You get out of the shower, wrap yourself in a towel, and within minutes your skin's already tight. That specific itch that makes you want to scratch even though you know you shouldn't. Sound familiar? It's not in your head, and it's probably not your products either. It might just be your water.
What's actually in your shower water
Here in New Zealand, our tap water is treated with chlorine so it's safe to drink, which is genuinely a good thing. But chlorine's whole job is killing bacteria, and it doesn't stop to check whether it's touching a pipe or your skin. Your skin has its own quiet defence system, a thin layer of natural oils that locks moisture in and keeps irritants out. Chlorine is an oxidiser, and every hot shower slowly wears that layer down. That's the tight, dry, itchy feeling no amount of moisturiser seems to fully fix.
What the research shows
A 2016 study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found infants exposed to harder, more heavily chlorinated water had a significant jump in visible eczema by three months old. Separately, research on bathing water found chlorine measurably reduces the skin's ability to hold onto moisture in people with eczema-prone skin. It's not perfectly one sided, some chlorine exposure does help control bacteria too, but concentration and exposure time both matter.
Sources: Perkin MR, et al. (2016). Association between domestic water hardness, chlorine, and atopic dermatitis risk in early life, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology — Seki T, et al. (2003). Free Residual Chlorine in Bathing Water Reduces the Water-Holding Capacity of the Stratum Corneum in Atopic Skin.
What dermatologists recommend
Shorter, cooler showers to protect your skin's barrier. Moisturising within a few minutes of getting out, while your skin's still damp. And filtering the chlorine out at the source, which most routines skip entirely, even though it deals with the actual cause instead of just the symptoms. Most people notice a real difference after two to three weeks of sticking with it.
Source: Why are baths and moisturizer so important when treating eczema?, American Academy of Dermatology.
Where BUBLii comes in
BUBLii fits onto your existing showerhead in under a minute, no tools, no plumber, and filters the chlorine out before the water ever reaches your skin. It works alongside your moisturiser and shorter showers, not instead of them, sorting out the one part of the routine most people never think to change.
This article is for general information and isn't a substitute for advice from your dermatologist.