In my search history Hair Growth products is probably the highest one. I have tried numerous hair growth products in the past few years, but my results have been VERY mixed. Some of these products I did review on my blog, others I didn’t as I was on a hiatus. So, I thought I would do a collective post of the products I have tried, what I thought and my findings.
Please note, I do not have all the packaging for these as some were used a long time ago. Also, EVERYONES hair is different. What did or didn’t work for me may be great for you. This is just my findings. At the end of the day if your hair is damaged the best thing you can do is give it a good cut. Cut that damage out and start again. Nothing will repair the damage, just mask it. However, there are products that will help nourish and help the damage from getting worse. Plus if you are suffering from hair loss and not breakage these may help you.
I chopped all my hair off about 20 months ago, this was for 2 reasons. Firstly I had some damage from bleaching, but mostly because I had hair loss due to illness and medication. I have stopped taking that medication now. But found my hair has never really gone back to how it was. I am also in my 40’s now, so there’s that menopausal hair loss thing going on too – yay me right? So, that’s my hair history if you like, now onto what I tried (In no particular order).
Viviscal Gorgeous Growth Densifying Shampoo, Conditioner and Elixir – I tried these products a long time ago and used them religiously. I had such high hopes for Viviscal. At the time everyone and their Auntie was saying how great they were. I used these products for 2 months. In that time my hair was fuller, shiny and looked good. However growth was no better than any other time. On average my hair growths nearly 2cm a month. Viviscal didn’t improve that. I will say I think it helped with strengthening my hair as the hair breakage was better, but I was still loosing hair (From the roots). My thinning patches weren’t improving. I had hoped in 2 months something would happen, or start too. But there wasn’t any massive improvement.
Viviscal is what I’d class as the higher end of drug store in prices. It isn’t overly expensive but not really that affordable/budget friendly either. The elixir made my hair feel funky too. After 2 months (I had repurchased the shampoo by this point) I felt enough time had passed and it obviously wasn’t for me. The smell of the shampoo was nice, it was quite thick in constancy and lathered well. I’ve seen people get results with this, but it didn’t work for me.
Plantur 21 Nutri-Caffeine Shampoo and Conditioner for Colour Stressed Hair – This product is a bit of a null point as its not available anymore. Plantur only do their Plantur 39 now which is for thinning menopausal hair (Which I will be reviewing soon!!). However, if you check my review you will notice it did actually work. The rate of hair growth wasn’t monumental but you can see my hair is fuller and longer. Its a shame they stopped doing this product as I know it worked for a fair few people. Searched on Google will find you some but you will be paying through the teeth for it.
From what I remember, the scent was nice and it left my hair feeling good. The conditioner was terrible and I always had to put something on my hair so it wasn’t so fluffy. It did remove my toners too which being quite blonde then wasn’t great either. But the formula did do something. If you have tried Plantur 39 I’d be interested on whether it work for you. At the time you could get this in Superdrug or Boots so it was easily available. My review of Plantur 21 can be found here.
Watermans Grow Me Shampoo and Condition Me Conditioner – Oh you do not know how many emails I have had about these 2 products! Initially I purchased the shampoo and reviewed it. It didn’t work for me which was a shame as I had seen so many reviews saying how amazing it was. Watermans got in touch with me and asked if I would try it with the conditioner as its best to use them together.
So they sent me the conditioner to try (This was before I took 8 months off of blogging). I’lll admit I did wonder if a lot of the ‘favouring’ reviews of this were paid/sponsored (I was not offered any money I should add). But so many ‘average joe’ type people had used it and raved. The before and after pics were monumental. So why wasn’t it working for me?
With Watermans advice in hand I then went on to use these products again religiously together. I didn’t take before pictures, maybe I should have. First time around I didn’t notice real great growth. When using these 2 products together the hair growth was better but still not amazing. The shampoo is lovely! It has a fresh almost minty fragrance and lathers nicely. The Conditioner isn’t bad either. A little thin in consistency, it distributes well and left my hair soft.
I still have to say though, for me these weren’t enough. When you are paying over £20 for a shampoo and conditioner together you want results. Results that notice. I just didn’t feel they were noticeable enough, especially when I’d had better results from other products. So no, Watermans is great for some people it just didn’t work for me. To see my initial review on the Grow Me shampoo click here.
Lee Stafford Hair Growth Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment, Scalp Serum, Leave in Treatment and Scalp Scrub – I used the complete Lee Stafford Hair Growth range for around 2-3 months. Thank God Boot had these on 3 for 2 or I’d have been bankrupt! Lee’s products smell amazing although I know some find them over powering. I like the scent and how it lingers. With Lee’s range I find my hair always feels good after, soft and manageable. So when I saw there was a hair growth range I had to try it out obviously. In fairness this complete range really needs a full review as some of the products worked better than others.
- The Hair Growth Shampoo and Conditioner are quite nice. They left my hair feeling soft and glossy.
- The Treatment which you use in between Shampooing and Conditioning (In the tub) leaves your hair feeling AMAZING! If you have dry hair at all this product is for you and I’d recommend it even if you haven’t got hair loss or thinning hair.
- I did not like the Scalp Serum at all. How you could put it in and leave the house I am unsure as it left my hair feeling greasy (Even though you apply it to the roots it does transfer to the mid shaft etc).
- Out of all the products in this range the Leave in Treatment is the one I still use. Mainly as it needs using up. When I was ultra blonde this really helped with tangles etc. I stopped bleaching over 6 months ago and my hair doesn’t really need anything intensive now. Its ok, but I won’t repurchase it.
- Lastly the Scalp Scrub which is used before shampooing. This product was strange. Its an exfoliant for your scalp. What I didn’t like was that the ‘bead like balls’ often didn’t wash out properly (They are pink!). However, after using it my scalp did always feel ‘fresh’ and very clean – tingly almost.
I feel I can only do this quick review on using ALL the products, as I was using all of them and can’t say one made it better than the others. When I first started using these when I was bleached blonde but continued as I stopped bleaching. I didn’t notice any massive improvements of my hair falling out unfortunately. But did notice my hair got thicker. There wasn’t any new growth on the sides even though it was fuller. But my hair line definitely thickened up and there was new growth there.
I would say this range works but I feel its not just a case of using the shampoo and conditioner. Its also quite an out lay if you are using all the products and they aren’t on offer. You can buy the Lee Stafford range in Boots, its on 3 for 2 at present if you are interested.
Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo – Alpecin is more for men although not labelled that way. The reason I say this is the scent is fairly masculine, plus it does linger on your hair. I initially bought this as a friend recommended it. Both myself and partner use it and have for some time. Dr Wolff makes both Plantur 39 (And 21 when it was available) and Alpecin. I get the feeling all being caffeine products that they are very similar in composition.
Out of EVERYTHING I have tried to get my hair growing and thickening Alpecin is the only product that really works. But there are some drawbacks to this one. Firstly, it is terrible for stripping out colour you’ve applied to your hair. So if you’ve used any colour (Permanent, semi, demi, fashion, etc) it will fade it out. This is especially bad if you colour your hair brunette as many of those colours have a warmth to them and you end up with warm hair (Which might not be what you want). I found Alpecin on my hair was a little drying too.
The fragrance which I mentioned before is rather manly and quite strong. On Mark I can smell it, so I’m sure people can smell it on me. Even though I apply a conditioner over it and hair products I could still smell it.
But and here is the big BUT, it does work! When using this at least every other day (Daily is better), I noticed MORE growth in a month. My hair was fuller, thicker and wasn’t falling out as much. This was just from the shampoo. Nothing else. No tonics, serums, scalp treatments etc. Now Alpecin do a hair tonic, but neither Mark nor I have tried it, so I can’t comment on its efficiency. However, my colour fades awful and that looks bad.
On Mark who has now been using it 8 months, his hair is a lot fuller than before. Yes it has receded but this is hereditary plus like myself he is in his 40s. I used to cut Mark’s hair every 10 weeks, now after about 6 it notices badly it needs a cut. So you can tell just from his need of hair cuts that it does work.
Alpecin does work I’ve found but like I said there are drawbacks. I think this is why Plantur worked for me originally and Alpecin does too. I’m not saying this would work for everyone. But will add this is the most repurchased hair product in our house (As Mark uses it all the time and I use it when my hairs not dark) and there aren’t any complaints here. We have also tried the red Double effect (This is for dandruff too). Both Mark and I found it made our hair greasy. Alpecin is around £6 and can be bought in most supermarkets, Superdrug and Boots.
Now thinking about it I’m sure there are some I’ve tried and forgotten. Another product I tried was Mane ‘n Tail (It didn’t work for me and dried my hair out terribly)but can’t remember which one it was I used. Plus I’m sure there are others but they are slipping my mind for now. There was also Fast Shampoo and Conditioner which didn’t do a lot for me other than dry my hair out too and make it matted.
I think if you are a sufferer you will always be looking for that magic potion or quick fix. Alpecin is the one I found that works best for me. Its not a miracle product, will take time to work and might not be the product for you even if you try it (Around 1-2 months). But out of everything I’ve used over the years I get the best results using it and will continue to go back to it time and time again (Just not when I have dark hair – which I currently do).
Do let me know if you have tried any hair growth products and you think I should give them a go. At present I’m considering the Roots Double Effect range although can find limited information on the products. Is there anything else you feel I should try?