For many hair loss suffering men and women, topical concealers are a necessary aspect of the "daily routine." Usually composed of hair shaft adhering microfibers or darkening cream, concealers help balding men and women both camouflage areas of noticeable baldness and increase the apparent density of thinning hair. Below, we provide our readers with a product review of the new and popular hair loss concealer Caboki.
Caboki was released back in 2005 but is only just now receiving more attention, most likely due to increased advertising. Like others before it, Caboki concealer claims to be a "hair loss breakthrough". Despite ambitious promises, Caboki's claims leave several unanswered questions: is Caboki really a breakthrough concealer? How does it compare to other, similar products like Toppik, DermMatch and COUVre? Is Caboki a worthwhile product for purchasing, or will it fall from grace like other alleged "breakthrough" hair loss miracles before it?
While many products, such as "Toppik" (a popular microfiber-style concealer) and "Couvre" (a concealing cream) are popular and trusted within the hair loss community, new, unproven concealers arrive on the market every day. What's more, many of these new concealers try to "best" the products currently offered and claim to camouflage hair loss in a way "never seen before." However, as with many alleged miracle cures, these products often fail to meet expectations and leave hair loss sufferers disappointed and discouraged. So let's explore how Caboki works to conceal hair loss below.
Caboki is comprised of a series of charged microfibers that, when applied to the scalp, tightly bind hair shafts and create a denser, fuller appearance. According to the manufacturer, these microfibers are comprised of two different elements: Moroccan Gossypium Herbaceum fiber and iron oxide-based natural (mineral-based) colorants. The makers of Caboki claim these elements allow the product to create a natural, healthy appearance, capable of withstanding harsh lighting conditions, sweat, wind, and rain.
However, because these elements have been used in other concealer products (Toppik particles, for example, are both charged and made from natural keratin), Caboki still must demonstrate why it's revolutionary. So, what makes Caboki a "hair loss breakthrough?" According to the manufactures, Caboki differs from other concealers in the following ways:
So, it's now clear why the manufacturers of Caboki believe it is a superior product, but does this mean Caboki is a legitimate hair loss concealer? Does it truly outshine other concealer product currently on the market?
While the product is still fairly new, most anecdotal experiences and testimonials from real hair loss suffering men and women are positive. Most individuals believe the negatively charged Caboki particles bind strongly to the positively charged hair shafts and create a longer-lasting increase in density. Furthermore, the particles seem to be more resistant to potentially damaging elements like water, sweat, and wind. Having said that, many individuals report some common problems experienced with other concealer products – concealer wiping off on pillows and clothes, some smearing with sweat, and difficultly creating a natural appearance in the hairline. However, these same individuals claim the problems occur less frequently with Caboki. Altogether, it's likely that Caboki is both a helpful hair loss concealer and equivalent to other products currently on the market. While it is clear that Caboki does possess some advantages and interesting claims, it could be difficult to quantify whether it truly exceeds or simply meets the standard set by other available hair loss concealers. Truthfully, only time and the opinion of hair loss sufferers will determine whether Caboki lives up to its claims and defines itself as a legitimate concealer breakthrough.
Today hair transplant costs are vastly better value, than they did just a few years ago. Increased competition combined with the increased ability of a specialized clinic to produce large sessions of follicular units at reduced hair transplant costs and has resulted in patients getting vastly better results and increased density at lower prices.
Just a few years ago it was not unusual for a clinic to charge as much as $15 US per graft, while providing patients with only small sessions of a few hundred grafts that achieved limited density and fullness.
Today hair restoration clinics typically provide free no obligation consultations, with surgical sessions priced either per graft or by the session. Hair transplant costs typically cost between $3.00 to $8.00 per graft, with $5 to $6 per graft being about average.
It is normal for the price per graft to drop as the size of the surgical session increases. Many clinics will offer a reduced rate per graft once a certain surgical session size (i.e. 1,000 or 2,000 grafts) is exceeded.
Although hair transplant surgery is not inexpensive, it can be the best hair restoration value given that the results are natural and last a life time. The cost of non surgical solutions like a hair system or hair loss medications can exceed the cost of hair restoration surgery when the long term costs are compared.
For example – A quality custom hair replacement system on average costs $1,200 and needs to be replaced about once a year. In addition, a hair replacement system requires regular upkeep and reattachment each every 5 to 6 weeks at about $75 per visit or $675 per year.
Thus the cost of buying and maintaining quality hair replacement systems over 15 years is approximately $28,125.00 ($1,200 plus $675 in annual upkeep = $1,875 x 15 years = $28,125.00). This total cost well exceeds the typical cost of surgical hair restoration.
Note - Of course the cheapest option is shaving your head with an actual net saving due to no expense for shampoos, conditioners, combs, brushes, or hair stylist.
Our member physicians price their procedures independently. So your final cost will depend on who you select and how much hair restoration you will need to be satisfied.
To do a free consult with one of our quality member physicians to get an estimated cost of restoring your hair visit our member physicians’ area.
Soon after the Middle Ages wigs became popular for women. Then in the 1600’s the flamboyant and incredibly vain King Louis XIV of France lost his hair from a severe illness and took to wearing gigantic wigs thus setting the fashion for most men of his day.
These enormous creations featured such items as cages with live birds and could weigh up to 20 lbs.!
By the 1700’s England made another contribution to bad hair loss concealers. This was the age of the long, curly, and powered wigs. Even today, English judges and lawyers continue this practice. Thus the expression for those in authority – “Big Wigs.”
The early 1800’s is renowned in hair loss circles as the age of the con men. There were hundreds of so-called “hair loss solutions” and many lasted well into the late 1900’s.
These treatments were marketed by fast-talking “doctors,” skilled only in bravery and possessing nerves of steel considering they were conning hardened cowboys and outlaws!
The salesmen hawked their products from the safety of their side shows and “Wild West” spectaculars. They used endless tricks to get people to buy their products, including rubbing grease into their hair to make it look thicker.
During the past several decades, superstition, old wives tales, and guess work has gradually been replaced by science.
In 1939, a Japanese dermatologist, Dr. Okuda, published a revolutionary method in a Japanese medical journal that would lay the ground work for modern hair transplantation.
This method involved using hair transplant grafts to correct lost hair from various areas, including the scalp, eyebrow, and moustache areas. However, this study didn’t make an impact in the Western Hemisphere due to the interruption of World War II.
In the late 50’s one physician in particular, Dr. Norman Orentriech, began to experiment with the idea of relocating or transplanting the hair on the back and sides of the head to the balding areas.
Dr. Orentriech’s experiments showed that when bald resistant hairs from the back and sides of the head were relocated, they maintained their bald resistant genetic characteristic regardless of where they were transplanted.
This principle, known as “Donor Dominance”, established that hair could be transplanted from the bald resistant donor areas to the balding areas and continues to grow for a life time. This laid the foundation for modern hair transplantation.
During the 60’s and 70’s surgical hair restoration grew in popularity. However, the standard procedure used large grafts that were removed by round punches and often contained many hairs.
Completed Result after Multiple Sessions of Large Grafts
This now outdated technique could achieve a full look if a patient completed all planned sessions. However, a patient was typically limited in the manner they could style their hair.
Patients who stopped short of completing all planned sessions were left with hair loss solutions that looked obvious and unnatural.
Such uncompleted hair restoration results are some times referred to as “barbie doll hair” or “corn rows”.
Many who have had these older techniques now refine or complete their hair transplants with today’s very refined techniques to achieve a natural look that they can style in any manner.
From big wigs to surgical hair restoration
Soon after the Middle Ages wigs became popular for women. Then in the 1600’s the flamboyant and incredibly vain King Louis XIV of France lost his hair from a severe illness and took to wearing gigantic wigs thus setting the fashion for most men of his day.
These enormous creations featured such items as cages with live birds and could weigh up to 20 lbs.!
By the 1700’s England made another contribution to bad hair loss concealers. This was the age of the long, curly, and powered wigs. Even today, English judges and lawyers continue this practice. Thus the expression for those in authority – “Big Wigs.”
The early 1800’s is renowned in hair loss circles as the age of the con men. There were hundreds of so-called “hair loss solutions” and many lasted well into the late 1900’s.
These treatments were marketed by fast-talking “doctors,” skilled only in bravery and possessing nerves of steel considering they were conning hardened cowboys and outlaws!
The salesmen hawked their products from the safety of their side shows and “Wild West” spectaculars. They used endless tricks to get people to buy their products, including rubbing grease into their hair to make it look thicker.
During the past several decades, superstition, old wives tales, and guess work has gradually been replaced by science.
In 1939, a Japanese dermatologist, Dr. Okuda, published a revolutionary method in a Japanese medical journal that would lay the ground work for modern hair transplantation.
This method involved using hair transplant grafts to correct lost hair from various areas, including the scalp, eyebrow, and moustache areas. However, this study didn’t make an impact in the Western Hemisphere due to the interruption of World War II.
In the late 50’s one physician in particular, Dr. Norman Orentriech, began to experiment with the idea of relocating or transplanting the hair on the back and sides of the head to the balding areas.
Dr. Orentriech’s experiments showed that when bald resistant hairs from the back and sides of the head were relocated, they maintained their bald resistant genetic characteristic regardless of where they were transplanted.
This principle, known as “Donor Dominance”, established that hair could be transplanted from the bald resistant donor areas to the balding areas and continues to grow for a life time. This laid the foundation for modern hair transplantation.
During the 60’s and 70’s surgical hair restoration grew in popularity. However, the standard procedure used large grafts that were removed by round punches and often contained many hairs.
Completed Result after Multiple Sessions of Large Grafts
This now outdated technique could achieve a full look if a patient completed all planned sessions. However, a patient was typically limited in the manner they could style their hair.
Patients who stopped short of completing all planned sessions were left with hair loss solutions that looked obvious and unnatural.
Such uncompleted hair restoration results are some times referred to as “barbie doll hair” or “corn rows”.
Many who have had these older techniques now refine or complete their hair transplants with today’s very refined techniques to achieve a natural look that they can style in any manner.
As you see yourself balding, while others retain their hair, you may ask - why me?
The basic answer is – your hair loss is due to your genetic make up. Your thinning hair is not due to anything you have done, whether wearing too many hats, washing your hair too much or too little or any other hair loss myths. Alopecia or hair loss is primarily genetic and is referred to as "Androgenetic Alopecia" in the medical community.
Your hair's future is largely determined before you're even born. Your follicles have been genetically programmed as to when, where and how much baldness (if any), you'll experience in your lifetime. But the fate of your hair can be altered or compensated for with modern hair loss treatments.
Baldness is largely the result of certain hormones interacting over time with those hair follicles that are vulnerable to their effects.
Both men and women produce "male" hormones. The three most common are testosterone, androsteinedione, and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Hair follicles, as well as the sebaceous glands, contain high levels of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. This enzyme converts testosterone into DHT, via the blood. DHT is the source of most male pattern balding.
In some people, their follicles on the top of the head are genetically vulnerable to baldness. Over time, these genetically vulnerable follicles are acted upon by the hormone DHT. This hormone binds with the receptor sites of these vulnerable follicles and cause the hair follicle to weaken over time. Propecia is a drug that has been shown to slow the creation of DHT and can be helpful in slowing, stopping or in some cases, reversing hair loss when it is used early enough.
Hair grows naturally in cycles of approximately 3 to 8 years. At the end of the growth cycle, the hair shaft is shed from the follicle and a new hair grows. With thinning hair or balding, each successive growth cycle is shorter and the hair produced is thinner and finer. This is called 'miniturization'.
Men and women don't go bald overnight, it is a slow progression of thinning hair and hair loss that eventually produces baldness. In many cases, the balding has progressed to such a stage that hair loss treatment products aren't enough to reverse the balding process.
Few treatments have the dramatic effect of restoring hair like hair restoration surgery. Click here to learn more about hair restoration.
Not all hair loss is permanent. There are many causes of temporary hair loss that can be treated with diet, stress reduction and a visit to your doctor. Click here to learn about other causes of hair loss.
And rogenetic Alopecia, commonly referred to as 'genetic balding', is the main cause of male and female hair loss. This genetic 'programming' accounts for 95% of male hair loss.
For baldness to occur three factors need to be present:
1.The presence of and rogens, or male hormones.
2. A genetic pre-disposition to balding.
3. Time for the DHT to degrade the vulnerable hair follicles.
While they comprise less than ten percent of permanent hair loss, there are several other Causes of Hair Loss like stress, nutrition, health, age and hormones, that can cause temporary as well as permanent hair loss.
There are also several categories of treatments for hair loss which include drugs, topical lotions, hair care products, hair replacement systems and hair restoration surgery. To learn more about each, please visit our Hair Loss Treatment section.
Along with Propecia, Rogaine is one of the only proven hair loss medication options approved by the FDA for treating hair loss. Minoxidil, (Rogaine’s active ingredient), was originally created as a drug for treating hypertension (high blood pressure). It was then discovered that one of its side affects was growing hair. Minoxidil was then tested for use a topical application for regrowing hair. The results were sufficiently impressive that the FDA approved it as a treatment for hair loss.
Rogaine works by revitalizing shrunken hair follicles, thus increasing their size. When you use Rogaine every day, your follicles may increase in size, and the growing phase may become longer. This may then produce longer, thicker hairs.
Rogaine is a clear alcohol-based solution and should be applied to a person’s thinning area with its supplied dropper or spray twice a day.
The solution is approved and available in two strengths -- Regular (2%) and Extra Strength (5%). Individual users of Regular strength Rogaine have claimed success rates of 30-40%. Meanwhile, users of Extra Strength Rogaine have claimed success rates of 50-60%. Currently, the average price for a 2oz. bottle of Rogaine is about $20-30 per month. Minoxidil is also available as a generic and can be purchased over the counter without prescription.
It’s important to note that Rogaine (minoxidil) does not cure baldness and scientists have been unable to determine just how it works. What is known is that Rogaine increases the blood flow to the areas of the scalp that surround these balding areas. Currently some researchers believe that Rogaine (minoxidil) works by opening the follicle’s potassium channels located in the cells. It’s theorized that these channels, when opened, may regulate hair growth.
Rogaine can’t grow hair on completely bald scalps or in the frontal hairline areas. It has been found to be somewhat effective in maintaining or growing hair in the crown area (the top back of the head). However, Rogaine is only effective at delaying hair loss. It is also more effective in women than in men. And again, the reasons for this are not understood.
Rogaine (minoxidil) generally only regrows hair in a minority of men and women. In most cases, the best case scenario for hair growth with these treatments is a thin coverage of thin hair.
The real benefits of Rogaine (minoxidil) is keeping what hair you have or slowing your thinning. Rogaine’s success depends on how advanced your hair loss has become.
You must apply it to your scalp twice a day for life to get and maintain any benefits. Research shows that using Rogaine (minoxidil) only once a day is ineffective. If you stop taking Rogaine (minoxidil) you will loose whatever hair you preserved or regrew within 2 to 4 months. And while Rogaine may stimulate hair growth, it may not prevent the hair follicles from their eventual deterioration.
It's also true that Rogaine's effects may diminish over time. Some doctors believe that patients can build up a tolerance after many years of use. But it's possible to fight this tolerance by taking a week or two off from the treatment every 3-4 months. However, it's not advised to take this break unless you've taken the hair loss medication consistently for at least 12 months.
There are only minor side effects with Rogaine. But some users do experience certain problems such as scalp irritation, itching, and dandruff. However, this can be treated with a good shampoo like Nizoral or Neutrogena T-Gel. There may also be an increase in hair shedding at the start of the treatment. You shouldn’t panic, as this may actually be a signal that the treatment is working.
Due to the medication’s alcohol content, some users may develop a contact rash or irritated skin. And with excessive doses, some users may experience dizziness or a rapid heartbeat. However, with normal use these effects are uncommon.
Rogaine users with severe, refractory high blood pressure experienced some problems. One such problem was “hypertrichosis,” hair growth on the face or other bodily areas. This side effect appears in about 3-5 % of women who use the 2% solution, and higher among women using the 5% solution.
Some hair restoration physicians have come to consider Rogaine to be instrumental right after surgery. This is especially true when grafts have been placed in and around existing hair.
The shock of surgery can result in temporary hair loss. Rogaine is thought to possibly help prevent this temporary loss of healthy preexisting hair. The 5% solution has been found to be more effective for men and women. However, some physicians believe that the hair loss medication should be stopped a week or two before surgery. They feel that Rogaine may increase bleeding, while dilating blood vessels.
After surgery, most patients wait a week or two before restarting Rogaine. This gives the graft areas time to heal. However, taking Propecia is not interrupted by surgery.
Maybe you’ve heard that wearing a tight baseball cap too often will make you bald or that if you wash your hair too much you’ll suffer hair loss. Well, they’re both old wives’ tales.
So what really causes hair loss and what’s myth?
The idea of brushing the hair 100 times a day to stimulate the scalp circulation is a fantasy. In fact, if you brush your hair too much, you may end up injuring and losing hair.
This myth stems from the thought that hair loss was due to poor circulation and that brushing or massaging would improve blood flow and nutrition to the follicles. The truth is, bald or not, there’s no major difference in scalp circulation.
There’s some truth and some fiction when it comes to hair styling and Hair Loss.
It is true that certain hair styles, such as corn-rows or tight ponytails, can cause hair loss. These styles put undue tension on the hairs. But as for hair sprays, perm solutions, or coloring resulting in hair loss there’s no truth to that idea. These applications may cause some damage to the hair strands. But the all-important follicles, located under the skin, stay safe.
And what about the idea that haircuts will make your hair grow back thicker and faster? That’s wishful thinking. Everyone’s hair growth and length depends on their own unique hair cycle, which is based on both nutrition and heredity. The longer your growth phase the longer your hair growth.
What about hair dryers? Are these follicular incinerators?
The good news is there is no evidence that hair dryers cause thinning hair. However, too hot or too much drying may lead to brittle and breakable hair. Let common sense guide you and hold the hair dryer at a normal distance from your scalp and dry to your heart’s content.
Think about this – if you were losing hair because of a lack of vitamins or minerals in your diet, why wouldn’t the back and sides of your head be affected? In actuality, vitamin deficiency results in an even distribution of hair loss all over the head. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to take vitamins on a regular basis for your overall health.
Your follicles width and amount are based on heredity. So claims of hair growing miracle drugs or natural hair loss treatments are untrue.
However, steroids use can cause hair loss. Research has proven that anabolic steroids raise the levels of baldness-inducing male hormones. For those who are genetically prone to hair loss, this can speed up the loss in as little as 3 to 6 months. While this loss may be reversed, it can be permanent.
Unfortunately, there is no truth to the idea that the more sex you have, the less hair you’ll lose! And the same goes for the rumors that the chemicals released during sex can affect hair loss. Science has yet to uncover any proof to this fantasy. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep experimenting.
Many men believe that if their father has a full head of hair, they’ll keep a good head of hair. But hair loss or hair growth is set by a genetic combination determined by both sides of your family.Of course, if your family tree is filled with balding scalps, you do have a better chance of losing hair.
While hair loss sufferers spend small fortunes on treatments based on myths, there are several proven treatments, non-surgical and surgical.
Currently there are only two non-surgical hair loss treatments that are FDA approved for Hair loss. These two are Propecia (Finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil).
Other treatments may or may not help stop or reverse hair loss, but they are not formally approved by the FDA
To learn about proven treatments visit our Hair Loss Solutions section.
Unlike male pattern baldness (MPB) and female pattern hair loss (FPHL), which tends to follow one of the hair loss patterns defined by the NorwoodScale and the LudwigScale, Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA) is characterized by diffuse thinning throughout the front, crown and vertex(crown) with no distinct pattern evident. However, like male and female pattern balding,Diffuse Patterned Alopecia patients typically preserve the stable "permanent zone" on the sides and back of the scalp and may sometimes retain a well-defined hairline. DPA is also a type of hereditary balding condition like and rogenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss).
Diffuse Patterned Alopecia (DPA) can be difficult to diagnose and, particularly in its early stages, may be confused with a similar condition known as Diffused Unpatterned Alopecia (DUPA). While both conditions are characterized by diffuse thinning, DUPA sufferers lack the stable permanent zone necessary for surgical hair restoration.
DPA often responds well to medical hair loss treatments like Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine(minoxidil) and, due to the preservation of the permanent donor region, many DPA sufferers are candidates for hairrestoration surgery.
It’s essential that hair loss suffering men and women seeking medical and/or surgical treatment for diffuse thinning consult with a skilled and experienced hair restoration physician. Differentiating between DPA and DUPA is critical because Diffuse Patterned Alopecia patients frequently make good hair transplant candidates, whereas DUPA patients rarely do.
Try telling that to 80 million men and women who are suffering from hair loss in the United States. They will laugh at you. Yet on a daily basis we are bombarded with ads for hair loss treatments like Avacor, Hair Genesis, Fabao and Procerin that use misleading advertising to sell their products. Thanks to their persuasive messages promising to regrow hair, consumers will spend nearly one billion dollars trying to find an effective hair loss remedy and fall victim to misleading advertising like this.
Thinning hair is a source of distress for millions of men and women so it is not unusual for them to seek help from anything that sounds like it will work. Most questionable hair loss products use similar, misleading marketing techniques ranging from claims to testimonials and photos.
Many hair loss products claim to be able to restore hair through the use of drugs, herbal lotions or other exotic applications like lights, lasers or electrical fields. While many of these products have been around for years, there is little evidence that they can restore hair.
How are they allowed to make such claims? These products often use small amounts of generic drugs found in Propecia and Rogaine (finasteride and minoxidil) which allows them to make the claim to stop hair loss or they imply hair growth with 'cosmetic' claims.
Some hair loss products lead you to believe that they can stop hair loss by parsing their words. They can't come out and claim to regrow hair or stop hair loss, so they advertise vague claims like "thicker, fuller hair". This is a 'cosmetic' claim that any product can make. Be advised that cosmetic claims cannot restore hair or grow hair because they are not proven to do so.
With the anonymous nature of Internet postings, people posing as users will mislead others with false testimonials. Often, positive reviews are produced by people compensated to post these messages. Since there is no real regulation of online postings, consumers are advised to take testimonials with skepticism.
Most product advertising that claim that you can "Regrow Hair!" or make your hair 'thicker and fuller' and show a photo of a balding person with thin hair next to a photo of the same person with thicker hair covering the baldness. Photos don't lie, do they?
Well, yes they do.
You can prove it yourself. Take a photo of a head with thinning hair using a flash camera and then photograph the same head without the flash. The photo with the flash will look like a bald head and the photo without the flash will look like more hair.
Lighting, length of hair and how the hair is arranged on the head determine whether a photo of a head looks bald or not. Most people go through the same routine as balding advances: they push hair from here to there and hair spray it into place in the hope that no one will notice that we are going bald. To the extreme, this becomes the 'comb-over' hair style.
Review the photos of hair loss products you've seen. In most cases there will be just a few and they will all have misleading elements like lighting, hair style and length of hair in the 'before and after' photographs. If the products or services are really legitimate, there should be dozens of photos, if not hundreds or thousands.
Sadly, we think that the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communications Commission (agencies who regulate such issues) can stop these scams. Unfortunately, they can't. Since the FDA approved Minoxidil and Finasteride as effective in stopping hair loss, any inclusion of these products in any form enables marketing companies to make hair restoration claims.
Even the studies done for Rogaine and Propecia are not that encouraging. When Rogaine was studied (active ingredient is minoxidil), 16% of the placebo group had measurable new hair growth. Four out of twenty-five people had real, measurable hair growth when they believed they were using something that worked. Both studies were limited in time and scope. To read the studies that were done achieve FDA approval, visit the FDA web site and scroll down to Propecia and Rogaine. (http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/nda/index97.htm )
If a person is genetically prone to hair loss and balding, FDA proven hair loss treatments may help slow the process if they are used early and often. If you are like many and have already lost more hair than you're happy with, there is only one option to restoring your own natural hair: hair transplants. Hair transplants have become an art in the restoration of natural hair which is genetically resistant to the causes of balding.
Like any surgical solution, your success depends upon the quality of the doctor you choose. Doctors who are successful in restoring a natural looking head of hair are carefully reviewed by the Coalition of Hair Restoration Physicians for membership in this exclusive organization. They must allow access to past patients, confirm their training and provide photos and videos of their patients.
While hair transplants are not possible for everyone, they are now more natural and affordable than ever before.
View hundreds of real hair transplant photos done by the world's top hair loss specialists who are members of the Coalition of Hair Restoration Physicians.
