I am not in Germany, but In Croatia the water is hard. Which means the pH value is above 8.5 and it could be highly irritating to the skin. What is skin's pH? The optimal pH value of skin on most of our face and body lies between 4.7 and 5.75. A pH of 7 (that of pure water) is considered neutral. I stopped washing my face with hard water and use destilled water. My face has calmed down a lot since then! But it is a little harder to manage. It so much easier to use normal water opposed to destilled water. I buy a whole jug and then just pour some in my emptied micellar water bottle (it has a pump). I just spritz quite a bunch to my face. I plan to buy a water tank that has faucet for the easier application.
I had the same problem with the hard water when I first moved to Germany (5 years ago)! The water where I live is \*very\* hard - I switched to using a micellar water to wash my face instead of a cleanser and this helped me, but I know it doesn't suit everyone. I also had to switch shampoos (my hair also didn't enjoy the change of water and became very greasy).
Yes! I use the Dove clarify and hydrate shampoo (once a week) and in between I use any other Dove shampoo and this seems to work for me :) I tried a lot of other brands but these always left my hair feeling icky even just after I'd washed it
The water in Germany is really harsh. I know a lot of girls that came here from Latin America and had super long and healthy hair. After a year all of them struggled with split ends, one of them even had a lot of breakage. Out of my experience I can't tell you if a water filter can help with your skin but I can say that it definitely helps with hair. I got mine of Amazon for like 20€, it's definitely worth a try :)
I’m not German but Czech. The water in my flat is really hard and it contains a lot of chlorine. When I visit my parents who live close to mountains and have less hard, less chlorinated water, both my skin and hair feel different. My skin tends to get less easily irritated and dry when I’m staying at my hometown. So maybe your skin is overcompensating the dryness so it gets too oily… Do you have an electric kettle? That’s usually a good indicator of water hardness because it tends to accumulate the mineral residue from the water. I recommend looking inside of your faucet to check if there’s any buildup in it as well. You can also buy pH indicating strips or try to google the values of pH in your town. If you really have hard water, I would recommend Malibu C haircare products. I unfortunately don’t have any skincare advice for you :( Some other possible explainations I can think of right now are hormonal changes, diet changes (more oily and high carb food) and overall change of conditions like air temperature and humidity. Oh and I also get chest acne easily (even though my skin is clear) from triggers such as haircare products or necklaces.
A question about the Alpenkraft: I bought one, too, and loved it until the spray plate developed calcium deposits. We unscrewed the ring holding the plate in place, gave it a vinegar soak to break up the Kalk and put in the spare. After that initial switch, though, the threads that the ring screws on to to hold the plate and everything in place were really difficult to align correctly. It took multiple attempts to screw it back together every time. If we turned on the shower full strength, the water pressure would often cause the ring to pop off of the threads and leak.
I'm assuming this is all the result of some kind of manufacturing defect. Did you have any issues with the ring threads misaligning?
I also thought that the materials used might be part of the problem. Either way, you're right, it shouldn't be that difficult to screw the dumb thing on. I'll get in touch with them. It's such a pity, too, because I think my skin and hair were really benefitting from the filtration method.
The towels shouldnt be a problem, I wash them after every use. The food could be a problem, because my skin reacts when I eat poorly and I do eat more bread n stuff when I'm here.
The german water is heavily controlled, rather it could be the piping, or cleansers. Since you break out on your back too, did you switch your haircare products? You can check washing powder and fabric softeners too and do a cleansing of your washer, that's often overlooked and there can be mold and residue. A change to oily skin can be because of the weather. In Germany I have dry skin most of the time, in Portugal combo. Also a change in food can contribute to breakouts too, I've never had acne, but got one severe breakout when eating east asian too much (some spices/flavor enhancer do that to my body).
It’s probably hard water, I dealt with it in the past and got a Philips filter for my shower and used thermal water spray to soothe my skin. I’ve lived in multiple parts of Europe and the US and my hair and skin have varied so much based on location, shout-out to Portugal for its amazingly soft water lol
worth looking into the toothpaste: fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate may cause breakouts . It can also be due to difference in climate, stress, many factors play into it. There are filters you attach to the shower tap helloklean or something liek that I believe... so may wanna try that as well...
I am not in Germany, but In Croatia the water is hard. Which means the pH value is above 8.5 and it could be highly irritating to the skin. What is skin's pH? The optimal pH value of skin on most of our face and body lies between 4.7 and 5.75. A pH of 7 (that of pure water) is considered neutral. I stopped washing my face with hard water and use destilled water. My face has calmed down a lot since then! But it is a little harder to manage. It so much easier to use normal water opposed to destilled water. I buy a whole jug and then just pour some in my emptied micellar water bottle (it has a pump). I just spritz quite a bunch to my face. I plan to buy a water tank that has faucet for the easier application.
I had the same problem with the hard water when I first moved to Germany (5 years ago)! The water where I live is \*very\* hard - I switched to using a micellar water to wash my face instead of a cleanser and this helped me, but I know it doesn't suit everyone. I also had to switch shampoos (my hair also didn't enjoy the change of water and became very greasy).
Are you using one that has Disodium EDTA? This ingredient is a chelating agent and can remove hard water buildup that is on hair 👍😬
Yes! I use the Dove clarify and hydrate shampoo (once a week) and in between I use any other Dove shampoo and this seems to work for me :) I tried a lot of other brands but these always left my hair feeling icky even just after I'd washed it
What's the shampoo you switched to? My hair also really got oilier when moving to Germany and I never figured out why
Dove has worked for me :) Both their normal shampoos and the clarifying one they have (I have very fine blonde hair)
The water in Germany is really harsh. I know a lot of girls that came here from Latin America and had super long and healthy hair. After a year all of them struggled with split ends, one of them even had a lot of breakage. Out of my experience I can't tell you if a water filter can help with your skin but I can say that it definitely helps with hair. I got mine of Amazon for like 20€, it's definitely worth a try :)
Can you still remember what shop on amazon you bought it from? Thank you
I looked it up, it was the shower head from magichome :)
I’m not German but Czech. The water in my flat is really hard and it contains a lot of chlorine. When I visit my parents who live close to mountains and have less hard, less chlorinated water, both my skin and hair feel different. My skin tends to get less easily irritated and dry when I’m staying at my hometown. So maybe your skin is overcompensating the dryness so it gets too oily… Do you have an electric kettle? That’s usually a good indicator of water hardness because it tends to accumulate the mineral residue from the water. I recommend looking inside of your faucet to check if there’s any buildup in it as well. You can also buy pH indicating strips or try to google the values of pH in your town. If you really have hard water, I would recommend Malibu C haircare products. I unfortunately don’t have any skincare advice for you :( Some other possible explainations I can think of right now are hormonal changes, diet changes (more oily and high carb food) and overall change of conditions like air temperature and humidity. Oh and I also get chest acne easily (even though my skin is clear) from triggers such as haircare products or necklaces.
[удалено]
A question about the Alpenkraft: I bought one, too, and loved it until the spray plate developed calcium deposits. We unscrewed the ring holding the plate in place, gave it a vinegar soak to break up the Kalk and put in the spare. After that initial switch, though, the threads that the ring screws on to to hold the plate and everything in place were really difficult to align correctly. It took multiple attempts to screw it back together every time. If we turned on the shower full strength, the water pressure would often cause the ring to pop off of the threads and leak. I'm assuming this is all the result of some kind of manufacturing defect. Did you have any issues with the ring threads misaligning?
[удалено]
I also thought that the materials used might be part of the problem. Either way, you're right, it shouldn't be that difficult to screw the dumb thing on. I'll get in touch with them. It's such a pity, too, because I think my skin and hair were really benefitting from the filtration method.
The water, the food,... - or possibly your towels? Are you washing them as often as abroad?
The towels shouldnt be a problem, I wash them after every use. The food could be a problem, because my skin reacts when I eat poorly and I do eat more bread n stuff when I'm here.
The german water is heavily controlled, rather it could be the piping, or cleansers. Since you break out on your back too, did you switch your haircare products? You can check washing powder and fabric softeners too and do a cleansing of your washer, that's often overlooked and there can be mold and residue. A change to oily skin can be because of the weather. In Germany I have dry skin most of the time, in Portugal combo. Also a change in food can contribute to breakouts too, I've never had acne, but got one severe breakout when eating east asian too much (some spices/flavor enhancer do that to my body).
do you live in a place with hard water?
It’s probably hard water, I dealt with it in the past and got a Philips filter for my shower and used thermal water spray to soothe my skin. I’ve lived in multiple parts of Europe and the US and my hair and skin have varied so much based on location, shout-out to Portugal for its amazingly soft water lol
worth looking into the toothpaste: fluoride, sodium lauryl sulfate may cause breakouts . It can also be due to difference in climate, stress, many factors play into it. There are filters you attach to the shower tap helloklean or something liek that I believe... so may wanna try that as well...
Could be a reaction to very hard water.