Category: Hair Products

There was a wallstreet journal article talking about the efficacy of the laser comb. It said that it works. Do you think there’s any evidence to support this? Here is the link.

By the way your site has been a big help. I’ve been balding since senior year in high school and am now twenty years old. Your site is the only site I have found that doesn’t seem to be pushing or selling anything, thank you.

The Wall Street Journal really didn’t conduct any research on their own to determine efficacy, but just quotes the study provided by Lexington (makers of the LaserComb). I guess if you took a vote from experts in the field, you could count my vote as thumbs down towards these hair lasers. I conducted a study on some of my patients for over a year when I had the large hair laser machines in my office (and offered their use free of charge to my surgical patients). I did not see any value on those using the hair laser, and honestly, it seemed like a waste of time for patients that don’t have time to waste.

Thanks for your kind words about this site. We work hard to make it what it is.

Interesting new press release about fake reviews on merchant websites. There is a reference to ‘hair loss preventing shampoos’.

Millions Of British Shoppers Misled By Fake Reviews

Thanks for sending this!

Here’s an interesting bit from the press release: “According to the research, shoppers are taken in by highly promising reviews of beauty products including acne and anti-aging creams, laser-hair removal kits, hairloss-preventing shampoos, teeth whitening pastes and diet pills. They soon find out that customer reviews, even when provided by ‘real people’, exaggerated the benefits.”

This is unfortunate, but it is just like I’ve said over and over. Many forums have people (or sometimes the same person under various different names) that will feed you lies about a proven solution and steer you towards some scam product that earns them a commission. Think about that the next time you see those ridiculous “Trust Timmy” and “Honest Harry” type of websites.

Snippet from the press release:

The HairMax Hair Fibers incorporate cutting edge production which produces ultra fine natural keratin protein fibers that blend and statically cling to a user’s existing hair. This means that the fibers will not weigh hair down or clump on the scalp.

Read the full text here.

It’s a press release, so it’s filled with lots of patting themselves on the back… but it sounds like the field which has been dominated by Spencer Forrest’s Toppik now has some more competition (and as a reader pointed out in the comments below, similar products include Nanogen, Megathik, Mirage, Hair-So-Real, Super Million Hair). I haven’t seen this Hair Fibers product, but will certainly take a look at it.

Lexington International is the maker of this new product along with the LaserComb, of which I’ve had quite a few posts about in the past. Check out their site here.

Is there anything to thickening shampoos that contain “regenium xy” and the like? Or is that just marketing? If they’re for real, how do they work?

Regenium XY is an ingredient in some thickening shampoos by L’Oreal. I haven’t seen anything about L’Oreal Elvive shampoo (also known as L’Oreal Vive) that states it regrows hair, so I’ll have to assume you’re talking strictly about hair thickening itself.

Hair thickeners just give the illusion of fuller hair and are pretty commonplace. Different thickeners exist in the form of shampoos like the one you asked about, and camouflaging agents like Toppik that are applied when the hair is dry. I have a feeling that the “Regenium XY” name itself is likely just branding to make it sound more amazing than other products for sale, but perhaps there’s more science to it that I don’t understand (I’m not a shampoo expert). This site might have some more useful info about it.

In general, some thickeners might work better than others and some people might not see any real benefit whatsoever, so you’ll have to try them out to see what your personal preference is. To learn how they work, I found a sites that explain it — understanding-hair-loss.net.

Dear doctor. I think you are correct about Segals. Its now seven weeks since I have started using Segals solutions, no visible changes, so far no new hair growth. Now I want to know whether these people like Segals, Foltene, etc are trying to make money by giving false hopes. But some people blogged that these are working for them. Are they mere illusions? and compared to minoxidil why these products are very expensive? I would like your views on that.

Recently I have studied so many articles on Internet that “EMU oil” is a DHT blocker and it grows new hair. I would like your comments on emu oil and whether applying oils like coconut oil, olive oil or almond oil promote hair growth?

I really think the driving force behind many of these products is the ability to make easy money. If I posted a study on the internet consisting of 2 people and said fertilizer applied to the upper lip caused a moustache to grow in thicker 50% of the time, I’d imagine there would be a dozen products like “Magic Fertilizer Moustache Cream” for sale by the end of the month. I wouldn’t have to provide any photos or scientific proof whatsoever for people to believe it. Of course, I would never do that and fertilizer will not grow hair, so don’t bother trying. What I’m getting as it that there’s no proof that emu, coconut, olive, almond, peanut, caramel, nougat, dung, or any other substance will regrow hair. I don’t know where this stuff comes from, but I’ve yet to see proof that it does what it claims.

People are so willing to believe almost anything when it comes to hair loss. Look at the ridiculous “Trust Timmy” and “Honest Jimmy” type of sites out there. Anyone that has searched for “hair loss” on Google has undoubtedly seen those advertisements. Those are simply marketing campaigns created to give you confidence in the product to get you to place an order. They might give false hopes, but their real intention is to make money. Perhaps I should make a “Believe Bill” site to warn people not to fall into these traps.

The sellers of these hair loss products can charge an inflated price, because people tend to equate this higher price with a higher level of efficacy. That reminds me of a story I’d read about consumer electronics (unrelated to hair). In the mid-1990s, high-end electronics began appearing on the market with blue LED lights (rather than the red lights that were common). When cheaper products with blue LEDs began hitting the shelves, it instantly gave some higher perceived value to those products. Now you see those blue lights in everything (instead of red, like it used to be). It was a novelty that has now become commonplace. Granted, blue and green LEDs weren’t developed until the mid-1990s, but the demand for blue in particular was spurred by the higher-end products including these tiny lights. But I digress…

It seems that the FDA should not be in the business of “clearing” anything that is not scientifically substantiated. There is an awful lot of stuff out there that won’t kill. I’m sure it’s obvious that “clearing” such substances gives charlatans a “green light” to deceive and rip people off.

(One would think that the FTC would ask the FDA to knock it off, as this creates a great deal work for them (the FTC), i.e. investigations, lawsuits etc. It raises the question of what the FDA gains from providing such “clearance” status? If it’s money, I guess that this, then, overrides principle, to say nothing of wasted tax payer dollars used to prosecute the “cleared” crooks.).

I believe the hair lasers received the FDA clearance by a loophole, with the technology being grandfathered in as a device marketed before 1976, when the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 gave the FDA the authority over devices like this. Remember, these hair lasers do not have FDA approval, but simply FDA clearance.

The sellers of these lasers make medical claims of benefits and this alone falls in the scope of FDA activities. The FDA is responsible for claims of safety and effectiveness. Think about it. If someone recommended the LaserComb to prevent stroke or Alzheimer’s, they would have to be able to prove it.