One ingredient at a time
Every active in the aisle, read against its own trials
One page per ingredient: what it is sold to do, which studies exist, how many people were in them, who paid for them, and whether the thing on the shelf is the thing that was tested. Two of these ingredients end up with no grade at all, and those pages say why. Reading notes, not advice, and nobody medical checked them.
How to Choose a Hair Loss Product Without Being Sold To
Six questions that survive contact with any product page, worked through on real claims we read in September 2026 — including from the shops this site links.
IngredientSep 15, 2026
Thickening Shampoos: What They Do, Said Plainly
Volumising and thickening shampoos work, at the thing they are actually for. They are cosmetics that change how hair looks in the mirror, and that is not nothing.
IngredientSep 12, 2026
Hair Growth Oils, Graded: Rosemary, Onion, Castor and Pumpkin Seed
Four oils, four very different bodies of evidence — one controlled trial for the wrong condition, one with no untreated group, and two we would not score at all.
IngredientSep 9, 2026
Shampoos That Cause Hair Loss: the Myths and the One Real Case
Sulfates, purple shampoo and switching brands are not why your hair is thinning. One product category was genuinely investigated by the FDA — here is what that found.
IngredientSep 5, 2026
Does Dry Shampoo Cause Hair Loss? What Is Documented
The 2022 benzene recalls were about a propellant, not about hair. Here is what is actually on the record, and what the question usually turns out to be about.
IngredientSep 1, 2026
Minoxidil Shampoo: Why Contact Time Decides What a Wash Can Do
No trial of minoxidil in a rinse-off shampoo came back from PubMed. Here is why the form matters, and the 1989 rule that explains what a bottle is allowed to say.
IngredientAug 28, 2026
Peptide and Redensyl Serums, Read Against Their Own Studies
Redensyl, Procapil, AnaGain, Capixyl, Baicapil and Capilia longa: what has been published about them, who published it, and why four actives in one bottle prove nothing.
IngredientAug 24, 2026
Caffeine Shampoo and Hair Loss: the Evidence, Trial by Trial
Two trials, one funded by the company that sells the shampoo, one measuring hairs pulled out — and a 2018 ruling from the UK advertising regulator. Graded 4 out of 10.
IngredientAug 20, 2026
Rosemary Oil vs Minoxidil: Reading the One Trial Everyone Cites
One randomised comparison, 100 people, six months — and no untreated group at all. What the 2015 paper found, and what its design cannot tell you. Graded 5 out of 10.
IngredientAug 16, 2026
Ketoconazole Shampoo and Hair Loss: What the Evidence Shows
One 1998 comparison, a 2020 systematic review asking for better trials, and a Drug Facts label that makes no hair claim at all. Graded 6 out of 10.
IngredientAug 12, 2026