Over the last few years, shower filters have gone from niche to mainstream. As we’re looking beyond just our skincare routines for optimum skin and hair health, and with 60 per cent of UK households living in hard water areas, it’s no surprise then that they’ve grown in popularity within the beauty and wellness arena.

Besides causing cloudy glasses and limescale coatings on shower doors and kettles, the minerals in hard water can also cause dull, brittle hair strands and colour fading, while skin can become dry, flaky or itchy.

Hello Klean is the biggest brand in this space, having first launched in 2019. Since then, it’s upgraded its shower filter to the 2.0 version and showerhead+, and you’ve most likely seen it all over your social media feeds.

Earlier this year, another shower filter brand launched called Water2Skin. Founded by TV host and adventurer Bear Grylls and co-owned by serial entrepreneur Grace Beverley, the latter of whom has publicly spoken about the impact of hard water on her own skin, it’s quickly rising in popularity.

Both brands offer a similar product: handheld and rainfall shower filters with similar performance promised but distinctly different designs. With that in mind, I put Water2Skin head-to-head against Hello Klean’s hit product to see which is worth a spot in your shower for improving skin and hair health.

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  • Why we love it- Easy to install and simple to use
  • Looks understated
  • Provides immediate softer water and increased pressure

  • Improved hair's overall condition

  • Take note- It typically lasts 50 washes before needing to be refilled

At first glance, the Hello Klean showerhead 2.0 is elegant, easy to install and very lightweight. It doesn’t droop from its weight, looks chic and comes in beige, black and chrome colours.

To install, simply unscrew your usual shower head and screw on the Hello Klean. Then, run the water for 30 seconds to be sure it's screwed on tight enough. It’s a foolproof design.

The immediate difference I noticed was much softer water and higher water pressure, making a marked improvement from the basic, non-filtered shower head I’d been using before.

It has a two-step circular filtration system that reduces chlorine, metals, and impurities in hard water, and its filter typically lasts approximately 50 washes.

This system features three ingredients that combat hard water damage: activated carbon, which traps contaminants in your pipes and can make your shower smell; amino acid granules, which keep your natural hair oils intact so it doesn’t feel dry and stripped of moisture; and KDF 55 which removes iron, lead and mercury (small amounts are found in water) and neutralises chlorine to keep skin feeling soft.

As someone with an oily scalp and eczema-prone skin on my body, I’ve found this shower head has made a marked improvement during itchy, red flare-ups and helped extend the time between hair washes. As someone who gets my hair highlighted every few months and has noticed an increase in brittle strands as a result, this shower head, after six weeks of use, began to improve my hair's overall condition.

It’s also reduced the dryness I get on my legs post-shaving, and any products used on my face, hair, or body rinsed off quicker, thanks to the higher water pressure, which I found to be an energy-efficient bonus.

Key specifications

  • Filter replacements:£36 every 3 months
  • Colourways:Beige, black, chrome, transparent blue

  • Weight:240g

  • Why we love it- Easy to install and clean

  • Noticeable improvement in residue buildup and water marks

  • Resulted in smoother hair and skin

  • Take note- More expensive

  • Bulkier than Hello Klean's showerhead

Water2Skin, previously known as Water2, is the latest launch in the shower-filter world and comes in silver, gold, and black colours that complement most bathrooms.

However, it’s surprisingly more cumbersome than Hello Klean’s version, thanks to a bulkier, heavier design, and while it didn’t droop in my shower, it wasn’t as easy to adjust. That said, it too is very easy to install - again, just a screw-on mechanism, and the same when replacing the filter.

Its filter system is very similar to Hello Klean, which also utilises activated carbon and KDF, along with vitamin C, to reduce limescale, lead, and chlorine in your water.

It delivers an even water spray and makes water pressure feel immediately softer, with great coverage and significantly reduced limescale on the nozzles compared to a traditional shower head. There was also no residue or water marks, even after weeks of testing.

I saw an improvement in the softness of my hair and realised after less than a month of testing that I didn’t need conditioner as often, and that my skin felt smoother, even before I applied moisturiser.

I can see that, from an aesthetic perspective, it has an edge over Hello Klean, but practically speaking, it’s more expensive for both the shower head and filter replacements, with little difference between the filtration systems, so you’re better off saving a bit more money with Hello Klean.

Key specifications

  • Filter replacements:£40 every 90 days
  • Colourways:Chrome, gold, black
  • Weight:310g