As part of our look at the label series I thought it would be fun to look at the top selling Amazon.com beauty products and discuss their ingredients. Of course not every product is eligible for a “label look” because some are devices (like blow dryers) and others don’t have to disclose their ingredients  (like perfumes and soap bars).  Still, it should be fun to take a look at the top lotions and potions and see what makes them tick. Today, the number one selling beauty product on Amazon.com is Rogaine for Men Aerosol Foam!

Ingredients

Minoxidil
Active drug ingredient that regrows hair. (At least for some guys.) This chemical is used at 5% in the mens version of this product and at 2% for women.

Butane
One of three hydrocarbon propellant gases that makes this an aerosol mousse.

Butylated Hydroxytoluene
Antioxidant.

Cetearyl Alcohol
A fatty alcohol that helps create the foam.

Citric Acid
pH adjustor

Glycerin
Moisturizing agents that helps keep the foam from drying out .

Isobutane
Another propellant.

Lactic Acid
A fatty acid that also acts as a skin moisturizer.

Polysorbate 60
An emulsifier that helps make this a foamy mousse.

Propane
The third propellant.

Water 
A solvent for the water-soluble materials in the system.

SD Alcohol 40 B
A solvent that is miscible with the propellants.

Stearyl Alcohol
Another fatty alcohol that helps form the emulsion.

Image credit: Amazon.com

Bald guys click here to buy: Rogaine for Men Hair Regrowth Treatment

Disclosure: if you decide to buy any products on Amazon.com by clicking this link you will be supporting the Beauty Brains.

If you’re worried about hair loss, you may be interested in this hair loss research published in the British Journal of Dermatology.  It turns out that hairstyles involving tight braiding (corn rows) or hair extensions can lead to permanent hair loss. That’s right, gone…no more…bald patches for life.  The situation is made even worse if straightening chemicals are used.

According to the researchers who examined over 2000 people in South Africa, one third of women had “traction alopecia” as did 1 out of 7 children.  And the worst part is that it’s likely that the hair won’t grow back.

What’s Causing the Hair Loss?

The Beauty Brains have previously talked about traction alopecia. It is a condition in which a constant pulling action loosens hair from its follicular roots. The hair falls out and the follicle becomes inflamed. This can lead to the follicle shutting down and a permanent bald patch.

Traction alopecia is more common among African American population because of corn row hair styles and the more frequent use of hair relaxers.  It also has become more frequent among female athletes who wear their hair in tight pony tails and nurses using bobby pins to secure their caps.

How Do You Stop This Hair Loss?

The best advice is to stop wearing these kinds of hair styles. But if you do, make sure to give your hair a “rest”. Don’t keep braids in for days on end. Don’t keep your hair in a super tight pony tail.

Admittedly, it’s a rare condition but it does happen. Treat your hair kind and you can keep it for a long time. Pull on it too much and it just might not come back.

See this article by a dermatologist at the Hershey Medical Center for more information.

JazzyFresh says…I read that cayenne pepper aids in circulation and stimulating blood flow. I’ve heard of many people adding cayenne pepper to hair oils (esp. Ayurvedic oils) and massaging it into the scalp to stimulate hair growth. I wonder if there is any science to this?

The Left Brain answers:

Surprisingly, there is some science linking pepper oil to hair growth, but it doesn’t work quite in the way you described.

Peppery Prose

According to a study entitled “Administration of capsaicin and isoflavone promotes hair growth by increasing insulin-like growth factor-I production in mice and in humans with alopecia,” researchers have hypothesized that capsaicin, the active ingredient in red pepper oil, can activate the insulin-like growth factors that help control hair growth. They tested this hypothesis by treating balding mice and humans with a mixture of capsaicin and isoflavone.  The results showed that after 5 months the treatment not only boosted the correct biochemical markers (e.g., IGF-I) but also actually increased hair growth.

Here’s the catch: on mice the pepper/isoflavone mixture was administered subcutaneously (injected under the skin as opposed to applied topically) and in humans it was given orally. So the best research to date shows no indication that pepper oil is good for your scalp when it’s just rubbed on your skin. Of course this is just a single study, but it does give me hope that this could really work if we could just identify a way to enhance the penetration of capsaicin (perhaps using some type of nanosome).

Larissa asks…Is it true that Minoxidil can make hair thicker in people who do not suffer from hair loss? If you have thin, fine hair, can it make the individual hair thicker and coarser? Or should Minoxidil be left to those who suffer from male/female pattern baldness?

The Left Brain responds:

As Msgotrox accurately pointed out in our Forum, Minoxidil works by altering the growth cycle of hair. Hair has three phases of growth: an active growing phase called anagen, a resting phase called telegen, and a dormant phase. Minoxidil delays the phase where the hair falls out. It does not help by making existing hairs thicker/coarser/stronger.

The kind of baldness is key

It’s important to remember that Minoxidil only works on a certain type of baldness, the hereditary kind which is technically known as androgenic alopecia or AGA. If you do have this kind of baldness, Minoxidil can increase growth of news hairs (to a modest degree) and those new hairs may be thicker. But if you don’t have this condition, applying Minoxidil won’t have any effect.

Proven to work

The good news is, for those women suffering from AGA, Minoxidil can really help. Here’s an excerpt from one clinical study:

Two studies in healthy females aged 18 to 50 years with adrogenetic alopecia showed statistically significant differences favouring 5% over placebo, but not over 2% TMS with regard to non-vellus hair counts. Compared to mean baseline counts of 178-185 /cm2, at the end of 36 weeks treatment mean increases in non-vellus hair counts were 18/cm2 in subjects who received 5% TMS (N=64), 15/cm2 in subjects who received 2% TMS (N=74) and 3/cm2 in subjects who received placebo (N=40). In the other study, compared to mean baseline counts of 138-150/cm2, at the end of 48 weeks treatment mean increases in non-vellus hair counts were 25/cm2 in subjects who received 5% TMS (N=97), 21/cm2 in subjects who received 2% TMS (N=106), and 9/cm2 in subjects who received placebo (N=50). Examination of efficacy data based on hair weight measurements demonstrated an overall clinical benefit of 5% TMS and 2% TMS in stimulating hair growth. Additionally, this study strongly demonstrated the stabilisation of hair loss over the 2 year treatment period. Source: http://www.pharmcom.com/rogaine_data.html.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

Minoxidil has been proven to help many women with female pattern baldness but it wont help thicken hairs for everyone else. Check with your doctor if you want to find out if you might might benefit from this treatment.

Mel Cooley asks… Would the Beauty Brains recommend buying Toppik Hair Building Fibers for my slightly hair-impaired significant other?

The Right Brain responds:
Well Melanie, thanks for your question. Whether or not you want to be with the kind of guy who covers up his bald spot is up to you. But we can clue you in on the technology behind Toppik.

Toppik Hair Building Fibers. Yeah, right.

The hype on this one is a bit hard to swallow. Here’s what Amazon.com says:

The best hair loss concealer on the market. Toppik fibers are restructured to merge undetectably with your hair when applied. It is a safe, natural way to eliminate the appearance of baldness and thinning hair. It’s not a spray, cream or cover-up. In fact, it’s so scientifically advanced that it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Toppik is an amazing new complex of tiny, microfiber “hairs” that perfectly blend with your hair. Toppik fibers are made of the same organic Keratin protein as your own hair. Through a unique process, these fibers are restructured to merge undetectably with your hair. You will instantly see a fuller, more natural looking head of hair than you could ever imagine.

Surprise: Toppik really works!

Surprisingly, Toppik fibers really do work. It’s really kind of amazing how well they fill in and disguise a small balding area. And they even look pretty natural (assuming your guy can match his hair color, of course.)  Even more surprising, the fibers actually stay in place during the course of the day. The only serious negative that we observed in our Beauty Brains test on random slightly balding males, was that if they got their hair wet (or even sweated too much) the color could smear. And of course, they’d have to reapply the product every day, which gets expensive.

How does it work?

The product is a fine powder made of the following ingredients: Keratin, Ammonium Chloride, Silica, DMDM Hydantion, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate. It may also contain yellow, red blue, and orange colorants to create different shades of hair. The formula is blended with just the right mix of keratin and silica to give you small hair-like fibers that adhere to the real thing. That means it works best when there’s at least a few scalp hairs to cling to.  If you just smear this on a totally bald scalp it won’t give the same effect.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

If your man is looking for a quick cover up for a thinning spot of hair, we’d recommend trying this product.

What do YOU think? Would you rather be with a guy who is “au naturale” with his hair impairment or would you like to be with someone who fakes it? Leave a hairy comment for the rest of the Beauty Brains community.