There’s nothing like that first coffee kick in the morning to get the cogs turning and prepare you mentally for the day. Whether you’re an espresso guy, Americano fan, or classic cappuccino lover, you know exactly what we’re talking about. You’ve probably also been lectured a few times on how bad caffeine is for you, but has anyone ever told you about caffeine and your hair? We didn’t think so, so we will.
What Is Caffeine Shampoo?
Caffeine shampoo is just good old cleaning shampoo with the added kick of caffeine or coffee extracts in the ingredients list. Caffeine is a stimulant – that’s why it turns you from a semi-functioning zombie into an alert slightly-more-functional human. This stimulating property is thought to promote hair growth through waking up those snoozing follicles and energizing them to grow hair.
Ok… but does it work?
Does Caffeine Shampoo Actually Reduce Hair Loss?
The answer might surprise you. A study from 2007 found that shampoos containing caffeine found that hair growth suppressed by testosterone did improve in the presence of caffeine. The hair grew. But there’s a catch. This was all in vitro.
The study looked at hair growth in petri dishes, not on the human scalp, and as you can imagine, the two are vastly different. No studies have since found sufficient evidence to suggest that caffeine improves hair growth. So no, caffeine shampoo doesn’t reduce hair loss by promoting hair growth.
A German haircare brand came under fire for claiming that their caffeine shampoo reduced hair loss, despite there being too little evidence to support that claim. It’s always important to be wary of a haircare company promising results without solid scientific support. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And while we wish reducing hair loss was as easy as sipping your morning cup of coffee, it takes a lot more scientific understanding, years of testing, and mountains of sound research to effectively treat hair loss.
Benefits & Side Effects Of Caffeine Shampoo
So, caffeine shampoo doesn’t slow or prevent hair loss, but it’s not a total write-off. Caffeine shampoo can still support healthy hair and a healthy scalp – which helps when it comes to holding onto your hair.
Caffeine shampoo can help reduce product build-up when you wash your hair with it, and if the caffeine ingredient is coffee grounds, it could exfoliate the scalp, getting rid of dead skin and promoting circulation in the process.
The Takeaway
Caffeine doesn’t have the same kick for your hair as it does for you before a long day. While it’s stimulant property could possibly help motivate follicles to do better, there is insufficient evidence to prove that caffeine shampoo actually has any effect on male pattern hair loss. That said, caffeine shampoo could help strip your hair of product build-up and promote circulation through exfoliation, which could help pave the way to a healthy scalp, which goes a long way in supporting your hair through the hair loss recovery journey.
The articles published by &BAM are for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. If you have any medical questions or concerns, you should contact your doctor.