I don't have a lot of time to mess around with my hair these days. For me, the "beach waves" look is my style of choice, because it requires zero prep or maintenance. Just wash it and go! Lately I've just been leaving my house with a bad case of the frizzies, hoping nobody recognizes me. 
My hair tends to get REALLY frizzy after I wash it, if I don't either curl it with a curling iron, tame it with a ceramic iron, or add a bunch of products to it.
This photo is a classic example of what my hair tends to look like, about 2 hours after I wash it. I start to feel more and more like Roseanne Roseannadanna, as the day goes on!
What got me started using different types of pH water on my hair
Recently, I decided to do an experiment with one of the types of water that an Enagic machine makes, called Beauty water. On my machine (an SD-501 Platinum), the pH of Beauty water is 6.0. For some reason, the pH of the Beauty water setting on the SD-501 at my in laws' house is 5.5.
I've heard the natural pH of your skin is somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5, so it would seem to make sense that a person would want to use Beauty water - with a pH that is similar to the pH that hair already "should be." But I think that as we get older, we just don't have the same defense mechanisms operating in our scalps, as we used to, and some of us might need a little extra help.
The reason I started using 9.5 water on my hair, a few years ago, is because I was looking for a way to reverse (or at least slow down the progression of) gray hair. I'm not saying I've been able to do it (though I've seen some things do seem to help when used consistently). But I have not been consistent about using the 9.5 on my hair, by any means.
I was resistant to using the 9.5 water regularly, partially because I kept thinking I was using the wrong type of water... I felt like I was supposed to be using the beauty water, yet... I know that water with a pH below 7 is "oxidizing" and oxidation is part of what causes gray hair. So if anything, I felt like I should be using alkaline water on my hair! Or at least, on my scalp. Even if 4.5 to 6.0 is a more "natural" pH that would match what your hair already has... I still just didn't want to put it on my head!
It seemed like, in the past, when I used the 9.5 pH water, my hair just responded better to that. I decided to take some photos to see what pH of water my hair really seemed to like the best... since pictures don't lie!
The first experiment
The hair on the left side (my right side) was rinsed with Kangen 9.5 pH water, and the hair on the other side was rinsed with 6.0 pH Beauty water.
For whatever reason, my hair seems to prefer the 9.5 pH water to the beauty water. Maybe because my hair is really damaged and needs extra help.
Beauty water really does work for a lot of people!
There are many people who love using Enagic's beauty water on their hair. Supposedly, it gives the hair more shine, and seals the hair's cuticle. And I've seen with my own eyes, it helps your hair dry much faster!
I think maybe if my hair was in better condition, the Beauty water could be ideal. For someone who has thin, straight hair, it would probably give them a lot more body. But my hair is color treated, damaged, porous, really thick, and some of my hair can get downright wiry, stubborn, and ornery. Some of them stick straight up, as if they're daring me to make them sit back down : D.
My second experiment
I needed to wash and color my hair this weekend, and decided to take pictures, using the beauty water again. After the first beauty water experiment I did, showing the beauty water (6.0) vs. the Kangen Water 9.5, I couldn't help wondering if I had done something wrong. My hair just didn't look very shiny, despite the fact that it seems to work for other people. Maybe I took water from the wrong hose?
I was told that if there was a kink in the hose, that can affect the pH. The hose was a little bunched up, but there was no kink, so I wanted to try this experiment again. I collected water from both hoses on the machine.
How the water is dispensed:
The machine has 2 hoses: A flexible gooseneck hose that comes out of the top of the machine (for the alkaline water), and then there's a gray hose that comes out of the bottom machine, and that is acidic water (sometimes just "runoff water") that goes into your sink. The pH will vary depending on what pH button you press. All of the buttons are for the "top hose" (alkaline) water except for the 2.5 water, in which case you collect from the bottom hose. You can collect many types of water for different uses.
Tap water has a pH of 7.0 (sometimes because the water department will add lye to keep the pH down, to protect your pipes). Because there are 2 hoses, the pH of the water always equals 14. So, if the pH of the water in the bottom hose is 2.5, that means you'll have 11.5 coming out of the top hose. If the pH of the water coming out of the top hose is 6.0, that means 8.0 is coming out of the bottom. The machine also has the ability to switch polarity for cleaning purposes (acidic water cleans the pipes).
Every time I rinse my hair with Kangen water in the kitchen sink, I am surprised to see how much soap residue still comes out of my hair. True, I do use a good amount of shampoo and conditioner, but even if I rinse my hair for a a few minutes in the shower, I still get suds like this. I decided to collect this "final rinse water" in a large pot, so you can see what I'm talking about. Look at all the soap bubbles that come out, when you rinse your hair with the 9.5 water. Just when you think you've done a good job of rinsing all the soap and conditioner out of your hair... guess again!!!
These were the results I got with my experiment:
By the way, I do realize, I am overdue for a haircut : ). My hairdresser, Fara, would probably be aghast to see how long I've let my hair go without a cut, but lately, I just haven't had the time to sit in a chair at a salon. So I will take any little improvement I can get right now.
What happened after I washed the still-frizzy section...
Sure enough, there was still a good amount of soap residue coming out, from just this small section of frizzy hair that I re-washed! There were even more suds than this, but some of the bubbles had faded by the time I took the photo). I think the reason I didn't wash that side as well, is because the Kangen machine is on my right side when I wash it over the sink, so it's harder to fully rinse the hair that's on the left side of my head.
After I posted this pic of my now-less-frizzy hair, I was trying to remember how much time had passed, between when I was washing that small section of hair in the sink, and when I took this photo. Since this was 2 days ago (as I'm writing this), I just couldn't remember. I thought maybe it had been an hour, but didn't want to give any misinformation, so I looked up the time stamp on the photo, and was surprised to see it had just been 9 minutes. I hadn't thought about it at the time I was taking the photo, but now that I think about it... that's really not a bad amount of time to get your hair mostly dry, to the point where it starts to have a nice wave, without even using a to even use a blow dryer! I probably only used the towel on it for 20 seconds, because the section was so small.
My hair hasn't felt this light and curly since my 20s! Getting all that shampoo and product out of my locks really does seem to help my hair to restore its natural curl and shine.
"Curling shampoo" vs. Kangen water
Years ago, I had bought some shampoo that supposedly brings out your natural curl. But the problem with that is, it's a shampoo. It's designed to make your hair squeaky clean, but it also makes it a little too "stringent" and "taut" for me to run a comb through it! My hair is so long and damaged, I really do need to use conditioner (and a good amount of it) to get the tangles out. So, it seems that the most ideal method for me is, to shampoo and condition my hair as usual, get the tangles out, and then use the 9.5 as a final rinse.
I have been using the Kangen 9.5 pH water on my hair for a couple of years now. Sometimes I have even used the 11.5 water that comes out the top hose on our machine, while I'm making 2.5 pH water (though that would probably end up stripping the color, eventually, because it's a pretty strong solvent - at least it is, when it first comes out of the machine). I only used it a couple of times, because I have a lot of it leftover after I make the 2.5 water, so I save it in large buckets and bottles around the housedispensers. You can use this water for removing pesticides from produce, removing stains from clothing, and some people even use it in their laundry.
I rinsed with the Kangen 9.5 water, a few days before shooting this video below, and when I watched it back, I remember thinking, man, my hair is looking more healthy than it has in a long time. It seems a lot shinier now, I have my natural curls back, and I don't have to put any products in it!
Hooray for natural waves!
My hair may not look perfect, after I use the 9.5 pH water, but I feel like it just looks a lot better than it would, if I just used tap water to rinse it. I still do plan to curl it with a curling iron every once in a while, but lately I just do not have time.
Does Giselle Bundchen use Kangen Water?
Speaking of Giselle Bundchen, I saw a video with an SD-501 Platinum in her kitchen - you know, the one she shares with her husband, Tom Brady, who's won more Super Bowls than any quarterback in history? I'm not able to state that they use Kangen water, or in what manner they do use it. I would assume that anyone who has a machine next to their kitchen sink, is probably drinking it, but I can only say for sure that I've seen that they have the same machine as we do, in their kitchen.
I do know that Tom Brady says he drinks 2.5 gallons of water a day, and there's a video out there (by one of Enagic's competitors) where a fitness coach says he is pretty certain Tom Brady has been drinking Alkaline water for a while. Tom Brady does say that he feels that his extra hydration helps him to prevent sunburn. Well, did you know that antioxidants are shown to help a person to be less susceptible to sunburns? Just saying. Tap water, bottled water, and even bottled alkaline water, do NOT have antioxidants in them!
When Gisele Bundchen was asked for a health tip that works every time, she did say, "Drink lots of water." : ). J-Lo also said on the Dr. Oz show, that drinking lots of water is her beauty secret. It is widely rumored that J-Lo has a Kangen machine as well, but I can't say this for sure because I've never seen it in her kitchen, and Enagic doesn't pay for celebrity spokespeople, when most of their machines are sold through word of mouth : ).
Forcing our hair into submission
I remember one day seeing an infomercial where women were shamed about having naturally curly hair, and I thought, man, there was a time in the early 80s where women were paying good money to get those kind of natural looking, bouncy curls, and now women with those natural waves are being shamed in order to repress them, just because it's the "latest fashion"?? What the heck!
Gone are the days when all of us chicks were trying to force our hair to look straight, straight, straight. OK, that's not to say the trend won't ever come back... and I have always wanted to try the Japanese straightening method (that uses thermal reconditioning), just to see what it'd be like. I did enjoy using a ceramic flat iron every once in a while, but honestly, even when I used it, I could still see some angry, wiry hairs rebelling and sticking up, as if they're shouting in protest: is that the way to treat us??? Trying to burn us into compliance??
I think my hair looks best when I just let my own natural curl shine through, and stop trying to fight what it wants to do, naturally.
Returning your hair to it's "Natural Origin"
Hironari Oshiro, the fouder of Enagic, decided to name water from an Enagic machine "Kangen Water," because "Kangen" means "Return to origin," and Kangen water is like water that you'll find in nature.
If you study the water in the Lourdes, France, and other places that have "healing water" - like Tlacote, Mexico, or Nordenau, Germany, you'll find that those waters are alkaline, and they also have antioxidants in them : ). You can read more about "natural healing waters" in the world, by CLICKING HERE.
I sometimes think about the day I went swimming in a pond in Hawai'i, and I remember how soft and manageable my hair was, after it dried. It was even shinier! So to me, it makes sense that Kangen alkaline water would give my hair the same effect.
Can Kangen water keep gray hair at bay?
The other reason I like the idea of using antioxidant water on my hair (with a higher pH than the beauty water) is, I have been studying gray hair (and how to reverse it). There are many reasons a person's hair can turn gray, but one of the reasons is oxidative stress, which is linked to every major disease. In 2013, articles started coming out, that showed the relationship between gray hair and the hydrogen peroxide that your body produces. I found this online:
It's been known for years that hair turns gray due to a natural buildup of hydrogen peroxide in hair follicles, which causes oxidative stress and graying. (Hydrogen peroxide solutions have been used for years as a cheap and easy way to "go blonde.")
In younger people, an enzyme called catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. But lower levels of this enzyme, combined with lower levels of enzymes called MSR A and B that repair hydrogen peroxide damage, cause hair to turn gray as we age.
Here's another excerpt from an article, from THIS PAGE.
In a 2009 study, researchers discovered that going gray is simply a buildup of hydrogen peroxide in your hair particles, which bleaches your hair from the inside.[2] Yep, bottle blondes love hydrogen peroxide for its bleaching effect, but it’s also a chemical that your hair cells make naturally.
Here’s where things get interesting — usually, a hardworking enzyme called catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. But as you get older, catalase production starts to slow down. The result? Hydrogen peroxide starts to accumulate in the body.
“Hydrogen peroxide plays a major role in essentially bleaching out the hair pigment centers,” says Ronald Peralta, cancer survivor and co-founder of hair supplement Nutrafol, in a recent Bulletproof Radio (iTunes) podcast episode. “Gray hair is nothing less than a reflection of a reduction of catalase enzyme, one of the more potent antioxidants.”
At some point I thought, OK, if hydrogen peroxide is H202, and oxidative stress is caused by your body's reaction with Oxygen (O2), it just seemed to me like, a good way to slow down the oxidation process in my own hair, might be to add more active (molecular) hydrogen, H2, into the equation. Kangen water is loaded with molecular hydrogen.
If you look online, you will find this explanation of H2:
H2 is the smallest molecule in the universe. That means it can go where nothing else can …including into your mitochondria which are the powerhouses of your cells. Hydrogen gas cannot be kept in plastic because it will pass right through the walls of the container.
It seems like, it would make sense to use 9.5 pH with lots of molecular hydrogen, and antioxidants, on your hair, if it can sink deeply into your cells and mitochondria. And the fact that it has such a small molecular structure makes me think, maybe that's why it's able to get into your hair and get rid of the shampoo, even better than regular water can.
Maybe my theory about Kangen water reversing gray hair is just a dream of mine, and it won't do anything for that. But I'm ok with that. As long as Kangen water (which is loaded with H2 - active hydrogen) is keeping my hair looking and feeling good - I'm going to keep using it for my hair : ).
If you have any questions about Kangen water, feel free to give me a call. You can reach me at 650-735-1599.
Laura
Do you know if there’s a way to buy a refurbished Kangen device we have tried reaching out to Enagic with no luck! Kangen water has helped my 5yr old in the past he has health issues from his cancer removal we have tried everything but just can’t afford a new one! Do you know of anyone who upgraded that is selling an old unit?
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