As Daily Mail reports, Natalia, a 30-year-old Australian woman, claims installing a water purifying shower filter has not only cleared her acne, but it also smoothed her hair. (View the images here.)
“Natalia suffered with painful breakouts since she was a teenager and claims she’s spent thousands of dollars over the years trying to find a cure,” writes Daily Mail. As her skin began to clear up, she moved from Sydney to the UK in 2018, causing her acne to go from “blemish-free to terrible” within the next few weeks. When she heard news that shower filters can cure certain skin concerns, she bought HELLO KLEAN Shower Filter ($49), an easy-to-install device that attaches to the tap to filter out harmful chemicals and bacteria present in the water.
Although New York dermatologist Marina Peredo, MD says water is not the biggest culprit when it comes to acne formation, she explains that harsh chemicals in the water can definitely be a contributing factor. “Most of the water in the U.S. is hard,” she says. “The problem with hard water is that its high material content prevents it from properly lathering the soap and instead creates a soapy layer on top of the skin. This can clog the pores by changing the skin’s natural oils to wax and irritate the skin, causing acne.”
While Dr. Peredo says a filter can definitely help acne, Nanuet, NY dermatologist Heidi Waldorf, MD says not to throw out your retinoids. “Filtering the water you use to drink or cleanse won’t affect your acne unless your original water was contaminated,” she adds.
As Dr. Peredo predicted, Natalia noticed her pores shrinking right after installing her new filter. “I could also feel the difference in my hair when I visited home compared to how it usually was in London,” she says. “This definitely impacts me physically and now mentally I don’t feel like I’m showering or cleaning properly if I don’t have a filter!”
