by
Cassandre
by Cassandre of CassandreBeccai.com
“My hair is thinning.” My husband said (in his lovely British accent) as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
Yes, it was now apparent. My hubby, just a year shy of 30, was already losing his hair.
Androgenic alopecia strikes both males and females and is a reflection of a hormonal imbalance that enables Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to kill your hair follicles.
Traditionally, over-the-counter minoxidil (Rogaine) is prescribed for both men and women as a hair follicle stimulant. However, being interested in the possibility of finding home remedies, I jumped on the opportunity to research some solutions.
Here is my major finding: Caffeine helps halt hair loss.
An article published in the International Journal of Dermatology called, “ Effect of caffeine and testosterone on the proliferation of human hair follicles in vitro,” says that caffeine exposed hair follicles showed signs of growth in people with androgenic alopecia.
On that note, I decided to topically incorporate some coffee (since it naturally contains caffeine) into my hubby’s regime and make some coffee oil and coffee rinse to use every day.
I headed on over to Trader Joes and bought the big size dark roast coffee beans and their cold brew coffee concentrate to make a super potent and yummy coffee oil and coffee rinse.
Coffee Oil Recipe:
1 cup of dark roast coffee
4oz Olive Oil
-Place all the ingredients into a small crock pot and heat at a very low heat (between 100-200 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 8 hours.
-Stir every hour to prevent settling.
-The oil will get super dark and you’ll begin to smell the coffee.
-Once the time is up, use a cheesecloth to drain the coffee oil once it has cooled down.
-You can also add growth stimulating essential oils like rosemary, lavender and peppermint at about 6-12 drops per oz for a more potent mix.
-Place in a glass container.
I have my husband use this every night and shower it out in the mornings.
Coffee Rinse
1oz water
7oz Trader Joe’s Coffee concentrate
-Mix these ingredients together.
-Use after every hair wash to help stimulate follicle growth.
My husband has been doing this for weeks now, but I honestly don’t notice a difference in his hair loss. A couple of factors come in to play here: growth phases are different for everyone and I probably need to up the amount of caffeine by possibly adding more concentrated powders in the rinse.
I’m looking forward to further experimentation, but in the mean time we’re both loving the luxuriousness of my homemade concoctions, especially the coffee oil.
Would you be willing to use coffee topically to recharge your hair growth, even if you don’t have a thinning hair issue? What are your tips for hair regrowth if you’ve suffered from androgenic alopecia?
19 Responses
I get really stressed, anxiety from an ex who keeps taking me to court. My long thick hair falls out in handfuls when I am really stressed. I use a caffeine shampoo Fuller Thicker Hair to stop the falling. This time I might try a straight coffee rinse. The shampoo does work tho.
I make a black tea scalp spritz with the following ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1 bag of black tea
fresh rosemary leaves (rake leaves from 2-3 sticks)
1 tsp of dried lavender
1 tsp dried horsetail leaves
1 tsp dried nettle leaves
Directions: combine the tea bag and herbs in a heat safe container; boil the water and pour it over the mixture and cover. Let sit for 2-4 hrs then strain. i add a few drops of tea tree and rosemary essential oils for a preservative (optional). Put it in a spray bottle and leave it in the fridge.
That amount usually makes me enough for about 2 months; I use it 3x/week
I’ve seen a big difference in the strength of my hair; my hair turned JET BLACK 🙂 and I barely shed. I haven’t noticed dramatic difference in my hair growth but it definitely aids in retention, strength, and shine.
doesn’t the coffee color and smell get all over the bedsheets?
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional.
My boyfriend suffers from alopecia, he develops a bald spot on the left side of his head when he’s stressed. Usually he has to get shots in the area at his dermatologist’s office to regrow his hair. The last time it happened i told him that I wanted to help regrow his hair through a natural approach, so I prepared the following mix: castor oil, vitamin e oil, a cap full of sweet almond oil, 2 drops of 100% argan oil and 1 drop of tea tree oil. He put it on the area everyday and a month later we noticed the hair fully grew back in the area.
I have androgenetic alopecia and have had good results with Rogaine and propecia. I have also used spironolactone in the past – which worked but made me dizzy
Okay, now to admit my own crazy schemes
Last year this time, I did something stupid to my hair and it broke in several places. Broke right off at the scalp. It was awful and a huge problem because the rest of my hair was already past the top of my soulders. Also, because my hair doesn’t shrink much when well conditioned you could really see the missing patches. Point of the long narrative is, the result was a visible extreme difference in hair length and density in certain areas of my head.
Even as my hair was growing back it felt like it was taking forever because of the huge gap in lengths.
Then I read about the caffeine in vitro test and thoguht what do I have to lose. So I went and got pure caffeine from the pharmacy and mixed it with a little avocado butter and a drop of castor oil and applied this mixture to my scalp at least once a week for several months.
Boy did my hair grow. Then I was torn between putting it on my whole scalp and watching all my hair grow or fixing the problem areas 1st. But I eventually got around to focusing on the problem areas. They also grew very fast. They are about half the legnth of the rest of my hair now and it took my hair almost two years to grow half it’s length.
I can’t think of anything else I might have done to cause the hair growth and I’m convinced it’s this mixture because when I massaged it only on the problem areas they grew much faster than everywhere else.
In fact. I think I’m gonna go apply some now.
I had been using avocado butter and castor oil without the caffeine for some time for my psoriasis
Caffeine as a hair care is something brilliant idea to come with. It helps to get the best hair color and also lot more benefits which you had experimented with. Great tip yeaar!!
Girl you crazy *but in a good way ;)* Personally, as a recovering coffee addict, that brew wasn’t going to mixed with anything once I see it or worse yet opened the jar and smelled it. But, since I like challenges (and androgenic alopecia does seem prominent on my father’s side of the family), I’ll buy a surgical mask to put over my nose and mouth, try your recipe, and give it a shot.
Cool beans! I may give this a try! Please keep us updated Cass =)
BTW, I adore your YouTube channel and have rocked many of your hairstyles=) You’re a TRUE beauty inside and out!
I’ve used coffee extracts in my homemad hair and body products. I figure it can’t hurt. The trick with topical caffeine for stimulation is it needs to be applied continuously. I find I only get results with 20+ hour exposure.
A coworker insists that she and other family members have had great results with rosemary tea rinse. Granted they pretty much wash their hair every morning then rinse out their hair with the tea. If I decide to try it,I’ll put it in a spray bottle and use it lightly on the scalp.
Something to consider:
Tea rinses also contain caffeine…
If the tea is bitter its acidic…
Acidic rinses are the perfect pH for hair since hair and scalp are also acidic (about 4-6 pH)….
Tea rinses also adds antioxidants to the scalp…
It also leaves the hair soft. Mix with aloe vera juice for added boost.
Am not talking about green tea, green tea is more alkaline,I mean regular ole Orange & Black Pekoe tea for $2 at your local grocer.
some before and after photos are needed?? and would help to demonstrate the effectiveness of the caffeine
The author said “I honestly don’t notice a difference in his hair loss”, so it seems like it hasn’t been very effective so far.
Right. Which makes this “article” completely useless.
Have you seen the recent study from Yale , where a guy who was being treated for his severe alopecia (alopecia universalis) regrew hair with an arthritis drug. I’m hopeful about this (converting it to a topical cream or something) because my fiance is losing his hair as well and i know it upsets him.
In the meantime-update us on your hubby’s progress.
http://news.yale.edu/2014/06/19/hairless-man-arthritis-drug-spurs-hair-growth-lots-it
I used coffee on my hair once when I was doing a henna dye. It went straight into my blood stream and made me feel very sick. I won’t be doing it again in a hurry.
My first guess is, he’s probably got the good ole male pattern baldness in his family? That’s why his hair won’t regrow. lol Now while I’m sure coffee CAN POSSIBLY stimulate hair regrowth in normal, healthy hair follicles,that coffee concoction probably wouldn’t work on him, because of his possible male pattern baldness genetics….which coincidentally, comes from the mother’s side. He’d have to check to see if baldness runs in men on his mom’s side of the family.
Other than that, it’s a terribly cute story! The problem is, the title is terribly misleading.
🙂
Hmm, thats interesting, who would have thunk it?