What hard water does to you – and how to fix it | Sali Hughes on beauty

A friend moved to Brighton, close to my home, last year and says the only thing that could ever make her leave again is the effect the water has on her coiled hair.

Most of south-east England has hard water (containing higher levels of minerals, metals and other mostly harmless contaminants) which can impact hair and skin – including pre-existing conditions such as eczema, dandruff and dermatitis – negatively. You may need much more shampoo and bodywash to obtain a spreadable foam, and heaps of conditioner to make hair manageable. Even then, hard-watered hair and skin can be dryer, coarser and duller. It’s particularly brutal on textured hair.

Fitting a domestic water softener helps hugely, but these are prohibitively expensive and not always feasible with old plumbing systems. I’m decidedly keen on my friend remaining around the corner, so I promised I’d find a solution – and her hair is visibly delighted with it.

Hello Klean is a brand devoted entirely to the plight of hard water haters. The range is consequently small and focused, but every item earns its keep. Most transformative is the Purifying Shower Head (£65), a nice looking handset that screws easily on to most shower hoses (there’s a separate adapter if needed, as well as an alternate screw-on filter that lets you keep your existing shower-head) to filter water before it hits skin and hair. Replaceable filter cartridges are bought separately, then divided and recycled when spent.

Even I – fine and floppy of lock – can tell an immediate difference in water quality and shampoo performance (what was once a pathetic froth now stops just shy of a 1990s foam party).

Products, too, can help combat the effects of hard water. Swapping to a clarifying shampoo every 7-14 days is helpful in removing hard water residue. Aveeno Clarify & Shine (£5.99) is ideal since it also contains apple cider vinegar (recommended by dermatologists to safely remove product buildup on the scalp) while being gentle on sensitive skins.

If you find your hard water dulls your dyed hair, L’Oreal’s Metal Detox range (from £22.10) has been created especially for you and works very well at removing copper and other colour fading nuisances.

For body, Hello Klean makes a lovely “chelating” Nourishing Micronutrient Wash (£16) that attaches and binds to minerals and metals so they can be washed more easily away, leaving skin free from hard water carapace.