Why Your Hair Feels Different on Holiday: The Science of Water, Minerals & Hair Feel
There’s something about being on holiday that makes everything feel better, your body, your nervous system, your skin… and often, your hair.
Recently, while camping away from home, I washed my hair for the first time and honestly couldn’t believe how it felt. Soft. Silky. Shiny. Effortless.
My routine was minimal, a quick shampoo, a quick condition, a small amount of mending milk, and air-dried. When I ran our boar bristle brush through it, it glided. No resistance. No fluff. No dryness.
I was running, swimming, wearing sunscreen daily (which transfers easily to hair), and washing my hair every single day, yet it felt so good it made me want to wash it daily just so I could run the brush through it and get that addictive glide.
After about five days, though, I noticed a subtle shift. My hair didn’t feel quite as silky as it did at the beginning. That curiosity sent me straight back to the science.
Because water, something we rarely think about, plays a much bigger role in how hair feels than most people realise.
Hair Doesn’t Just React to Products — It Reacts to Water and its Environmental Surroundings.
Hair fibre itself is biologically dead, but it is highly reactive to its environment. One of the biggest environmental variables is water quality.
When we talk about water affecting hair, we’re not talking about “good” or “bad” water, we’re talking about mineral content, ionic charge, and chemical interactions.
How Water Gets Its Minerals
Rainwater begins relatively low in dissolved solids.
As it falls and travels through:
- soil
- rock
- limestone
- pipes and infrastructure
…it dissolves naturally occurring minerals, primarily calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), iron (Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺) and trace metals.
By the time that water reaches your tap, it has a unique mineral fingerprint depending on geography, geology, and treatment methods.
Soft Water vs Hard Water: What’s Actually Happening?
Soft Water
Soft water contains low levels of divalent metal ions, mainly calcium and magnesium.
How hair feels in soft water:
- Shampoo lathers easily
- Hair rinses clean
- Cuticles lie flatter
- Hair feels softer, silkier, lighter
- Less product is needed
This is often why people notice their hair feels amazing when travelling, especially in areas with naturally soft water or rain-fed systems.
Hard Water
Hard water contains higher concentrations of calcium and magnesium ions.
These minerals don’t just rinse away.
Here’s the chemistry part... simplified.
What Happens When Hard Water Meets Shampoo
Most shampoos contain anionic surfactants (cleansers with a negative charge).
Calcium and magnesium are positively charged ions.
When they meet, they bind together to form insoluble salts, often referred to as soap scum.
These mineral–surfactant salts:
- Do not dissolve
- Deposit onto the hair shaft
- Accumulate over time
- Sit between the cuticle layers
This is why hair exposed to hard water can feel:
- Rough
- Coated
- Dull
- Heavy
- Dry but paradoxically “waxy”
- Harder to detangle
- Resistant to moisture
Even the best shampoo can’t perform properly if it’s reacting chemically with minerals before it reaches the hair.
Why Your Hair Can Feel Amazing… Then Change
This explains my own experience perfectly.
Initially, the water I was using was likely:
- Lower in mineral load
- Cleaner rinsing
- Allowing products to behave as intended
Over several days, however:
- Minerals still accumulated
- Sunscreen, sweat, salt, sun, and sebum added to the mix
- Even soft water can contribute to build-up over time
Hair doesn’t suddenly become damaged, it becomes coated.
That coating changes how light reflects, how water enters the fibre, and how the cuticle moves, which changes how your hair feels.
Why Some Holidays Make Hair Feel Worse, Not Better
Many people have the opposite experience, hair that feels:
- Fluffy
- Stringy
- Dry
- Tangly
- Unmanageable
This is common in:
- Very hard water areas
- High chlorine exposure
- High mineral + high UV environments
- Saltwater-heavy holidays without proper chelation
Hard water + frequent washing + sun exposure = accelerated mineral deposition.
The Hair Science Behind “A Change Is as Good as a Rest”
There’s real science behind this saying.
When you change water sources, you:
- Interrupt mineral buildup cycles
- Alter ionic interactions on the hair
- Change how surfactants behave
- Shift cuticle hydration dynamics
Sometimes, just removing your hair from its usual water environment is enough to let it behave differently, even without changing products.
When Your Hair or Scalp Suddenly Changes: How to Respond (Without Panicking)
Hair and scalp can shift quickly when the environment changes, different water, more sun, swimming, wind, sunscreen, or increased washing. These changes don’t mean your hair is damaged or your scalp condition is “coming back”; they usually reflect surface disruption, mineral interaction, and barrier stress.
The key is adjusting your routine to support the scalp barrier, remove what doesn’t belong, and protect the fibre, rather than over-cleansing or over-conditioning.
How Different Scalp Types Can Be Affected
Seborrheic Dermatitis & Dandruff-Prone Scalps
Hard water, chlorine, and salt can worsen symptoms by:
-
Leaving mineral deposits that sit on corneocytes (dead skin cells)
-
Increasing scalp surface roughness
-
Interfering with normal sebum flow
-
Creating an environment where yeast can thrive
What helps:
-
A pre-wash exfoliate to lift dead skin cells off the scalp
-
Regular removal of oil, sweat, sunscreen, and mineral buildup
-
Gentle but effective cleansing that doesn’t strip the barrier
Psoriasis-Prone Scalps
Psoriatic scalps already have:
-
Accelerated cell turnover
-
Compromised barrier function
Minerals from hard or stagnant water (including tank water that has been sitting) can:
-
Adhere to scale
-
Increase itching and tightness
-
Make plaques feel thicker or more uncomfortable
What helps:
-
Nourishment first, to soften plaques
-
Targeted buildup removal with Rejuvenate Dust
-
Avoiding excessive friction or harsh surfactants, be gentle.
How to Adjust Your Routine When Hair Feels “Off”
1. Start With a Scalp Barrier using Revitalise Serum and Hydrated Halo Pre-treat to protect hair from
-
Minerals
-
Salt
-
Chlorine
-
Surfactant stress
This is especially useful when:
-
Water quality changes
-
Washing frequency increases
-
Scalp feels tight, itchy, or reactive
2. Cleanse Based on Exposure, Not Habit
Different exposures require different cleanses:
-
Hydrated Halo Cleanse
Hydrating, but capable of a deeper clean when hair feels dull, coated, or heavy from water changes. -
Tricho Barrier Shampoo
Ideal after sun, salt, sweat, and sunscreen exposure. Helps lift oil and buildup while supporting the scalp barrier, particularly helpful for sensitive, flaky, or inflamed scalps.
3. Remove What Doesn’t Belong (Strategically)
When hair or scalp suddenly feels coated, itchy, or heavy:
-
Rejuvenate Dust
Gently removes buildup and surface debris without aggressive abrasion. -
C-No Green
Targets mineral and hard water deposits that regular shampoo cannot remove.
This step is especially important after:
-
Hard water exposure
-
Swimming
-
Extended travel
-
Tank or bore water use
4. Hydrate the Fibre Properly
When hair is exposed to sun, wind, salt, or chlorine, a mask may be more effective than a regular conditioner.
Masks:
-
Penetrate more deeply
-
Help restore flexibility
-
Improve light reflection and softness
Conditioner maintains ~ masks repair and rehydrate.
5. Protect the Lengths Daily
Environmental exposure doesn’t just affect the scalp.
Use:
-
Mending Milk for lightweight repair and softness
-
Silk Elixir or Heat Halo to protect the fibre from:
-
UV
-
Wind friction
-
Salt crystallisation
-
Mechanical damage
-
These help reduce cuticle lift and moisture loss.
6. Reduce Product Transfer
Sunscreen and body oils easily migrate into hair and contribute to buildup — especially around the nape and lengths.
-
Use claw clips to keep hair off the body
-
Tie hair back during sunscreen application
-
Brush gently daily to redistribute oils and prevent localized coating
The Takeaway
When hair or scalp suddenly changes, it’s rarely random — it’s environmental chemistry meeting biology.
Support the scalp barrier first.
Remove buildup intelligently.
Hydrate where needed.
Protect the fibre daily.
Hair doesn’t need more — it needs different when conditions change.
Final Thoughts on Holiday
Your hair isn’t “misbehaving” it’s responding intelligently to its environment.
Water chemistry plays a huge role in how hair feels, shines, tangles, and absorbs moisture.
Sometimes, a holiday glow isn’t about rest or relaxation, it’s about ionic balance and mineral load.
Understanding this gives you power:
-
To adjust your routine
-
To stop blaming your hair
-
To work with science, not against it
And sometimes, yes... a change in water really is as good as a holiday.
PS: Coming home my wash days have been incredible, Soft. Shiny. Silky. And that's because of once again the change in the mineral composition and that's enough of a reason for me book my next holiday.
If you need help working out the best routine to suit your environmental surroundings, then reach out and let me curate a plan designed for you.
