Hair Loss Medicine

Propecia is currently held to be the most effective hair loss treatment for male patients suffering from hereditary form of hair loss. Its main active substance is finasteride, an antiandrogen capable of protecting our hair follicles from harmful effects of dihydrotestosterone attacks. Dutasteride is a chemical substance similar to finasteride but since it is a dual 5-alpha reductase inhibitor it is thought to be more powerful than Propecia’s finasteride. GlaxoSmithKline is the originator of Avodart, the drug containing dutasteride used to treat enlarged prostates (benign prostatic hyperplasia) and it has recently completed phase III clinical study of dutasteride for its application as a hair loss treatment for male patients. Although the final data has not yet been released it is expected that dutasteride can prove to be a better hair regrowth treatment than finasteride especially in the frontal area of the scalp where the hair regrowth is needed most and is most difficult to achieve. However, dutasteride is also expected to be having more serious side effects as it stays in human body for much longer than finasteride. Although, dutasteride or any of its branded forms have not been approved by the FDA for treating hair loss in the US it has already been approved in some other countries and is available as generic Avodart (dutasteride) and can be bought also in the US through numerous online pharmacies. Dutasteride is being currently also prescribed for hair loss by some doctors in the US to patients who no longer respond to finasteride. The biggest risk one takes when deciding on dutasteride apart from buying a fake product is the side effects that have not yet been properly documented. Dutasteride should not be used by young males planning to have kids in the foreseeable future as it can have potentially negative impact on the development of the male fetus.

Concealing bald spots is for many patients affected with baldness the only existing option to regain the appearance of a full head of hair, as hair regrowth treatments only work for some hair loss conditions. Non-surgical hair replacement is another term used for covering bald spots by non-surgical means. The two main techniques of non-surgical hair replacement today involve the use of hair systems and hair loss concealers. Various types of hair systems exist, such as full wigs, hairpieces, toupees, hair extensions and weaves. They can all look very authentic and have been used for centuries to cover bald areas. However, their main weaknesses are high maintenance costs and, in many situations, the discomfort of wearing them.

Concealers are a relatively new invention, designed to overcome the difficulties associated with wearing and maintaining wigs, but many people think they are not capable of withstanding adverse external conditions and appear unnatural. This no longer seems to be true, as many of them have greatly improved recently, both in terms of their authentic appearance and their resistance to external influences. It pays to understand how different types of hair replacement products work, in order to estimate their suitability for your current condition and compatibility with your lifestyle.

HAIR SYSTEMS
As for hair systems, there are a number of factors determining the user experience, as well as their price, such as the type of hair, the technology used to make the wig, the foundation of the hair system and how it is attached to the scalp. As far as the type of hair goes, it can be artificial or natural. The latter can be of animal or human origin. Human hair requires more care than artificial hair but it looks more authentic, lasts longer and is more comfortable to wear. Its downside is its higher cost and the fact that it can lose its colour when exposed to direct sun for long hours, or break, as normal human hair does. Secondly, hair systems can be hand-tied or machine-tied. Hand-tied wigs happen to be the more expensive alternative and the more authentic-looking solution. In addition, the foundation of a hair system can be either a polymer or a mesh. The polymer foundation is the more affordable, though less comfortable, option but it lasts longer.

The method of fixing a wig to your scalp and blending it with your existing hair is an extremely important factor. The semi-permanently attached hair systems are either glued to your scalp or woven into your existing hair and can only be removed in a hair salon, once every five weeks for cleaning. The temporarily-attached hair systems use double-sided sticky tape or clips to attach the hairpiece to your scalp and existing hair. You can remove and clean them any time you like but they can also be easily and unexpectedly removed, which can lead to embarrassing situations.

One thing that can surprise many potential buyers is the price. Although you can get a wig for a few hundred dollars, the more authentic-looking pieces cost a few thousand dollars and require regular maintenance costing a couple of hundred dollars a month. In addition, you need to buy at least two identical pieces, one to wear while the other is being maintained by your hair salon.

HAIR LOSS CONCEALERS
Hair loss concealers, also known as hair thickeners, are an alternative to hair systems for people who have some miniaturised fine hair left in their balding area. They are more comfortable to wear than wigs but they can never give a full head of hair to a completely bald person. They also seem to be a less expensive solution compared with hair systems.

There are three hair loss-concealing techniques that do the trick by: a) painting your scalp to match your hair colour, b) thickening your hair by coating and penetrating the hair and trapping moisture and volume-building proteins inside the hair shaft and, lastly, c) there are microfibers that cling to your hair like branches to the trunk of a tree, increasing the hair density. Microfiber-based, hair loss concealers can be typically applied in as little as 30 seconds, as opposed to a minimum of five minutes for hair-thickening concealers. However, microfibers are less water-resistant and it is quite difficult to apply them precisely and, therefore, they are not very good at creating an authentic-looking frontal hairline. Their biggest advantage is that they are unrecognizable in your hair, even with a very close inspection.

Hair thickeners, especially those that also colour your scalp, are extremely water-resistant and excellent for frontal hairlines but they take longer to apply. Their greatest weakness, in comparison to microfibers, is that in direct sunlight it can be visible to a sharp eye that the scalp has been painted. Some hair loss sufferers use a combination of two products simultaneously to overcome the weaknesses of individual products and to achieve the most authentic shade and appearance. Most often a combination of a hair thickener and a microfibrous concealer is used. The results of such combinations are often excellent even in people with very thin hair.

It can be concluded that wigs are more expensive and less comfortable than hair-loss concealers but they can cover a completely bald head, so they can also be used with burn patients and patients affected by alopecia areata, where concealers are of little help. Hair-loss concealers are suitable mainly for special occasions, when you want to look your best but many people use them permanently with good success.

For many women dying their hair has become a part of their monthly routine. Some men have got accustomed to dying their hair using conventional hair dyes, too, but many of them are looking for less noticeable alternatives, such as progressive hair colorants. Progressive hair colorants work slowly by changing the hair color for several days after they have been applied, which makes the change less noticeable and allows the user to control how much gray hair he/she leaves untreated. One thing that both types of treatments - conventional hair dyes and progressive hair colorants - have in common is that all of them contain chemical substances that can present a potential health risk to their users.

Both, hair dyes and progressive hair colorants work by a chemical reaction involving the components of the colorant and also, when applicable, melanin and/or the oxygen in the air. The major difference between the two is that the chemical reaction in regular hair dyes lasts only for a few minutes while the substance is being applied to the hair versus working slowly for several days after washing the hair in progressive hair colorants. The substances that fuel these chemical reactions are usually poisonous and can trigger allergic reactions.

PPD, which is an acronym for p-phenylenediamine, is considered to be the leading cause of hair color allergic reactions with ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, diaminobenzene and, to a lesser extent, also metallic compounds said to account for their fair share, too. Metallic compounds such as lead acetate and bismuth citrate are found mainly in progressive hair colorants whereas PPD, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia and diaminobenzene are typical of regular hair dyes. One of the recently developed molecules used in progressive hair colorants is 5, 6-dihydroxyindoline that is sometimes described as the most suitable option amongst the chemical molecules contained in gray hair coloring products but it has also been found to cause allergic reactions.

Natural hair dyes might seem to many to be a healthy alternative to traditional, hair coloring products. Unfortunately, the natural hair dyes are no stranger to causing allergic reactions either and were recently found to be even more allergenic than most chemical treatments. Therefore, when choosing hair coloring products you should always consider the potential health risks as most of them contain substances that can cause poisoning if used inappropriately or can lead to severe allergic reactions. You should always conduct a patch test before applying any such product and closely follow the application guidelines in order to minimize exposure to potentially harmful substances.

The potential toxicity of gray hair colorants is one of many topics discussed at GreyHairLoss.com, a resource dedicated to educating the public on the treatment options for premature white hair and hair loss and encouraging its readers to share their experiences with hair care products they have used.

Restoring the hair lost due to hereditary factors is the dream of many hair loss sufferers. Until not too long ago, the only effective and authentic-looking methods of reversing hair loss were non-surgical cover-ups. It was only with the advent of follicular unit transplantation and the discovery of the true cause of baldness - the harmful effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on our hair follicles - that the hair-loss sufferer’s chances of reversing hair loss naturally have greatly improved.

The three best weapons in the fight against baldness today are the two FDA-approved medicinal drugs – finasteride (Propecia) and minoxidil (Rogaine) and hair surgery, the follicular unit transplantation and, especially, the follicular unit extraction technique. However, no ultimate cure exists yet as each of the three aforementioned hair restoration methods has its limitations. Minoxidil and finasteride work well only in the vertex area of the scalp, and finasteride cannot be used by women. Hair transplant surgery is suitable only for people who have sufficient hair density in the donor area, and many women, who typically suffer from diffuse thinning, do not make good candidates for hair transplantation.

Therefore, scientists around the world are relentlessly searching for new approaches to treating hair loss. There are presently several promising medications and new techniques under development listed below but progress seems to have slowed down a bit due to the global financial crisis, as some projects are finding it increasingly difficult to raise financing to further their research.

The greatest progress has been achieved on dutasteride. Dutasteride is an antiandrogen, in its chemical structure and mode of action it is similar to finasteride. It is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia and since it is a dual 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, it should be a more potent DHT blocker than finasteride. Therefore, it is thought to be more effective in treating hair loss, especially in the frontal area of the scalp. Dutasteride completed Phase III clinical testing this year and the study results are expected to be published soon.

NEOSH101 was originally developed by the US medical research firm Neosil and was until recently undergoing phase IIb clinical testing. At the end of 2008, Neosil was taken over by Peplin, Inc., a development stage specialty pharmaceuticals company and since then no information on the further progress of the clinical trials has been released. In previous clinical trials, NEOSH101 was shown to be a more powerful and faster-acting, hair growth stimulant than minoxidil and it only needs applying once daily. Though significantly improving the current hair-loss treatment options, NEOSH101 is not going to become the ultimate cure for baldness. The clinical trials seem to be advancing slower than most hair-loss sufferers would like and, hence, do not hold your breath waiting for it to hit the market anytime soon.

Another promising area of development is the telomerase research. Telomerase is an enzyme that is able to put natural caps on telomeres and thus protect them from shortening. Telomerase thereby maintains the genomic integrity. Shortened telomeres are associated with premature aging processes. However, the uncontrolled activation of telomerase can cause cancer. Cancer research is the main focus of the telomerase studies but scientists are also looking for other applications, such as anti-aging drugs and drugs against baldness and premature grey hair. Telomerase research could really change the world of medicine but its commercial application might be a good 15 years away.

Hair multiplication, often called hair regeneration or hair cloning, is the next hopeful treatment option being developed. This technique involves extracting hair follicles from the back of the patient’s scalp, culturing and multiplying them and injecting the newly-grown hair cells into the bald scalp area. The UK healthcare firm Intercytex appears to be the frontrunner in hair multiplication research. Intercytex has already completed phase II clinical study of ICX-TRC (a suspension of a patient’s own dermal papilla cells). The main benefit of hair multiplication would be solving the shortage of donor hair that is the main limiting factor in hair transplant surgery. However, Intercytex is currently facing financial difficulties and after failing to find an investor, it will have to continue operating on its own. Aderans, the main competitor of Intercytex, has also recently launched a Phase II clinical study on cell-based hair regeneration for men and women.

Generating new hair follicles in hair-free skin wounds is an entirely new approach to regrowing hair. It was discovered accidentally when wounded skin in mice started producing new hair. This technology is currently being developed by the US medical device company, Follica, which has licensed this technology from the University of Pennsylvania. Though this method may sound a bit weird, it is said to only use common instruments and drugs that have already been medically approved and thus it might not take too long for it to become commercially available.

This list of the undergoing R&D projects in the field of hair-loss research includes the most promising lines of development but it is not exhaustive. However, none of the new therapies, with the exception of dutasteride’s approval for treating hair loss, is expected to hit the market before 2013 and the immediate future of hair restoration lies in improving the surgical techniques, increasing the yields of the follicular unit extraction method and making it more affordable to a larger portion of the population.

Finasteride is an antiandrogen drug that was originally used to treat enlarged prostates (benign prostatic hyperplasia). It happened only relatively recently in the early 1990s that its hair growth promoting properties were discovered and a new dosage of 1mg finasteride a day approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating hereditary hair loss in male patients. In the past ten years or so finasteride has become accepted as the most effective treatment for male pattern baldness that has not been beaten by any other remedy to this date. The originally approved formulation was called Propecia but finasteride is now available as generic Propecia pills (1mg finasteride) at a much lower price than the original branded product. Since it uses the same active substance it is equally powerful as the branded form.

You can buy finasteride online in many pharmacies alongside a more expensive Propecia. It is only up to you which one you prefer, but do not be surprised if branded drug is several times more expensive than generic. The most economical option is to buy generic Proscar (5mg finasteride pills) and cut the pills in five equal pieces. Some rouge online pharmacies have been caught to sell sugar pills and it is therefore often said that you should avoid buying generic products since they are more likely to be fake. However, the experience of many consumers show that it is more often branded products rather than generics that are either copied or fake as their high profit margins are more likely to attract fraud. Nevertheless, when you decide on buying any medicinal drugs online use only pharmacies that have been well established and check their references and independent reviews. The price of the pills alone should not be the only decisive factor.

Hair loss is one of the most common health conditions affecting all races, age groups and both sexes. The common name describing all types of hair loss is alopecia. Alopecia can be caused by a number of factors and it can be temporary or permanent. The hair loss condition best known to most of us with its typical horseshoe balding pattern, affecting mostly male population, is genetically determined and it is called male pattern baldness. Its main cause is dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is a metabolite of the male hormone testosterone attacking and destroying our hair follicles. DHT causes a slow death of hair follicles through their gradual miniaturization.

Male hormone testosterone is also present in female bodies so that women can also produce DHT and thus suffer from hereditary form of hair loss called female pattern baldness. Female pattern baldness does not have its characteristic horseshoe balding pattern as women are losing their hair around their entire scalp. Some women, however, can also be losing hair mainly on the top and in the front of their scalp. Female pattern baldness is, due to its diffuse balding pattern, more difficult to recognize than the male form of this disease.

It is often assumed that the main reason why somebody is losing their hair is the excessive amount of DHT in their body. However, this is not true. Women are also losing their hair and they definitely do not have too much DHT in their scalp. The main reason why somebody is losing hair is susceptibility of some hair follicles to the harmful attacks of DHT. It is not exactly known why hair in some people is more susceptible to these attacks than in others and why hair loss mainly affects the hair on the top and in the front of our scalp. Therefore, most treatments for male pattern baldness available today are focusing on protecting our hair follicles from DHT, be it through reducing the DHT levels in our scalp or binding to the receptor sites in hair follicles and thus preventing DHT from binding to them and causing harm.

Alopecia areata is an unpredictable hair loss disease affecting about 2% of the world’s population and is the second most common type of hair loss after male and female pattern baldness. It is often called spot baldness or patch baldness due to its patchy balding pattern. In severe cases, it can affect the whole scalp (alopecia totalis) or the entire body (alopecia universalis). It is not yet known what causes this condition. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease triggered by a person’s autoimmune system, which suddenly decides to attack its own hair follicles. Sometimes the hair grows back a few years later and stays and sometimes it falls out again. Although there is no treatment for alopecia areata that works 100%, some treatments have been shown to improve this condition. The most popular treatment option, which does not require a doctor’s prescription, is topical minoxidil, such as Rogaine. It can be used alone or in combination with other medicinal treatments that will be discussed later.

The most common prescription treatments for alopecia areata happen to be corticosteroid shots, injected straight into the bald spot, and steroid gels and creams. Corticosteroid injections are a more effective but also the more painful option of the two. The aim of this method is to suppress the autoimmune reaction but it has been proven to work only on small bald spots. Another common treatment for small bald spots, which is also thought to affect the autoimmune reaction, is the application of topical anthralin. Anthralin is a tar-like substance used to treat psoriasis.

Topical immunotherapy is the most commonly prescribed form of treatment for extensive alopecia areata. It uses an immunosuppressant such as cyclosporine that is applied to the skin to trigger a skin reaction similar to mild eczema, which in some cases leads to hair regrowth. This approach is also the most drastic form of treatment, causing an array of negative side effects.

Another therapy for extensive alopecia areata is PUVA, which stands for "psoralen plus ultraviolet A radiation", consisting of a topical or oral application of psoralen, followed by ultraviolet radiation. This method is better tolerated than topical immunotherapy but it is also less effective.

A recently conducted study with sulfasalazine also spells some promise for patients with severe cases of alopecia areata. Sulfasalazine is an anti-inflammatory medication originally used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and is hoped to be soon used to treat alopecia areata.

This is the short list of the most common medicinal alopecia areata treatments. There obviously is a number of other alternative therapies that are claimed to improve this condition and do not require a doctor’s visit. Consumers should be aware that none of these products has ever been clinically shown to be effective in treating spot baldness and such claims are possible only because these remedies are not regulated pharmaceuticals but non-regulated cosmetic products.

A hair system can be any type of borrowed hair in the form of a full wig, hairpiece, weave, hair extension or a toupee, which replaces your own missing hair. Hair systems are for many people the only available option to replace the lost hair and to regain the original appearance of a full head of hair. The quality and the price of hair systems depend on a variety of different factors, such as the type of hair used, the production process used to make the wig, the foundation of the hair system and how it is attached to the scalp.

The type and quality of hair is the first thing many buyers will ask about. Both natural and artificial hair can be used. The natural hair can be of human or animal origin. Some hair systems blend human hair with animal hair to save on cost. The human hair can be of Asian origin (the least expensive option), Indian origin or European origin (the most expensive option). Asian and Indian hair must be often bleached, which makes it brittle and less durable. Considering the harvesting methods, virgin hair is the most expensive and hair gained from combs and hairbrushes the least expensive option. Human hair requires more care than artificial hair but it looks much more authentic, lasts longer and is more comfortable to wear. Its downside is its higher cost and the fact that it can lose its colour when exposed to direct sunshine for long hours or break, as normal human hair does.

As far as the manufacturing process is concerned, hair systems can be hand-tied or machine-tied. Hand-tied wigs can also be custom made, which happens to be the most expensive alternative. The foundation of a hair system can be either a polymer or a mesh. The polymer foundation is a more affordable but also a less comfortable option. A mesh structure breathes better than polymer structures and is therefore more comfortable to wear but, besides being more expensive, it is also a less durable alternative and more difficult to maintain. Mesh is suitable for creating authentic-looking hairlines, so many wigs combine both technologies, mesh for the hairline and the polymer structure for the inside of the wig.

The method of attaching a wig to your scalp and blending it with your existing hair is an extremely important factor. There are semi-permanently attached hair systems that are either glued to your scalp or woven into your existing hair and these can only be removed in a hair salon once every five or six weeks for maintenance. These systems cling tightly to your scalp but can be unhealthy and uncomfortable to wear after a couple of weeks of use. The temporarily-attached hair systems use double-sided sticky tape or clips to fix the hairpiece to your scalp and existing hair. They can be removed and cleaned any time you like but can also be easily and unexpectedly removed, leading to embarrassing situations.

The final, determining factor when deciding on buying a hair system is obviously the cost. Any hair system is temporary in nature, it will not last for ever like hair transplants do. Nevertheless, they can be also quite expensive. Hair transplants can cost as much as ten thousand dollars or more. Although you can get a wig for a few hundred dollars, the more authentic pieces cost a few thousand dollars and require regular maintenance costing a couple of hundred dollars every month. In addition, you have to buy at least two identical pieces, one to wear while the other is being maintained by your hair salon. Though not inexpensive, hair systems are often the only option to replace the lost hair for many alopecia areata patients, as well as a large percentage of female hair loss sufferers.

The principal methods of non-surgical hair replacement today involve the use of hair systems and hair loss concealers. Various types of hair systems such as full wigs, hairpieces, toupees, hair extensions and weaves can look very authentic and have been used for ages to cover bald areas and typically with good rates of success. However, their main weaknesses are high maintenance expense and, in many situations, the discomfort of wearing them. Hair loss concealers on the other hand have been around for a shorter period of time and have often been looked down upon for being incapable of withstanding adverse external conditions such as heavy rain or wind and for appearing unnatural. This is no longer true as many of them have greatly improved recently, both in terms of their authentic appearance and their resistance.

There are three basic types of hair loss concealers: those that simply paint your scalp to match your hair colour, then there are hair thickeners that thicken your hair by coating and penetrating the hair and trapping volume-building proteins and moisture inside the hair shaft and, lastly, there are concealers that use microfibers that cling to your hair like branches to the trunk of a tree, increasing the hair density. Some products combine two of the aforementioned approaches and paint your scalp and thicken your hair at the same time. All of these products come in various forms, such as a powder, cream or a spray. Hair loss concealers do not contain any active ingredients that would combat hair loss but some of them allow you to continue with a topical hair loss treatment such as minoxidil.

Microfibre-based hair loss concealers can be typically applied in as little as 30 seconds versus a minimum of five minutes needed for hair thickeners. However, microfibres are less water-resistant and it is quite difficult to apply them precisely and, therefore, they are not too good for creating an authentic-looking frontal hairline. Their greatest advantage is that they are unrecognisable in your hair, even with a very close inspection. Hair thickeners, mainly those that also colour your scalp, are extremely water-resistant and excellent for frontal hairlines but they take longer to apply. They cover your scalp with a layer of colouring substance, which makes it difficult to effectively apply any topical hair loss treatment. Their greatest weakness in comparison to microfibres is that in direct sunlight it can become visible to the sharp eye that the scalp has been painted.

The most commonly criticised weakness of all chemical substances used for concealing hair loss is the limited choice of available shades. Some hair loss sufferers use a combination of two products simultaneously in order to overcome the weaknesses of individual products and to achieve the most authentic shade and appearance. Most often a combination of a hair thickener and a microfibrous concealer is used. The results of such combinations are usually excellent. If you want to try any such combinations, make sure that you apply the scalp-painting, hair loss thickener first and then use the microfibres to mask the remaining imperfections. There are many products in all three categories of hair loss concealers and you may need to test several of them in order to identify those that best match you hair colour and style of application.

Gray hair at a young age can have various causes, such as vitiligo, thyroid imbalance, vitamin B deficiency, constant and extreme stress, alopecia areata, bad diet, etc. but its greatest trigger is genetics, causing the premature death of pigment-producing cells in hair follicles. When it comes to treating gray hair caused by other non-hereditary health conditions then the focus should be on tackling the primary reason. In treating genetically determined, premature gray hair, any effective therapy should involve interference with our genes. However, at the moment, no such treatment exists that can halt or reverse the dying of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. There are some commercial products out there, though, containing vitamins, minerals and a Chinese herb Fo-Ti that are said to stop and reverse gray hair but the only evidence supporting the claims made by their marketers refers back to the old Chinese legend of an old villager, Mr He, from one thousand years ago. Vitamins B, namely PABA and folic acid, have been observed to stop graying in people with diets poor in vitamins B but they cannot help reverse gray hair in individuals suffering from chronic vitamin B deficiency, let alone in cases of genetically-determined gray hair.

Therefore, the only available and effective treatment option for premature and age-related gray hair is to cover it. There are two principal colouring options for covering gray hair, which include hair dyes and progressive hair colorants. Hair dyes can be temporary, semi-permanent, demi-permanent or permanent, depending on the durability of their colouring effects. The ability of the pigment molecules to penetrate into the hair shaft determines the stability of the hair colour. Each hair consists of at least two layers, the cuticle, which is an outer protective layer, and the cortex, which is hidden under the cuticle. Permanent hair dye is, as its name says, the most stable of the hair colouring options and the most effective method of covering gray hair amongst hair dyes, as its large molecules get trapped in the cortex of the hair and resist being washed out but it is also the most drastic method of dyeing hair. Hair dyes are popular, especially with female consumers. Men usually look for more subtle options of covering their gray hair as for a man dyeing hair is socially less acceptable. Progressive hair colorants, with their slow and gradual mode of action, seem to be the right product for men.

The marketing of progressive hair colorants is typically targeted at male customers but they can be also successfully used by women. These products colour hair gradually and unnoticeably and only affect your gray hair. They can be applied selectively to cover only certain areas so that you can leave some area untreated to look more natural. Progressive hair colorants are easy to apply, no plastic gloves are required to apply them, and you just have to spread them on your white areas. Their mode of action consists of the chemical reaction involving one or two substances from the colorant, which in the presence of atmospheric oxygen produce synthetic pigment on the surface as well as in the pores and in the cortex of your hair. As the substance is drying in the air, the chemical reaction begins and lasts until the next shampoo wash. Hence, the longer the substance stays in your hair the more effective it is. The downside is that progressive hair colorants have to be reapplied relatively frequently, which makes them more expensive compared with the majority of traditional hair dyes. Progressive hair colorants are either metallic based or use organic chemicals.

The sporadic controversy surrounding these products results from a wrong understanding of their mechanism of action and the purpose they were designed for. They were not meant to cover all your gray hair with a single application. For people with more than 50% of their hair already white, it is not possible to achieve full white hair coverage with these products, no matter how often they apply them. They were designed for individuals who wish to reduce the amount of their gray and would like to do it discretely and unnoticeably. Frequent shampooing reduces the effectiveness of these products as does exposure to direct sun.