I never considered my shower water could be the culprit behind my dry skin and frizzy hair. After all, Singapore’s tap water is one of the safest in the world and meets rigorous quality standards. So when a friend suggested a filtered showerhead transformed her hair and skin, I was doubtful. In fact, as a beauty blogger who’s tried every product under the sun, the idea that a showerhead could impact my skin and hair sounded almost absurd.
But a month ago, I reached a breaking point. My usually thick hair was shedding and looking more frizzy and dry than ever. Even my skin was acting up, with dry, red patches along my nose and closed comedones on my forehead. Dermatologists told me it could be stress or hormones, but one offhand comment stuck with me: “Sometimes even water quality can affect sensitive skin.” Could that be it? Was there something in my water here that was irritating
It turns out, Singapore’s water, while safe, is still treated with chlorine to prevent bacteria and fungi from infiltrating our water supply. That chlorine keeps bacteria away, but it’s not exactly kind to your skin and hair. According to trichologist Dr. Pooja Chhabra, the chlorine in our water “strips away protective layers that coat the hair, resulting in breakage and increased hair fall”. I was floored by this insight – could the very water I shower in every day be slowly damaging my hair and drying out my skin?
I did more digging. I learned that chlorine can dehydrate skin and oxidize hair (ever notice that bleachy smell sometimes?). Plus, many of us live in older buildings (hello, HDB’s) where older pipes might contribute rust or heavy metals into the water. Gross, but true. My friend showed me her used filter from a popular Korean showerhead brand – it was pure white when new and tea-brown after a month of showers.
I wasn’t expecting miracles, but I wondered: Could reducing chlorine and impurities make even a small difference for me? I decided to run a personal experiment. I would try a filtered showerhead for 4 weeks and document the results. If it worked for me, great. If not, I’d write it off as another over-hyped beauty gimmick.
Now the next question: which filtered showerhead to try? A quick search showed plenty of options – from $30 filter attachments on Lazada to fancier ones like Bodyluv. The friend who showed me the dirty filter had used Bodyluv, a Korean filter. I nearly bought one (they’re affordable at around $50). But two things gave me pause: (1) It has a clear plastic design that, to be frank, would look pretty odd (*cough* ugly) in my bathroom, and (2) It only came with a standard cotton filter, and to remove chlorine, you’d need to buy separate vitamin C filters regularly.
Then I came across the Halo Filtered Showerhead, a local brand promising all-in-one filtration for 99.9% of contaminants (chlorine, rust, heavy metals) plus a stylish, hotel-grade design that blends with modern bathrooms (available in both chrome and matte black which matches my fixtures perfectly). It was more expensive (S$109), but the Halo had lots of positive reviews from Singaporean users. People raved about improved skin, less hair frizz, and – surprisingly – stronger water pressure than their old showerheads. All in all, Halo’s specs looked impressive:
But would it make a real difference to my skin and hair? I invested in Halo to give it a fair trail.
The Halo Filtered Showerhead arrived in a sleek box with it’s two filters (one pre-installed in the head, one in the handle) and an instruction pamphlet. I’m not the handiest person, so I set aside an afternoon… and ended up not needing it. Installation took literally 5 minutes, as promised, and it fit my hose perfectly.
Immediately, I noticed Halo is a bit heavier than my old plastic showerhead (it has some heft – presumably from the filter inside and the solid build). The brushed chrome finish looked great, actually upgrading the look of my shower. My fiancé even commented that it “looks like a fancy hotel showerhead”. But credit where it’s due: Halo is far more attractive than most filter gadgets out there. With everything hooked up, I was ready for the first test.
I turned on the water, half expecting some initial sputters, but it flowed smoothly. The first surprise: the water pressure was fantastic. In fact, it was better than my old showerhead. Halo has a metal spray plate that delivers a consistent, invigorating stream – not stingingly hard, but definitely strong and full. I actually said out loud, “wow,” as it rinsed the shampoo out of my hair in record time.
Now, as I showered, I tried to discern if the water felt different. To be honest, it’s hard to tell on day one if water is “softer” or “cleaner” just by feel but I did notice that there was no chlorine smell at all (sometimes I do catch a whiff of pool-like scent in our tap water, but not this time).
One immediate observation: usually after my hot showers, I’d scratch my arms or legs a bit because the heat made them dry and itchy. After this first Halo shower, I realized while toweling off my skin felt normal, not parched. So far, a cautiously good start! If you're curious what the showerhead looks like out of the box, below is a little video I took the first time setting it up!
In the first week, I spotted small but promising shifts. By day four or five, I realized I wasn’t relying on body lotion as much—my skin felt less dry, and my arms and legs weren’t ashy. My hair also felt slightly more softer and more manageable, though it might be the new conditioner I started using around the same time. Still, it was intriguing to see these results.
The big bonus is the shower experience itself. The Halo’s spray felt strong yet “massaging,” and I worried it might clog or reduce flow within a few days, but by the end of the week, everything was still going strong.
Around the two-week mark, I realized my breakouts and redness had notably decreased, despite no changes to my skincare. It dawned on me that washing my face in filtered water during my morning shower was likely the reason. An even bigger breakthrough was my scalp health. I have mild seborrheic dermatitis, but by the end of Week 2, there were no flakes or redness—something I typically only achieve with medicated shampoo. When I checked the Halo’s filter, it had turned a faint beige, confirming it was catching sediment. Ew, but thank goodness the filter was catching it all!
After a month of using Halo, the changes were undeniable.
By Week 4, the filter had turned a darker brown, showing how much gunk it trapped. Halo recommends changing filters every three months, and knowing all that debris isn’t touching my skin or hair is reassuring. Between the easier upkeep and the spa-like experience, it felt like a genuine upgrade to my daily routine—and my skin, hair, and scalp were all the better for it.
I can confidently say a filtered showerhead is essential in Singapore, especially if you have any skin or hair concerns. We often spend so much on topical products – moisturizers, serums, hair masks – trying to repair damage after the fact. But addressing the source (literally the water source) had never occurred to me. Now it seems so obvious: if you can prevent the daily assault of chlorine and micro metals on your body, you won’t need to fix as much damage later.
Think about it: we shower at least once, sometimes twice, a day here (thanks to the humid weather). That’s potentially 10-20 minutes each day your skin and hair are soaking in chlorinated water. Over a year, that’s equivalent to days worth of exposure. No wonder cumulative effects show up like dryness, eczema flare-ups, or brittle hair. Filtering your shower water is like giving your body “cleaner food” to absorb, instead of making it fend off contaminants nonstop.
One more point – and this hit home for me – is family health. If you have young children or even pets you bathe, a filtered shower could be a gentle safeguard for them too. Children’s skin is more delicate (my niece’s eczema often flares from pool chlorine; now my sister is installing a Halo after seeing my results). Even for ourselves, as we age, our skin’s resilience drops – so why not protect it now?
At first glance, Halo’s price of S$109 might seem high. But when I think about all the money I’ve spent on specialized hair treatments, scalp serums, and heavy-duty lotions to combat dryness or irritation, the value quickly becomes clear. Before Halo, I was easily spending close to S$200 a month on various products to keep my hair manageable and my skin from flaring up. Once I started using the filtered showerhead, I found myself cutting back on a lot of that extra stuff—saving me money and simplifying my routine. Instead of constantly treating symptoms, the Halo showerhead tackled the root cause: the water I use every day.
At the end of four weeks, I had a choice: remove the Halo and go back to my old showerhead to see if problems return (the true test), or… don’t you dare take my Halo away! Honestly, I couldn’t part with it. The improvements were real enough that I didn’t want to reverse them just to prove a point. Perhaps that’s the ultimate testament – I decided to keep Halo as a permanent part of my home. In fact, I’m going to buy another one for the second bathroom so my fiancé and I don’t fight over the “good shower” in the master bedroom. Halo has become as non-negotiable to me as having clean drinking water or a good air purifier in Singapore’s haze season. It’s now a staple for wellness in my household.
For anyone reading who is on the fence, I say: try it. Halo offers a 30-day return policy and a 1-year warranty, so if it doesn’t float your boat, you can send it back. But if your experience is even half as good as mine, you won’t want to. It’s one of those things you don’t realize you needed until you have it, and then you wonder how you went so long without it.
P.S. I’ve got exciting news to share! After trying Halo, I reached out to their team, and they gave me a special code RELAX15 for 15% OFF at at checkout! But a quick heads-up: thanks to growing interest in the brand, Halo hinted they may discontinue all offers next month. If the code still works when you’re reading this, do let us know in the comments!
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