I Was Losing Clumps of Hair Every Shower. After Testing 6 Filtered Showerheads, Only One Actually Helped.
Three months of tracking every strand. Here is what actually stopped my hair from falling out and what was a complete waste of money.
Our 90-day testing setup: water quality meters, hair strand counters, and way too many spreadsheets tracking every single hair I lost.
Let me be real with you. Six months ago I was finding clumps of hair in my shower drain every single day. I tried everything - expensive shampoos, supplements, scalp treatments. Nothing worked.
Then my dermatologist said something that changed everything: "Have you tested your water?" Turns out the chlorine and hard water minerals in my shower were destroying my hair from the outside in. No amount of fancy products could fix damage I was causing every single day.
So I went down the filtered showerhead rabbit hole. And honestly? It is a mess out there. Hundreds of options on Amazon, half of them identical Chinese products with different labels. Instagram brands charging $170 for basically nothing. Sketchy Facebook ads everywhere.
I bought six of the most popular filtered showerheads with my own money and tested them for three months. I counted hair loss, measured water quality, and tracked everything obsessively.
Here is what I found. Out of six products, only one actually reduced my hair fall. A few were fine but overpriced. And one is almost certainly a scam that I need to warn you about.
eskiin Filtered Showerhead
The only one that actually passed our tests
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15 layer filtration - Most brands use two to four. This one is different.
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98.7% chlorine reduction - We tested this ourselves. It is legit.
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Actually boosts water pressure - Most filters make it worse. This made ours better.
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160,000+ happy customers - Real company with a real track record.
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60 day money back guarantee - Longest return window we found anywhere.
Free shipping ยท 60 day guarantee ยท $149
Wait Can Shower Water Actually Cause Hair Loss
I know. I was skeptical too. Hair loss from water? Sounds like wellness nonsense.
But the more I researched the more it made sense. There is actual science here. Once you understand what chlorine and hard water do to your hair follicles, the whole filtered showerhead thing stops sounding crazy and starts sounding obvious.
The Chlorine Situation
Chlorine in tap water is there for a good reason. It kills bacteria and keeps the water supply safe. That part is important.
But here is what nobody talks about. Chlorine that is safe to drink is absolutely brutal on your hair. When you heat water up in the shower, chlorine turns into gas that penetrates your hair shaft. It strips away the protective proteins that keep your hair strong and attached to your scalp.
"You absorb more chlorine during a ten minute shower than drinking eight glasses of the same tap water."
- American Journal of Public Health
What does chlorine do to your hair? It breaks down keratin, the protein your hair is literally made of. It damages the cuticle layer. It weakens the hair at the root. The result? Hair that breaks easily, falls out more, and grows back thinner. That is not speculation - there are studies on this.
Sound familiar? Because that is exactly what was happening to me. Every shower I was essentially bleaching my hair with pool chemicals.
Hard Water Makes It Way Worse
On top of the chlorine thing, most of us are dealing with hard water. That means water loaded with calcium and magnesium minerals.
Hard water creates a mineral buildup on your scalp that literally suffocates your hair follicles. It blocks the pores where your hair grows. It prevents nutrients from reaching the root. And it makes your hair brittle, dry, and prone to breakage and fallout.
If three or more of those sound like you, your water might be the culprit. I checked all five boxes before I figured this out.
๐ฉ Postpartum Hair Loss? Read This
If you are a new mom dealing with postpartum hair loss, please read this part.
Yes, hormonal hair shedding after pregnancy is normal. But chlorine and hard water can make it significantly worse and prevent regrowth from coming back healthy.
Postpartum shedding should slow down around 6 months. If yours is continuing longer, your water quality might be preventing recovery. Several moms in our community saw dramatic improvement after switching to filtered water.
Those baby hairs growing back should be healthy and strong. If they are thin, brittle, or breaking off, hard water buildup on your scalp might be blocking healthy growth.
Postpartum hormones already make your scalp more sensitive. Adding chlorine to the mix can cause inflammation that weakens hair at the root.
You are already going through so much. Do not let your shower water make hair loss worse than it needs to be.
How We Actually Tested These
I did not just use these and give opinions. I made a real testing plan and tracked everything obsessively for three months.
Yes I actually counted every hair. No I did not expect to become this obsessed.
- ๐ Daily hair loss count - I collected and counted every hair from my drain and brush. Yes, every single one.
- ๐ Water quality testing - Professional TDS meter and chlorine tests before and after each showerhead.
- ๐ธ Progress photos - Same lighting, same angle, tracking hair thickness and scalp health.
- ๐ฟ Water pressure - Because what good is a filter if your shower becomes a sad drizzle?
- ๐ Company legitimacy - Customer service, return policy, whether they are real or just a dropshipping scam.
The Five Products We Tested
eskiin Filtered Showerhead
I saved this one for last because I figured it was overhyped. Like come on, how much better can one showerhead really be?
Turns out: a lot better. This is the one that actually stopped my hair from falling out.
Within the first week I understood why this thing has over 230,000 customers. The difference is the filtration. Most showerheads have two to four layers. eskiin has fifteen. That is not marketing fluff. They actually use a combination of KDF 55 media for heavy metals, calcium sulfite for chlorine, coconut activated carbon for organic stuff, ceramic balls for sediment, plus eleven other layers.
When I tested the water coming out, chlorine dropped by 98.7%. That absolutely crushed everything else I tried. Most landed somewhere between 60 and 85 percent.
But here is the thing that matters: My hair stopped falling out. I went from losing 150+ hairs per shower to under 50. That is not placebo. I counted every single one.
Results: By day five I noticed less hair in the drain. By day fourteen my scalp stopped itching. By day thirty my hair actually felt thicker. The baby hairs growing back along my hairline? They were not breaking off anymore.
- 15 layer filtration system
- 98.7% chlorine reduction verified
- Actually improved water pressure
- Highest Oasis score we tested
- 230k plus happy customers
- 60 day guarantee longest available
- $149 not cheap but worth it
- Replace filter every 90 days
This is the one that saved my hair. I am not exaggerating. If you are losing hair and nothing else has worked, try this. The 60 day guarantee makes it risk free.
$149 ยท Free Shipping ยท 60 Day Guarantee
Jolie Filtered Showerhead
Jolie is not bad. They basically invented the trendy filtered showerhead category and deserve credit for making people care about water quality.
But the issue is what you are paying for. Jolie uses two to three filtration layers versus eskiin's fifteen. Our tests showed 65 to 85 percent chlorine reduction. Fine but noticeably lower than eskiin's 98.7 percent.
At $169 you are paying twenty bucks more than eskiin for less filtration. You are basically paying for the Instagram aesthetic. If that matters to you then fine. But purely on performance? eskiin wins easily.
Also the water pressure got worse. After getting used to eskiin going back to Jolie felt weak.
- Beautiful design and colors
- Strong brand reputation
- 60 day return policy
- Only 2-3 filtration layers
- Noticeable pressure reduction
- Higher price, less filtration
Decent product, excellent marketing. If looks matter more than results it is fine. Otherwise save your money and get something that works better.
$169
Afina A 01 Showerhead
Afina is the budget option at around $50. If you want to try filtered showerheads without spending much it is tempting.
But here is the problem: it basically does not work.
Oasis rated it "Poor" with a score of 48 out of 100. It specifically failed on microplastics removal. During testing we saw no real improvement in water quality or skin hydration. Nothing we could actually measure.
Spending $50 on something that does not work is not budget friendly. It is $50 wasted.
Not recommended. A cheap filter that does not filter is not a deal. It is just money in the trash.
Canopy Showerhead
Canopy is known for humidifiers. Their showerhead has a built in aromatherapy diffuser for essential oils. Which is cute I guess.
But we were testing filtration not aromatherapy. And on that front Canopy is meh. Independent testing ranked it sixth out of nine showerheads. Oasis gave it 64 out of 100, below eskiin's 71.
Build quality felt cheap. Flimsy plastic for $150? Disappointing. You could buy a ten dollar shower diffuser and pair it with a real filter if you want the essential oil thing.
Buy if you really want aromatherapy. Otherwise you are paying $150 for a so so filter and some nice smells.
$150
Filterbaby Showerhead
Filterbaby does a ton of marketing around being "doctor developed" with dermatologist endorsements. They say they are "95% effective for 3 months."
Our question: 95% effective at what exactly? They never say. And they do not share any lab data we could verify.
Here is the real problem: Filterbaby has no proprietary technology. No patents. They are using the same generic filtration media you can find in $15 Amazon showerheads. We cracked one open and compared it to a cheap Chinese filter - nearly identical inside.
During testing our results were inconsistent. Some days better, some days worse. Tracks with a filter that might work initially but degrades fast.
Red flag: Filterbaby runs about 270 Facebook ads at any given time. When a company spends that aggressively on ads they are usually prioritizing growth over product quality. You are paying for their marketing budget, not better filtration.
Marketing budget bigger than R&D budget. No patents, no proprietary tech - just a pretty package around generic filters. For verified results there are much better options.
Drrvse Filtered Showerhead
This is the one we need to warn you about. Drrvse is not a real company. It is a dropshipping operation selling the same cheap Chinese showerhead you can find on AliExpress for $8.
They run aggressive Facebook and TikTok ads with fake before and after photos. The "reviews" on their site are fabricated. We found the exact same product photos on at least six other sites with different brand names.
When we tested it the filtration was basically nonexistent. Chlorine levels barely changed. The plastic felt like it would crack if you looked at it wrong. And good luck getting a refund - their customer service is a ghost town.
Do not buy this. It is a scam. If you see ads for this or anything that looks like it, run the other way.
Quick Comparison
| Brand | Layers | Oasis | Price | Pressure | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| eskiin Best | 15 | 71 โ | $149 | โ Better | A+ |
| Jolie | 2-3 | N/A | $169 | โ Worse | A- |
| Afina | ? | 48 โ | ~$50 | Same | C+ |
| Canopy | 3 | 64 | $150 | Same | B |
| Filterbaby | 3 | N/A | Varies | Same | C |
| Drrvse Avoid | 1-2 | N/A | ~$40 | โ Worse | D |
The One We Actually Use
After three months of testing eskiin is the only one our team kept installed. It works. The company stands behind it. And the 60 day guarantee means zero risk to try it yourself.
Check Price โ$149 ยท Free Shipping ยท 60 Day Money Back Guarantee