Cheap Shampoo Warning Over Damage and Hair Loss

Everyone likes a good deal, but a new report from Florida suggests that seeking out a bargain in the shampoo aisle might in extreme cases lead to hair loss.

Tampa’s News Channel 8 recently put together a short segment that offered pause for thought for anyone who has found themselves looking at cut-price luxury hair care products in a discount store or online. While the temptation to buy expensive shampoos and conditioners at reduced prices can be huge, the report pointed out that most such products actually have a shelf-life.

“If you find a salon-quality product at a discount retailer,” said its reporter, “it’s probably expired. Buyers get a hold of outdated stock and sell to retailers who add their own barcode.”

Old packaging often different

The main clue that this has happened, the journalist said, is that the packaging of old stock is often different to newly-released products. The best way to check if this is the case is to look at the company’s website to find out what up-to-date lines look like.

Good haircare is vital if you want to maintain hair health, and while shampoos that are past their best are unlikely to lead to a hair loss condition, they may put extra strain on already beleaguered follicles. When people are heavy smokers, are stressed and have a generally unhealthy lifestyle, then it is possible that these factors plus problematic haircare products could lead to a condition such as Telogen Effluvium, which leads to all-over thinning on a temporary basis of up to six months.

More surprisingly, a cocktail of unhealthy ingredients like this could exacerbate a pre-existing genetic condition such as Male Pattern Baldness or the women's equivalent, Female Pattern Hair Loss.

While it’s tempting to say that it would be nigh on impossible for a haircare product to cause hair to fall out all on its own - allergic reactions aside - plaintiffs in an American lawsuit against the Chaz Dean Wen brand would argue that this is not the case.

What’s even worse than buyers snapping up out-of-date products, said Channel 8, is that salon owners who go out of business may sell their stock to a buyer who dilutes it. Said Johanna Amarante, a hairdresser interviewed in the programme: “They will add alcohol to the product which will really strip that person’s colour and create more damage to the hair; they will dilute it with water so it’s not going to work the way it’s supposed to.”

Important to buy carefully

When buying products for the hair, the word “reputable” is paramount, as grave mistakes can happen easily when trying to make a saving.

In the UK in 2015, a man was jailed for a year after being caught with £500,000-worth of fake health products, including some potentially dangerous drugs that were being marketed to combat hair loss. Another case in early 2016, saw former doctor Raghbir Singh sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 18 months for selling over-the-counter hair loss drugs online, as well as a male hairloss product named Finpecia, which is unlicensed in the UK.

When buying any kind of products online that claim to combat thinning hair, it can be hard to ascertain with any degree of certainty what strength of drug you are buying or, indeed, if the product is what it purports to be. Buying hair loss treatments from dubious sources, whether online or from street vendors, for example, can run the risk not only of the product not being what it claims to be, but of it being an expired formulation or one that has not been stored in the correct conditions, making it at best ineffective and a waste of money, and at worst potentially dangerous.

The best way to know that you are getting what you are paying for - and that what you are buying is suitable for your medical profile as well as your specific type, pattern and level of hairloss - is to take professional advice from experienced specialists. For an explanation of the legal, clinically-proven hair loss treatments for men and women that are available, and the formulations and combinations that are recommended for each individual's unique circumstances, a visit to a specialist hair loss clinic is always recommended.