Why We Created the Infrared Red Light Showerhead
Some of the most powerful wellness rituals aren’t the ones we add, they’re the ones we already have. The shower is one of the few moments most of us experience every single day — it’s where we reset, recover, and reconnect, often without realizing it.
When we set out to create the Red Light Showerhead Filter, our goal wasn’t to reinvent the shower. It was to elevate it. We wanted to take an everyday ritual and infuse it with the same science-backed benefits people seek from red light therapy, supporting circulation, cellular energy, skin health, and overall balance, without asking anyone to do more, schedule more, or think more.
This product was designed around a simple belief: wellness works best when it fits naturally into real life. By combining infrared red light technology with a moment people already trust and return to daily, we created a way to support the body consistently, effortlessly, and intuitively, one shower at a time.
To better understand the why behind the product, from the science to the design decisions, we sat down to have a conversation with our VP of Product Jessica Alcalde to talk through what inspired the Red Light Showerhead Filter and how it came to life.
Q&A: The Science and Intention Behind the Red Light Showerhead Filter
What inspired the creation of the Red Light Showerhead Filter?
The most powerful wellness practices are the ones you can actually do every day. While red light therapy has incredible benefits, it often requires carving out extra time, which we don’t always have in our busy daily lives. We love taking time to relax and practice wellness rituals, but we know that's not always possible. We kept asking ourselves, can we stack red light into a ritual that everyone does daily already?
At the same time, we saw an unmet need in the shower space. Showering is one of the few rituals almost everyone does daily, yet most people are still bathing in water filled with chlorine, metals, and other contaminants that can quietly impact skin, hair, and overall well-being over time. Clean water matters and so does how we feel in the moments we slow down.
By combining red and near-infrared light with advanced water filtration, we transformed an everyday routine into an effortless wellness ritual. No extra time, no learning curve — just an easy way to get consistent red light therapy and clean water doing something you’re already doing.
Ultimately, the Red Light Showerhead Filter reflects our belief that wellness should be accessible, enjoyable, and seamlessly woven into daily life. When healthy habits feel good and fit naturally into your routine, they’re the ones that last and that’s where real transformation happens.
Plus, it creates a super beautiful vibe! I love that it transforms my tiny (not so chic) Brooklyn bathroom into a super sexy, beautiful space instantly.
Why is the shower, of all places, the ideal setting for red light therapy?
To get all the benefits of full-body red light therapy, being naked is the best way to get it. But if you don’t live alone, you have a busy household, or don’t have time to stand naked in front of a panel for 10-20 minutes daily, this can be tough to get regularly. But the shower is a place where you have privacy and you’re naked, so it's the perfect place to get head-to-toe red light.
What scientific research guided the design of this product?
The design of the Red Light Showerhead Filter is rooted in decades of research on red and near-infrared light and how these wavelengths interact with the body. Studies show that red (around 650 nm) and near-infrared light (around 850 nm) can penetrate the skin and are absorbed by the mitochondria, the part of our cells responsible for producing energy.
When cells absorb these wavelengths, research suggests it can help support cellular energy production, circulation, and overall tissue health. That’s why red light therapy has become so widely used for supporting skin quality, muscle recovery, and a general sense of vitality.
Infrared light has also been studied for its relationship to circulation and blood flow. By gently encouraging blood flow, it can help deliver oxygen and nutrients more efficiently throughout the body, which plays a role in healthy-looking skin and a relaxed, balanced feeling after use.
Another key insight that shaped this product is the importance of consistency. Many studies suggest that regular, repeated exposure (rather than occasional sessions) is what drives the greatest benefit over time. That’s why we designed the Infrared Red Light Shower Filter to work during a daily ritual you already do. Even short, consistent exposure during a shower can add up, making red light therapy more accessible and sustainable as part of everyday life.
At HigherDOSE, we focus on translating science into tools that feel intuitive, enjoyable, and easy to maintain, so wellness isn’t something you schedule, it’s something you live.
What benefits will users notice first when they start using it?
For me, the first and immediate benefit before even getting into the shower was mood. I loved seeing my bathroom transform into a beautiful red light space. I also noticed my hair had more body and volume after just one shower. During our consumer test group, many people called out immediate hair and skin benefits and after a few days they were noticing less skin irritation, softer feeling skin, and convenience was the other call out across the board. I also notice what I’m missing when I travel. I often have dead, limp looking hair with itchy, and dull skin when I travel and I know it’s because I’m showering in unfiltered water.
What were the biggest challenges during product development, and how were they solved?
We worked on this for 2 years. So we had a lot of trial and error, trying to balance beauty, design, functionality, and performance. We also tweaked our filter layers and components multiple times and resubmitted for testing until we landed with results we were really proud of. We wanted to ensure that we were competitive in the shower filter space in addition to the red light space. Some key metrics for filtration were chlorine, heavy metals, VOCs, and microplastics. The last two most companies don’t even test for.
We also made sure our red light was powerful at a distance, our irradiance is 200mW/cm2 which is what most expensive wall panels use for irradiance. This is really two products in one because you can use the red light ring on its own out of the shower and it doubles as a portable, powerful red light ring. I actually use it at my bedside table sometimes or I will hold it near my left hip because I have issues on that hip after an intense workout. I also used it for a stye that was developing in my eye! This is just my personal experience, but I kept my eyes closed and used the red light ring on it twice a day (15 minutes) for two days and it was basically gone! I wish I had taken before and after photos because I was pretty surprised at how quickly that helped.
How is the Red Light Showerhead Filter meant to fit into real life?
The Red Light Shower Filter is designed to meet you where you already are. Use it in the morning to reset and energize, in the evening to wind down and release the day, or after a workout to support recovery and circulation. Because it’s built into a daily shower — something you already do, it makes wellness effortless, consistent, and enjoyable. No extra time, no added steps, just better habits woven into real life.
I usually shower in the late morning after I’ve already worked out, answered a few emails and maybe had a few work calls. So for me it’s like a mid morning reset where I get to do something extra special for myself but not take extra time. I sometimes take a quick rinse in the evening especially if I’ve been out in the city to wash off the grime of the subway or life in NYC. At night, this is the perfect wind down routine.
Why does transforming an everyday ritual like the shower matter for long-term wellness?
Because real wellness isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what you already do, but better. When supportive habits are woven into everyday rituals, they become consistent, sustainable, and lasting. Transforming something as simple as a shower turns wellness into a lived experience, not another item on the to-do list and that’s where long-term change happens.
At HigherDOSE, we believe wellness is most powerful when it feels intuitive, enjoyable, and woven into the moments you already trust. By elevating something as simple as the shower, we’re redefining what daily care can look like — not as another task to add, but as a ritual that supports the body consistently over time. When wellness fits naturally into real life, it’s not something you schedule — it’s something you live.
Sources:
UCLA Health. (2023). 5 Health Benefits of Red Light Therapy. Retrieved from UCLA Health. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/5-health-benefits-red-light-therapy
PubMed Central. (2017). Mechanisms of Red and Near-Infrared Light on Cellular Function (Photobiomodulation). Retrieved from PubMed Central.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5215870/