Hair care products and ingredients for hair loss ???

Recently, we had a customer who would like us to develop a series of hair treatment shampoo under their own brand name. The use of these hair treatments was to promote hair growth, limit hair drop, and give the hair more volume.

This customer listed some "active ingredients" that they required to be added to these shampoo, including Biotin and the herb Saw Palmetto. In response, our Managing Director Dr. Mike said that he will do some research, and reserved the right to refuse to produce these shampoo products if he was not comfortable with the ingredients.

Below is my understanding of these ingredients after doing some research:

Biotin is known as vitamin H and coenzyme R,and is part of the water soluble B complex family. It's available in the form of a food supplement. Our body can obtain biotin from food that we consume like egg yolks, liver, kidney, cooked oats, soybeans, unpolished rice, brewer's yeast, nuts and milk are all good natural sources of biotin. Biotin deficiency is rare because, in general, intestinal bacteria produce biotin in excess of the body's daily requirements. 

As a vitamin, and in order to garner health benefits, the vitamin must typically be consumed in supplement form.  As a topical formulation, biotin is not stable. It can be destroyed when exposed to light, heat, alkaline elements and other factors.  

Although hair loss is a symptom of biotin deficiency, there are no published scientific studies that support the claim of using biotin supplements are effective in treating hair loss.

Saw Palmetto (serenoa repens) is extract from the berries of the palm tree Saw Palmetto.  Saw Palmetto pure extract contains fatty acid and sterols.  It's commercially available in the form of capsuals, powder, liquid, flake as a food supplement.  Saw Palmetto is used as a traditional remedy for symptoms such as enlarged prostate gland, chronic pelvic pain, bladder disorders, decreased sex drive, hair loss, but with very minimal available medical studies to support the claims of its efficacy.

My conclusion : There is no reputable medical literature  that supports the use of Biotin and Saw Palmetto in hair loss treatment, and specifically in topical applications.

Now you can guess what Dr. Mike answered after scanning through my report?  He declined to move forward on developing and manufacturing these shampoo for this customer.

You can read about our all natural and handmade Fair Trade products HERE

Ms. Le Thanh Thuy
Director
Indochine Natural Sdn Bhd


http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/biotin/ http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/313.html

http://skintypesolutions.com/index.php?option=com_article&view=article&id=75

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2840915/
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/saw-palmetto
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/palmetto/ataglance.htm

Hair Loss

 Dr. Mike, the co-founder of Indochine Natural and the company Managing Director has the following advice on hair loss:

Unfortunately something that most of us have to deal with from time to time is HAIR LOSS. There are a few different types of hair loss caused by a number of medical conditions and genetics, and then those caused by age, environmental conditions, and the use of cosmetics etc. If you have a severe medical condition causing hair loss, then you should seek professional medical advice.

My approach to tackling hair loss is two pronged:

(1) AVOID PRACTICES THAT CAN DAMAGE HAIR SUCH AS

·       vigorously towel drying your hair

·       brushing or combing your hair when it is wet

·       using blow dryers or curling irons on wet hair

·       the use of styling products

·       styling your hair with tight braids, ponytails, and hair extensions.

·       too much hot water can damage the hair.

(2) ADOPT POSITIVE APPROACHES FOR HEALTHY HAIR

·       Stick to one shampoo, and avoid those that are not natural so as to avoid adding more and more chemical products to your hair which can cause damage and hair loss.

·       Frequent washing can help keep hair clean and healthy.

·       Try and reduce stress or anxiety as this will lead to physical and mental deterioration, which may cause hair loss.

·       Have a look at your diet. Eating a balanced diet and including fruits and green vegetables can be beneficial for overall health in addition to promoting healthy hair.

·       Most importantly, avoid using chemical shampoo. This can be difficult, as nearly all shampoos these days are complex chemical recipes consisting of detergents, foaming agents, and various colours, synthetic fragrances, and artificial oils to coal and smooth hair.

Indochine Natural is one of the very few companies in the world today that produces all natural shampoo made entirely from natural vegetable oils and without any synthetic additives.

You can check out the Indochine Natural range of shampoo, especially the all-natural ingredients HERE

Indochine Natural shampoo can be purchased from our online shop.