Extending the growth cycle
Even before the hair follicle model was available to Schwarzkopf & Henkel’s hair specialists in the product development departments in Hamburg, Germany, dermatologist and hair expert Dr. Edo Hoting of the Hamburg team was searching for substances that stimulate hair growth. Together with a specialist in experimental hair research at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Lübeck, Germany, he demonstrated that carnitine tartrate stimulates the energy metabolism in the root of hair follicles that have been completely isolated from the human scalp. The rate of hair growth is also significantly accelerated and the hair cycle and the hair growth phase are extended.
The teams found that in-vitro (i.e., in a test tube) the growthstimulating action of the carnitine tartrate can be enhanced by taurine and the plant extract echinacea. The positive results obtained from the hair follicle models with regard to growth stimulation of the hair were confirmed in a volunteer study carried out by a respected external research institute. The study lasted for six months and showed that volunteers with non-illness-related hair loss experienced a statistically significant decrease in the rate of hair loss and an extension of the growth phase of the hair.
