The Truth about Hair Vitamins

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Hair Vitamins are all the buzz right now. But what's the deal? Do they really work? If so, how? And what are the side effects? We are going to cover all of that and more right here, so keep reading!

As you probably know, the key ingredient in hair supplements is biotin. Biotin (or B7 or Vitamin H) is a B complex vitamin that improves the keratin infrastructure (Keratin is a protein that makes up hair, skin and nails.) So, in a nutshell, biotin strengthens the hair shaft, providing a couple of benefits:

1. Prevents hair breakage
2. Thickens individual hair strands

As a matter of fact, one of the first things that you'll notice when you start taking hair vitamins is that your natural hair is thicker!

These days, biotin is showing up in topical hair products as well, like our own Hot Sauce, Hot Oil Treatment!

So this means that the biotin in hair vitamins doesn't necessarily cause faster hair growth, but it will help you retain hair length - which accomplishes the same goal of longer hair, so that's all good! Now, some hair vitamins contain other ingredients, like MSM and Vitamin C, which have been proven to assist in increasing the hair growth rate. Using these vitamins will be especially beneficial because you're tackling your hair growth goal from 2 angles:

1. Stimulates faster hair growth
2. Length retention / Reduced breakage

Tip: If you're using a hair vitamin (and even if you're not), add in a regular scalp massage to your hair care routine! Scalp massages help to increase blood flow which will get all those great nutrients that you're intaking to your scalp faster. Plus, it just feels great!

So, now we know what hair vitamins are and that they really do work! But what about possible side effects?

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Well, as with most vitamin supplements, your body can only handle so much. Biotin is no different. As a matter of fact, biotin is especially relevant to this conversation. You see, biotin is only one of several B vitamins. And your body absorbs biotin (B7) through the same intestinal receptors that Vitamin B5 is absorbed. So when we increase the amount of biotin in our system, the balance of Vitamin B5 is disturbed creating a B5 deficiency. And (this is the kicker), a B5 deficiency causes acne! So, it isn't the addition of biotin wreaking havoc on your skin, it's the lack of B5. And acne is the most common side effect reported with biotin supplements.

So, what can we do? There are a couple of things actually:

1. Take less biotin. This is the obvious answer! This doesn't mean that you have to completely remove biotin supplements from your regimen, but maybe cut the pill in half or take it every other day.
2. Take a vitamin B5 supplement. This will increase the biotin-b5 balance and calm your skin down.

So, go ahead and take that vitamin to help reach your Rapunzel, long hair goals! Now you're armed with the knowledge of how your body handles these ingredients and how you can mitigate any side effects! Best of luck!!