowmelt)), 100 (Colorado River), and wells upwards or 130 (unsurprisingly)...so if you are lucky enough to get mostly Aqueduct water, it isn't too bad...

I looked up a water hardness map of CA, and there's only one area in the northeastern part of the state with soft to slightly hard water. Parts of the Bay Area do have less hardness, and SF is one of them, so that could make a hair difference. The rest of the state is moderate to very hard, which includes all of S. CA.

Neat post! I used to live in San Francisco. I miss it so much! My hair absolutely rocked there every day and still does whenever I go back to visit. I would describe the climate as mostly dry but with a small amount of humidity from the fog. I don't know much about the water and it's affect on hair.
How much humidity depends vastly on where you are in the City...Mission District is much warmer and dryer while the west side is much cooler and foggier. During the non-fog season, the weather is much more consistent across the City.

[jeanniet]

There is NOTHING like being in a place where you can unfurl your wings and be yourself! That's why I came to SF years ago. Expensive as hell, but sooo worth it!

Sorry to hear about your SO. Not that there should be anything wrong with looking like a witch...but then, as an adopted San Franciscan, my tolerance and love for diversity is pretty high.

Beautiful, beautiful fog and cool...and even when it isn't there, and the valley heat is stifling, you know the fog WILL come back! Winter? Cool and damp...unless it isn't...and the isn't can vary from the current 55F and sunny to the 70F and sunny of last week!...or even the cold snap we had a couple weeks ago, lows in the mid 30s and highs only to the mid 40s.

And by winter she means lows between the 30s and 50s and highs from the 40s to the 70s...NO SNOW!

*looking for the 'like' button*

Not by any stretch. The maps refer primarily to ground water, however a great deal of California's water supply is surface water, and frequently travels long distances from the source to use. For example, SF's water source in the Sierra Nevada is mapped in the 60-120 range, but the average from the yearly SFWD report is 13. Granted, SF is exceptional, with its pristine high elevation source, but any water source that is primarily from snowmelt is going to be pretty soft. Marin, which has a low elevation watershed supplemented by imported water come in at 60. LA has a mix...ranging from 75 (LA aqueduct (snowmelt)), 100 (Colorado River), and wells upwards or 130 (unsurprisingly)...so if you are lucky enough to get mostly Aqueduct water, it isn't too bad...


How much humidity depends vastly on where you are in the City...Mission District is much warmer and dryer while the west side is much cooler and foggier. During the non-fog season, the weather is much more consistent across the City.

Agree 100% about diversity and fog. Love them both.

Very interesting about the snow melt. I guess everywhere I've lived or visited didn't get water from snow melt--although I grew up in Mill Valley and Tiburon, I don't really remember the water that well. My parents were in Tiburon into the late 80's, and seems like their water was probably moderately hard, but of course that was a long time ago. Sonoma County's water pretty much comes from the aquifer, and it's all hard (and of course our well water comes from the ground).

[Tabihito]

Beautiful, beautiful fog and cool...and even when it isn't there, and the valley heat is stifling, you know the fog WILL come back! Winter? Cool and damp...unless it isn't...and the isn't can vary from the current 55F and sunny to the 70F and sunny of last week!...or even the cold snap we had a couple weeks ago, lows in the mid 30s and highs only to the mid 40s.

Not by any stretch. The maps refer primarily to ground water, however a great deal of California's water supply is surface water, and frequently travels long distances from the source to use. For example, SF's water source in the Sierra Nevada is mapped in the 60-120 range, but the average from the yearly SFWD report is 13. Granted, SF is exceptional, with its pristine high elevation source, but any water source that is primarily from snowmelt is going to be pretty soft. Marin, which has a low elevation watershed supplemented by imported water come in at 60. LA has a mix...ranging from 75 (LA aqueduct (snowmelt)), 100 (Colorado River), and wells upwards or 130 (unsurprisingly)...so if you are lucky enough to get mostly Aqueduct water, it isn't too bad...


Okay, now you have me wanting it to be June already so I can just get out to SF. Dear heavens, that sounds so much nicer than where I live. Our water is super hard, our summers are brutal (winters sound just like yours though), and there's no public transport. Expensive and high taxes? Yeah, I'll take that over Texas any day.

[catamonica]

I live in California. I haven't noticed a difference. But I wear my hair up four 1/2 days. Tell your s/o to shut up about your hair. It's your hair & your going to wear it how you like. And he has to accept it.

[trolleypup]

Agree 100% about diversity and fog. Love them both.

Very interesting about the snow melt. I guess everywhere I've lived or visited didn't get water from snow melt--although I grew up in Mill Valley and Tiburon, I don't really remember the water that well. My parents were in Tiburon into the late 80's, and seems like their water was probably moderately hard, but of course that was a long time ago. Sonoma County's water pretty much comes from the aquifer, and it's all hard (and of course our well water comes from the ground).
MV and Tiburon should be almost pure watershed water...rather than the well and Russian River water further north in Marin...all those reservoirs up in the hills!

I grew up with well water, our first well was relatively soft but loaded with iron and manganese...my Dad joked we could make money on it as if it was a mine. Our second well was much deeper and pretty pristine and very soft...no surprise as the Piedmont of NC is underlain with granite.

I'm glad my washes are pretty well stretched, because some of the places I go the water is way hard...flowstone building up in the creekbeds hard!

Okay, now you have me wanting it to be June already so I can just get out to SF. Dear heavens, that sounds so much nicer than where I live. Our water is super hard, our summers are brutal (winters sound just like yours though), and there's no public transport. Expensive and high taxes? Yeah, I'll take that over Texas any day.
Moving out for school? If you end up in an area service by EBMUD (a good chunk of the Oakland/East Bay) or SFWD (SF and part of the Peninsula) you will have (mostly) Sierra snowmelt coming off granite and nice soft water. Depending on where you are, there can be a 30-40 degree F difference between the coast and the inland suburbs...in SF though you can pretty dependably always carry a light jacket. Transit varies from poor in the outer suburbs to pretty good in the urban core. Bottom line...NOT TEXAS!

[truepeacenik]

I moved to Oakland from Denver/Boulder/Nederland, CO.
Before that my US addresses were in Texas, Oklahoma and a brief stay in SC.
So, I've been in muggy, high desert and fog.

When I drive to work, some 35 miles away, I can expect a temperature difference of 20 degrees at the height of the day. In winter, inland is cooler, in summer it is warmer.
Bays and oceans are great heat sinks and temperature moderators.

But honestly, OP, it sounds like being anywhere else was good for your soul.
Send mr. Negative packing.

[jeanniet]

Transit varies from poor in the outer suburbs to pretty good in the urban core. Bottom line...NOT TEXAS!

Piss poor in the more rural areas, unfortunately. The nearest bus stop to us is 2 miles away, which wouldn't be so bad if there was decent service, but there are two buses a day into town. I consolidate all my car trips. Golden Gate Transit was always good, but Sonoma County not so great. Always worth checking out the transportation!

I always have a sweater with me in the summer, partly in case it cools off, but also because most buildings have A/C and they're cold. OP, nights will be way colder than you're used to. If you go to any night ball games (SF or Oakland), be prepared. I always bring jacket, hat, gloves, blanket, scarf, etc. because I don't like watching baseball when I'm freezing.

[neko_kawaii]

Now y'all have got me homesick.