Have you noticed the cloudy limescale that builds up on your shower and kettle? Do your freshly washed clothes feel rough to the touch? These are the tell-tale signs that you are living in a hard-water area.
Now, just imagine how that film of minerals could affect your hair and scalp. If you've lost the hard-water postcode lottery, it's likely you've noticed a wide range of issues, from hair feeling brittle and frizzy after washing to dull colour that's quick to fade.
The solution? Well, according to many, the secret to softer, shinier hair lies in a hard-water filter: a convenient shower add-on that'll remove those troublesome particles before they can do their worst work. Do they deliver? Well, I've done all the research, so you don't have to. But first: the experts unpack the issues with hard water, and explain exactly what it can do to our skin, scalp and strands.
What Is Hard Water?
Water hardness is determined by the amount of salts present in the water that comes out of your tap, which varies depending on region. If you live in London, the South or East of England, it's likely you aren't imagining the adverse effect your shower water is having on your hair: these areas of the UK have the hardest water levels. This is because of higher concentrations of chalk and limestone in the earth, compared to the North and West, which leads to the water picking up more salts – as well as heavy metals such as copper and calcium – when it passes through the ground and out of your tap.
Does Hard Water Affect Hair?
Washing hair in hard water deposits these minerals on the surface of the hair shaft, which then crystallise when the hair dries, leading to brittle, coarse, and limp strands that don’t respond as effectively to your favourite shampoos and conditioners. A recent study confirmed that hard water does decrease the strength of hair, therefore increasing the chance of breakage.
'Many people notice their hair is drier when they shampoo with hard water, it frizzes more easily, lacks shine and that not as much lather is created,' says Anabel Kingsley, consultant trichologist and president at Philip Kingsley. 'Hard water can also affect the colour of your hair, especially if you have highlighted or bleached strands.'
If you, like me, have curly and frizz-prone hair, hard water could be holding you back from high-definition spirals or a sleek and shiny blow-out. The heavy mineral coating weighs down your hair and erodes the hair’s elasticity by lifting the cuticle and allowing for easier build-up.
According to Dr Sharon Wong, a consultant dermatologist who specialises in hair and scalp health, 'textured and curly hair is naturally more porous and therefore drier and more thirsty at the baseline. Having a film of minerals on the surface exacerbates this dryness and can potentially impede the hair's ability to absorb moisture.'
For those with dry skin, bathing in hard water will encourage itchiness, irritation and flaking. 'If there is an underlying dry skin issue such as eczema, [hard water] can potentially exacerbate symptoms,' says Dr Wong. Although hard water does not cause hair loss, the dryness and loss of elasticity can lead to more breakage and fall-out.
Does A Shower Filter Help Hair?
Many experts agree that the best way to protect your hair against hard water, and improve its overall texture and quality, is to install a shower filter. Now, this might sound like a major job to undertake, but there are now several premium brands moving into the space, promising all of the benefits with none of the faff (and absolutely no perplexing plumbing, I promise).
First up, a brand solely dedicated to tackling the havoc that hard water can wreak on your skin and hair. Hello Klean has created a smart water filter specifically for handheld showers, which the brand claims will remove copper, iron, lead and chlorine particles from your water. The filter contains a cartridge that will need to be replaced periodically (each one will last up to five months, depending on how often your shower is used).
The filter itself simply screws straight onto your shower hose (trust me: it takes mere seconds), the sleek cylindrical body won't ruin the look of your carefully curated bathroom, and it works brilliantly well at sieving out all those damaging deposits.
Act + Acre
For those dealing with woefully poor shower pressure, the brand's most recent Purifying Shower Head may be a better option: it boasts all of the benefits of the original filter, but with a head that can increase your standard pressure by up to 100%.
And for replacing a rain-style or fixed shower head, there's the Act + Acre Showerhead Filter, which was developed with a trichologist to ensure it takes good care of sensitive and easily upset scalps. It works in the same way as the Hello Klean options, employing a cartridge of layered filters that remove all the unwanted particles from your water. With a sleek black exterior, it'll likely be an aesthetic upgrade from your usual shower head, too.
Whichever you choose, the first thing you'll notice is just how silky soft the water is when it touches your skin: and, in some cases, water pressure is actually improved. Knowing that you’re pampering yourself by elevating the daily experience of bathing is a a welcome factor, too.
My hair quickly saw the benefits with less frizz, less shedding, and my skin felt less itchy. Previously, to revive day-three hair, I had to do my full haircare routine – shampoo, condition, meticulously layer styling products. But since installing a hard-water shower head, I simply wet my hair, run a bit of conditioner through my curls to rehydrate them, and use a lot less cream and gel to get my hair shiny and defined.
I can firmly say that since using a hard-water filter for the past month, my haircare routine has become much more low maintenance: now I know the difference, I simply couldn't go back to bathing in unfiltered London tap water again.
The Best Products To Use In Hard-Water Areas
To truly transform your hair, try pairing your shower filter with a considered haircare routine. Dr Wong advises using a weekly clarifying shampoo to remove build-up, and a deep conditioning hair mask once a week to maximise moisture levels.
If your hair is brittle and damaged – perhaps you're a regular bleacher or surgically attached to your straighteners – an intensive treatment such as Philip Kingsley's Elasticizer is a great add-in: working to deliver both moisture (softness) and protein (strength), it'll rebuild those strands in distress. Hello Klean and Act + Acre both make a stellar line of shampoos and treatments (dry-shampoo addicts, the latter's Cold Pressed Scalp Detox is a revelation), while for in-shower satisfaction, a good old-fashioned scalp scrub always wins.
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