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Does Nioxin Work?: A Comprehensive Review of This ‘Magic’ Shampoo

 

Does nioxin work

We have all heard the hype about this uber popular shampoo – Nioxin – and how it works wonders in making your hair grow fast and thick while keeping it healthy and oh-so-soft.

What you may not know is that Nioxin is actually a comprehensive brand of hair care products that cater to just about any hair type and condition. This complete Nioxin Treatment System by Eva Graham is designed to nourish the scalp to promote an optimal hair growth environment – all the span of 30 days.

The question is, does it work? Here, we’ll answer the question you’ve all been asking – does Nioxin work, and is it worth my money?

What is Nioxin?

As we have mentioned, Nioxin is a comprehensive hair care brand that offers products ranging from minoxidil treatments to styling aids, and of course, hair growth shampoos. Most of these products are highly rated, and most are safe to use for both women and men.

However, a couple of things to note: only the minoxidil treatment is actually FDA approved as an anti-hair loss formulation, and the long list of ingredients on many Nioxin products can result in adverse reactions for users who have sensitive skin.

Nioxin treatment systems

That said, a typical Nioxin treatment system is composed of three products designed to work together in order to deliver maximum benefits. This works by targeting key areas such as your best hair features, the extent of thinning, and any treatment or coloring you have previously done on your hair. 

The Nioxin website even has a Consultation Tool on their website to help you determine the right line of treatment for your hair condition. It’s quite easy to use and it matches you with one of their 6 treatment kits along with a helpful explanation on how that treatment line can help you – all while also offering product recommendations.

Alternatively, you can also visit one of their Nioxin Salons or go to your stylist or dermatologist for more expert advice.

Support and styling products

Aside from the treatment kits, Nioxin also offers a broad range of support and styling products such as scalp cleansers and conditioners that you can use in conjunction with their hair regrowth system.

Also available is the recharging complex, which is a supplement made of Iron, Biotin, and Zinc to promote hair health, healthy hair growth, and good circulation. Not to mention, you’ll find a nice sized list of leave-in treatments on their website if you want a more aggressive solution to certain hair issues.

Meanwhile, their styling products are also mostly geared towards thin or thinning hair, such as the heat protecting spray that minimizes damage and breakage from the use of blow dryers and flat irons. There are also thickening gels and sprays that instantly give your hair more volume and width, definition creams that volumize hair while battling frizz, and many more.

How does Nioxin work?

nioxin cleanser shampooNioxin hair growth treatments follow a multifaceted approach in order to deliver promised results. Now, it’s quite a complicated method if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty, but the basics of it are pretty simple – reducing DHT, inflammation, and buildup, while increasing circulation and offering antimicrobial properties.

Reducing DHT

Dihydrotestosterone or DHT is the most important factor when it comes to hair loss on either women or men. Aside from helping your hair grow, it can also facilitate the growth of body and facial hair – which is a good thing for men, but it can be a bad thing for your scalp, especially if you have an overabundance of DHT.

This is because it damages and shrinks your hair follicles to the point that they can’t produce new hair growth. Nioxin targets your DHT levels with the use of specific herbs and ingredients like stinging nettle to counter testosterone conversion into DHT, and saw palmetto to balance your androgen levels.

Reducing inflammation and promoting circulation

Did you know that an inflamed scalp can aggravate hair loss and hair thinning? This is because too much inflammation can prevent good blood circulation, thereby inhibiting oxygen and nutrient supply to your scalp. Not to mention, inflammation can also make your hair more prone to damage and breakage.

Aside from all that, an inflamed scalp can also lead to buildup of DHT and other harmful compounds and free radicals. Thankfully, Nioxin counters this by using not only stinging nettle but also methanol and mint extract in their products. To add to that, a mild anti-coagulant called sodium citrate helps further improve blood flow. Read also best DHT blocking shampoos.

Reducing oil and buildup in the scalp


The scalp is thin and sensitive – more so than the rest of the skin on your body – and as such, it requires a lot of care, particularly in fighting buildup that can cause a lot of havoc in terms of hair health, since excess oil and buildup in the scalp are ripe sources of inflammation and infection.

What Nioxin does here is to include salicylic acid in their hair treatments. This is an ingredient commonly found on anti-acne cleansers and oil strippers for your face, since it’s very good at penetrating your pores in order to break up dirt and oil. The result? Not only does your scalp feel clear and healthy, all the other helpful ingredients in Nioxin treatments also work much better.

Providing antimicrobial properties

Finally, Nioxin products are filled with lots of different antimicrobials to keep your scalp and strands free from bacteria and yeast that can easily cause irreparable damage, not to mention exacerbate hair loss. The ingredients that Nioxin uses include selenium sulfide, salicylic acid, menthol, and mint.

Aside from these helpful ingredients that keep your microbiome levels perfectly balanced and your scalp happy, Nioxin also uses a botanical ingredient in the form of tea plant extract or camellia sinensis to further protect your scalp health.

Pros of using Nioxin

As you can probably tell by now, there are a whole load of benefits to using Nioxin products, whether as standalone creams and leave-in treatments or as complete hair treatment kits.

  • Complete hair product line – the main advantage of Nioxin is that you only have to buy all your hair care needs from one brand, and you get the guarantee that each product you buy will work well with the rest of your haul, meaning, pretty much all Nioxin products are safe to use with each other.
  • Great mix of traditional ingredients and botanicals – Nioxin hair care products may not be chemical free, but the ingredients they do use are all the stuff you’ll see on high-end alternatives. Plus, you’ll also get lots of amazing botanical extracts and vitamins to really offer a holistic hair care approach.
  • Quick and noticeable results – even if you don’t use their thickening sprays to instantly hide thinning hair, Nioxin products still work pretty fast compared to other hair growth products on the market, with many users reporting visible results as early as 2 to 4 weeks. Of course, for full results, it’s best to use their treatments for 6 months.

Cons of using Nioxin

Unfortunately, no product is 100% perfect, and the same is true for Nioxin, although most of these side effects are common among hair loss treatments.

  • May cause hair fall initially – the thing with typical hair loss treatments is that for them to work, the old and unhealthy hair has to first go and make room for new, healthy hair to grow. Depending on the user, this temporary hair fall may be mild or severe, but do know that it won’t last for more than 3 to 6 weeks.
  • May not be suitable for sensitive skin – certain ingredients in Nioxin products such as stinging nettle, mint and tea tree extracts, sodium lauryl sulfate, salicylic acid, and sodium laureth sulfate are known to cause skin irritation especially on those with particularly sensitive skin.
  • Contains sulfates – aside from causing irritation, sulfate can also dry your hair. And, in some rare cases, cause a severe allergic reaction. Even so, you’ll notice that it’s present in lots of shampoos due to the way it promotes a good lather.

Read also related articles: Best biotin shampoo, best keratin treatments, and DIY protein hair treatments.

Final verdict: is Nioxin worth it?

nioxin system kits

All things considered, Nioxin proves to work really well in combating hair loss and hair thinning, resulting in thicker, longer, and healthier hair that shines in just a few weeks. That’s all to be expected given the special formulation of their treatment systems and how these products work in harmony to render an ideal hair growth environment in your scalp.

That said, results still vary between individuals, and there are, in fact, a few minor drawbacks to using the product, such as hair fall at the initial stages of use and skin irritation – which can be addressed with careful use and commitment to the product. Other than these, however, we definitely can’t say that the brand doesn’t deliver on its promise.

So, to answer the ultimate question – is Nioxin worth it? The answer is yes.

 

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