Tag: hair growth

Keys Island Rx May Be The Answer

by Bob Root, Keys Scientist

As a natural products company we are not allowed to make claims unless we follow a clinical trial process.  We are able to report what our customers tell us.

It was not to far after we began that we started to receive comments and testimonials about how our Island Rx promoted hair growth in both men and women.  For the longest time we believed that it was the process of our customers getting off of conventional shampoo and switching to a natural alternative.  Made sense to us, but for years, mostly men, claim that their hair grows more using Island Rx Liquid soap as a shampoo.  We decided to dig into the formulation and also make some theories of why it works for our customers.

So, here is what we know reading as many papers and studies that I could get my hands on.

To over simplify, conventional shampoos have a large amount of Sodium Laureth (Lauryl) Sulfate or Ammonium Laureth Sulfate.  These are commonly referred to as SLS or ALS.  A number of studies I have read track back these chemicals to causing inflammation of the scalp pores.  Hair is a protein extruded through a pore.  The theory is that when hair pores become inflamed, the size of the pore is reduced and the hair gets thinner.  This made sense to me because hair near  a balding spot seems thinner.  As the pores close down, the air stops growing

Balding is a form of alopecia.  So when you think this way, many of the suggestions of how to treat the disorder also makes sense.  It is worth Googling and also reading a article here on Clean Green Cafe titled Kyle to Keys! My Hair is Growing!

So, just about everywhere you read, the articles recommend switching from a sulfate based shampoo.  That seems to slow and even stop hair loss for many.  But why are our customers claiming hair regrowth.

Under The Hood

I decided to try to break down our Island Rx formulation to see why it might be working to stop and in some cases reverse hair growth.  In Kyle’s story above, he used MetaClean and yet, most of our customer testimonials refer to Island Rx.  In truth, the base soap we developed for Island Rx is the same as MetaClean.  I started my analysis by looking at our base soap recipe.

A true Castile soap is Olive oil saponified using a alkaline substance.  Castile soaps came from the Castile region of Spain 500 years ago.  They would mix olive oil and the ash from a wood fire to make a soap that cleans.  The problem with these soaps and ones made like it today is that they are very alkaline to a point where some are harsh.  The quest for soap makers is to use up as much of the alkaline substance to keep the alkalinity lower.

When we started, I experimented with hundreds of recipes, I started to replace the olive oil with other “softer” oils.  Eventually I got to the recipe we use today which has olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil and Jojoba oil.  Typically the alkalinity is as high as 11.5 pH for Castile soaps and mine is about 8.5pH.  Thinking about why this might be important, I realized that it was probably more the type of oils I was using, but I did read that a mild alkaline rinse on the head is recommended for alopecia and therefore for balding.  I also read a number of articles exclaiming that the properties of coconut oil do help hair growth.

I also found some articles talking about raw avocado oil containing a natural retinol which aids hair growth.  I have known and promoted Island Rx to slow fade sun/age spots because of the retinol in avocado oil, but I really did not know about retinol effecting hair pores.  Yes, our Island Rx contains raw avocado oil that is put into the recipe after  the soap making process.  I originally did this as a conditioner humectant for the hair because Castile like soaps do make hair feel waxy.  This is why our Silkin is so popular because it is not a Castile soap and it more resembles conventional sulfate shampoos but without the SLS or ALS.  So, that raw avocado oil is an add to the equation.

As I read more, I zeroed in on each component as if it was the only ingredient.  Clary sage has tons of articles written about how it is used for hair growth.  Blood orange essential oil also has a number of purifying and clarifying articles written about it.  Both are listed in ancient Chinese medicine journals as having cleansing and antibacterial properties.

My Conclusion

All of the above!  It really appears to me that the reason that Island Rx liquid soap has so many fans is that it just works for them.  Each ingredient I looked at has some properties for hair growth.  My guess is that by combining them to make our first soap, the recipe just works.  Sorry, I hope to be able to figure out why so maybe i could make something even more powerful for hair growth.  Nothing stood out, but I am working on a amped version of Island Rx to see if I can speed up the process.

Stop Read!

Slowing, stopping balding and hair regrowth takes time using Island Rx.  Customer reports range from noticing less hair on the pillow in a couple of weeks to hair regrowth in a couple of months.  It is very important to not use any other products on your hair unless it is natural…completely natural.  If you use a pomade, change to raw natural coconut oil as a conditioner and styler.  Our Mangrove conditioner works well and will also facilitate regrowth because of the avocado oil.  Do not use conditioners or products contain silicone (dimethicone)  Go clean!  No Junk Please!

Why More Men?

This one eluded me until my wife and boss, Wendy Steele, pointed out the obvious.  “Women have log hair as a rule and Castile soaps and Castile-like soaps (Island Rx) are very hard to manage after washing.  Men typically have shorter hair and are not bothered with Island Rx.  In fact, most men use Island Rx Liquid soap head-to-toe.”  A small amount of research bore out the theory as men with long hair do not like Island Rx as a shampoo and women with short hair are not bothered by it either.  So, using Island Rx for short balding hair seems to work according to our customers.

There you have it.  It Just Works!

I you are interested in trying Island Rx, Click Here to go to the Island Rx Liquid soap page.  At checkout there is a box to add a code for a discount.  Use RX15 in the box to get a 15% discount as incentive to try it.  The Code entry box is just below the Cart Totals on the first page of the checkout.  Oh, make sure you hit the little arrow button to apply the discount code or the discount won’t work.