Does evolis® prevent hair loss and what exactly is it?

Evolis® for women is a tonic that is applied to the scalp twice a day. The company claims that is lengthens the growth phase of hair. But does evolis prevent hair loss?

Normal hair growth is cyclical as it goes through three phases: growth (anagen), rest (catagen) and shedding (telogen).

During some types of hair loss, the normal cycle is sped up and the growth and rest phases are shortened, thus resulting in greater hair loss as the hair moves to the shedding phase quickly. This type of hair loss is often most noticeable as hair that seems to never grow very long, falling out before it grows to the desired length.

There have been some studies that have suggested that the cause of this quickening of the phases is a build up of a protein on the scalp known as FGF5.

According to the evolis website, FGF5 was initially discovered as the cause of familial trichomegaly, or extreme eyelash growth in two families from Pakistan. A study conducted by Higgins et al  demonstrated, using hair follicle organ cultures, that FGF5 induced the regression of the human hair follicle. They identified FGF5 as a crucial regulator of hair growth in humans for the first time, and uncovered a therapeutic target to selectively regulate eyelash growth.

Fast forward from eyelash growth to scalp hair growth and the company who makes evolis published a study in the Nishinihon Journal of Dermatology which demonstrated that a botanical extract, known as sanguisorba officinalis root extract (SO), had FGF5 inhibitory activity that could reduce hair loss by causing prolongation of the anagen, or growth period.

Subsequently, a 32 patient single blinded, randomized and placebo-controlled study was conducted on behalf of Advangen, the company who makes evolis, in which patients were given evolis to apply twice daily. The number of hairs on their head in a particular area, was visually noted before and after the study.

So, does evolis prevent hair loss?

According to the company’s website, after 112 days subjects using the évolis formulations had a significant reduction in hair loss, a significant increase in growing hair follicles and a significant increase in hair volume as assessed by hair release and recovery (a visualisation technique involving looking at the amount of hair in a given area). The placebo group did not experience any significant improvements over the same time period.

Like all so-called hair growth products available today, the company is very careful to use words like “could improve” and “may help reduce hair loss”.

Caution is always advisable with any product that promises to reverse or reduce hair loss because, as we know, if it was really possible, there would be no bald men!

Having said that, it would appear, that on an extremely small sample of less than 32 people and after 112 days (almost 4 months of continued use) that some improvement was seen.

How does the price of evolis stack up?

The product’s introductory pack is $118 which contains 100ml of the tonic and a free shampoo. The instructions suggest you use 2 or more droppers full of the product twice a day, suggesting that at least a total of 4ml is required daily. This would mean that one pack of 100 ml would last 25 days and therefore the overall cost for 112 days is more than $400.

These products usually need to be used continuously to prevent a recurrence of the problem although there is no information on the website that states this.

Final Word: Use with caution and if you can afford to spend the money, then by all means give it a try.

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