Crinagen is an all natural alcohol-free topical scalp spray clinically backed to reduce the amount of DHT (dehydrotestosterone) in the scalp. It contains no alcohol, and has displayed no side effects. Crinagen is also equally safe for men and women and is most effective in men and women with thinning hair. In addition to blocking scalp DHT, they both are reported nourish the scalp’s hair follicles. Crinagen usually displays its effects on average in five months.

How It Works:

The product's main ingredients are Saw Palmetto, Zinc, and Azelaic Acid. All 3 ingredients are reported to reduce the production of scalp DHT and nourish the scalp's hair follicles.

Developing Realistic Expectations:

Crinagen has not been clinically proven nor approved by the FDA. Thus, like Revivogen and Tricomin, Crinagen should be used only after seriously considering proven treatments like Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil).

Don't expect immediate results. It's recommended to use Crinagen for at least 6 to 12 months before determining its effectiveness. Documenting your progress with bi-monthly photos can help you determine whether or not Crinagen is working for you.

Hair shedding is a common symptom the first few months and a sign that the medication may be working for you. It's crucial to push past this stage with continued use for the recommended period of time.

To date, only surgical hair restoration is proven to grow hair in completely bald areas. You are invited to have a free virtual consultation with one of our prescreened hair restoration physicians.

Many cases of female hair lossare caused by hormonal fluctuations or changes in the body including those who have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), birth control pillside effects, a recent pregnancy,postmenopausal trauma, or menopause. Women with hair loss experience varying balding patterns These patterns can help determine the type of alopecia you have along with a thorough examination by a physician.

Because of an imbalance between estrogen and testosterone due to declining estrogen levels, thinning hair and accelerated hair loss is common in women during menopause. Hair on certain areas of the head that is more sensitive to androgen hormones like DHT(associated with male pattern baldness) may thin or fall out. Similarly, declining estrogen levels may result in unwanted facial hair growth.

In some cases, polycystic ovarian syndrome(PCOS), may accompany menopause and hair loss.

Be sure to speak with your doctor on the most effective ways to cope with menopause and minimize hair loss during this transitional time.

Female hair loss, otherwise known as Female Pattern Baldness (FPB), affects 1 out of every 4 women in the United States. Recent findings have found that the incidence of FPB has been reported to be as low as 8% and as high as 87%. And, it does appear to be as common for women as for men. Most often, menopause is the most frequent time for hair loss in women to become apparent.

For a woman to lose her hair can be even more troubling than for men. A woman with thinning hair is not generally accepted as part of the normal aging process. Society has come to expect a thick, luxurious head of hair as part of the attractiveness in women.

While males and females can both experience thinning hair, they typically do not lose their hair in the same order or appearance.

Women with thinning hair compared to Men

Typically men observe their hair loss earlier, whereas women will first notice it in their late 20's through their early 40's. Female Pattern Baldness (FPB) is often seen during hormonal changes. These include the use of birth control pills, following childbirth, or during or after the time of menopause.

Top view of patient, showing excellent growth of transplanted hair.

In addition, men typically have localized areas (patterns) of thinning, whilein women this usually occurs as thinning across the top, or over an even wider area. When women have very diffuse thinning over much of their scalp they are generally not good candidates for hair restoration surgery. However, women with localized hair loss, similar to the typical male pattern baldness, can successfully undergo hair restoration surgery.

Thinning hair in females is also characterized by an increase in the combination of normal thick hairs mixed in with finer, smaller hairs. This results in decreased density, and not total hair loss.

A woman's hair has also been proven to be more sensitive to the effects of stress than men's hair. Stress can result in hair loss in women and men. But this type of loss is not female pattern baldness. Rather, it is known as “telogen effluvium.” This type of hair loss is the shedding of hair in the resting phase when the body senses that it needs to divert its energies elsewhere. Therefore stress can temporarily changes the amount of hair that is shed. But the lost hair is likely to grow back.

The production of the hair loss-inducing androgens is also different among men and women. A woman produces a small quantity of androgens in the adrenal glands and the ovaries. The ovaries also produce pre-hormones, which are then converted to androgens on the outside of the ovaries or adrenal glands.

Generally speaking, a woman with hair loss will probably not experience total balding in a given area. But if there is total hair loss, this is most likely a sign of a previously hidden disease. For this reason, it’s important for females to have their hormone levels checked by a physician if they are experiencing heavy hair loss.

Finally, men and women react differently to various hair loss treatment options. In men, hair loss may be halted or even reversed by finasteride (brand named "Propecia"). However, Propecia is not safe for females or children. Minoxidil (Rogaine) can be effective for both men and women in treating hair loss.

However, for some women the causes of their hair loss are much more complex than the classic "male pattern baldness". Thus proper diagnosis of the underlying cause is vital before any hair loss treatments are attempted.

The following physicians are nationally well known experts in female hair loss. Feel free to contact them.

David Whiting in Dallas, Texas - 214 824-2087

Vera Price in San Francisco, California 415 353-4163

Maria Hordinsky in Minneapolis, Minnesota 612 625-1493

Wilma Bergfeld in Cleveland, Ohio 216 444-5722

For a web community that is dedicated to female hair loss visit HerAlopecia.com

As the field of medical hair restoration continues advancing and evolving, hair loss sufferers look toward new, cutting edge clinics and corporations for faster, more effective, and less invasive hair loss treatments. In various but not all cases, the breakthroughs achieved through oral medications and topical solutions (seen in proven hair loss treatments like Rogaine (minoxidil) and Propecia (finasteride) are fantastic.  Thus, hair restoration entities continue striving to create the next advancement and bring the world closer to a “hair loss cure.” However, for each hair restoration treatment that’s proven safe, effective, and efficient, it seems as if a dozen others are rejected for being unproven, inefficient, or unsafe.

For this reason, it’s always advantageous to thoroughly research the newest hair loss solutions and determine whether they are safe and effective, or if they fail to live up to the high expectations set by the current gold standard treatments such as proven solutions Propecia and Rogaine.   Below, we evaluate whether Spectral.DNC, a topical solution created by Divine Skin Laboratories (DS Laboratories) can help stop hair loss and regrow hair.

Spectral.DNC is a topical treatment formulated by DS Laboratories which claims its “the world’s most effective topical hair loss treatment.” But can Spectral.DNC live up to these lofty claims and offer a more effective solution, or will it suffer the fate of many therapies before it and fail to gain the approval of the hair restoration patient community?

According to DS Laboratories, Spectral.DNC is applied (as an atomized mist or liquid) to the balding scalp twice daily, once in the morning and once at night. Along with a series of vitamins and herbal supplements (herbal extracts, copper peptides, and a vitamin complex), the active ingredients in Spectral. DNC are 5% minoxidil, Aminexil (SP94), and Retinol. Since minoxidil is also the proven, active ingredient in topical Rogaine, Divine Skin utilizes a frequently asked questions feature on its website to explain how Spectral.DNC is different and more effective than minoxidil. According to Divine Skin, it’s the two other active ingredients – Aminexil and Retinol that make Spectral.DNC more effective than Rogaine.

Aminexil (or Aminexil SP94) is a compound currently featured as an active ingredient in a line of healthy hair shampoos by L’Oreal. Aminexil is allegedly helpful in the treatment of perifollicular fibrosis – a pre-mature aging of hair shafts caused by inflammation and an overproduction of collagen proteins. It’s worth noting that while some reputable sources have researched its connection to perifollicular fibrosis, it hasn’t been conclusively linked to hair loss (especially androgenic alopecia hair loss), nor is Aminexil proven to treat perifollicular fibrosis. Furthermore, Aminexil is not recognized or approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for any type of hair loss.

DS Laboratories indirectly counters these statements by sharing the results of a “worldwide” study which demonstrated an 8% increase in hair growth and a 6% increase in hair shaft diameter in hair loss sufferers using Aminexil (compared to a placebo group). This study however, is not without its limitations.  This study was conducted in 1994, only contained 130 participants, lasted for 42 days, and doesn’t appear to be published in any sort of peer reviewed publication. Because of this, it’s difficult to evaluate whether or not the addition of Aminexil as an improvement over simple 5% minoxidil. But what about the Retinol?

Retinol (and its derivatives) is a form of Vitamin A, often used in medical dermatology for maintaining healthy skin and treating specific types of acne. Allegedly, certain forms of Retinol act as hair restoration drugs (after periods of long term usage) by preventing hair loss hormones from binding to target receptors and killing healthy hair follicles. While evidence of these claims was difficult to find, many Retinol users claim that the drug is harsh on skin and utilizing it in the scalp would cause irritation and require small, likely ineffective dosages. Much like Aminexil, there’s no solid evidence to suggest that Retinol makes Spectral.DNC a more effective hair loss solution than Rogaine or other minoxidil related products. Interestingly enough, while copper peptidesare listed as in inactive ingredient, research supports that copper peptides may play a role in transforming thin vellus hairs into thicker terminal hairs, increasing follicular size, and regenerating healthy scalp skin.  However, because copper peptides aren’t listed as an official “active ingredient” by DS Laboratories nor do we know its concentration, it’s difficult to gauge its efficacy within Spectral.DNC.

The only proven and FDA approved ingredient in Spectral.DNC is 5% minoxidil. While minoxidil is safe and efficient, it’s unclear what the additional ingredients in Spectral.DNC may actually accomplish. Furthermore, the cost of Spectral.DNC runs between $35.00 and $45.00 for a month supply, compared to around $ 25.00 for a three month supply of generic 5% minoxidil.  According to DS Laboratories, the only known side effects revolve around minoxidil (which are no different than those associated with Rogaine).  Although minoxidil is relatively safe and effective, it’s been used as a hair loss treatment for decades.

Those hair loss sufferers considering using Spectral.DNC as a treatment for thinning hair can feel confident knowing that they will, at the very least, obtain similar results to using minoxidil 5%.  Until the other active ingredients are peer reviewed, whether or not Spectral.DNC is more effective than Rogaine 5% is mostly conjecture.

Causes and Treatments

Alopecia is the medical name for hair loss to the scalp or body.  While Androgenetic Alopecia (genetic hair loss) is the most common, there are many other forms of alopecia related hair loss worth discussing.  Each medically named alopecia comes with distinct symptoms, a unique cause and exclusive treatments. Below, we've compiled a list of and description for the most common types of alopecia related hair loss along with the available treatment options for each.

While the information on this website can be used as a guide, men and women who believe they are experiencing hair loss should always be properly diagnosed by a qualified hair restoration physician to determine its cause. To learn more about each distinctive alopecia hair loss condition, click the links below.

Traction Alopecia
Alopecia Areata
Diffuse Patterned Alopecia
Diffuse Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA)

Cicatricial alopecia (Scarring Alopecia)

Alopecia Universalis and Alopecia Totalis

Truly a "Full Head of Hair in 30 Seconds?"

Of all the hair loss concealers available, like topical powder applications or "sprinkle solutions," Toppik is amongst the most popular. What's more, of all the "shaker" options currently available to hair loss suffering men and women, Toppik is one of the most recognized and trusted.

Since its inception, Toppik has been featured in various media outlets, including Time magazine, the Oprah Winfrey show, Fox News, NBC, and Eyewitness news. Throughout this media exposure and positive word of mouth, this hair loss product has been utilized by an estimated 3 million balding men and women worldwide.  So what makes Toppik so popular? How does it work? How does it compare to other types of concealers? Most importantly, what are real consumers saying about Toppik and where can interested parties purchase this popular concealer?

Toppik Hair Loss Concealer: What is it, and how does it work?

Toppik, like many other concealers available today, is a topical powder application. The powder formula is comprised of a series of charged, keratin-based, "hair binding fibers" that, when sprinkled on thinning hair, tightly adhere to individual hair strands. With each "shake" of the Toppik product, thousands of these particles are applied to the head and bind to hair shafts via opposing electrical activity (much like the way magnetized material attracts metal).

By tightly binding to hair shafts in such significant numbers, Toppik naturally recreates the appearance of a thick, dense head of hair.  According to the makers of Toppik, the bond created by the hair shaft and keratin particle is so strong that it will withstand wind, rain and perspiration, and will continue to naturally thicken and volumize the hair until "washed out" by shampoo. Additionally, because Toppik is available in a variety of different tones, the product is able to precisely match any hair color/texture and still remain completely undetectable.

What Benefits Does Toppik Offer Over Other Concealers?

Although Toppik is popular and well known within the hair restoration community, hair loss sufferers should still ask one crucial question: what benefits does Toppik offer over other, similar concealers? According to the manufactures, Toppik offers a variety of benefits that other, comparable products simply cannot match. First, Toppik's keratin fibers are completely safe, organic, all natural, and utilize electric energy to adhere to hair fibers with unmatched efficacy.

Next, not only is Toppik available in a variety of colors, but these tones can also be "mixed" to match any color and can even cover gray hair and new growth from hair transplant surgery.  Toppik colors include black, dark brown, medium brown, light brown, medium blonde, blonde, auburn, gray and white.

Furthermore, Toppik can be used in conjunction with other hair styling products (though the powder needs to be applied to dry scalp, and styling products should be applied before usage), will not "rub off" on clothing or pillows, can be safely utilized with other hair restoration products and medications,  will not clog pores or dry out the scalp, is equally effective in balding men and women, and is easily applied via the shaking method or by applying the popular "spray applicator" to the shaker apparatus.

Why is Toppik so Popular in the Hair Loss Community?

Because of its innovative design, positive "track record," ease of use, and effective nature, Toppik has developed a trusted reputation and large fan base in the hair restoration community. Hair loss sufferers not only trust the history behind the Toppik brand, but appreciate the product's single use longevity and lasting strength of the fiber-hair shaft bond. The fact that the product is effective for male and female hair loss sufferers and can be easily used with other styling and hair restoration products makes Toppik an even better option for any individual considering a topical concealer.

What Real Consumers are Saying About Toppik?

To see what real hair loss suffering men and women are saying and to read helpful tips about applying Toppik in a variety of situations and in conjunction with other hair loss treatments, visit our Hair Loss Forum and Social Community.  You can also read our product review by visiting "Product Review: Nanogen Versus Toppik".