In recent years, I have read a lot about carbonic acid shampoos for scalp health. These products supposedly help:
- Unclog pores.
- Reduce sebum levels.
- Improve scalp blood flow and oxygenation.
- Balance scalp pH levels.
- Add moisture and volume to your hair.
You are probably not going to regrow hair in totally bald areas from these carbonic acid shampoos. However, anything that can reduce scalp oiliness and itching can only be beneficial to the overall hair growth environment.
Testosterone and its derivative dihydrotestosterone (DHT) besides causing hair loss: also raise sebum levels; increase acne outbreaks; and cause scalp inflammation and itching.
Carbonic Acid Shampoos
There are few popular carbonic acid shampoos on the market today that have many reviews. Among the main ones are Simfort, Fortero and Vanidox. This is in sharp contrast to the wide range of dandruff shampoos and hair growth shampoos made by renowned brands.
Simfort Shampoo
In Japan, an extremely popular deep scalp cleansing shampoo is called Simfort Sparkling. They have sold over 150,000 of these since product release. The 6-pack costs $230 while a single bottle costs $65.
According to the product description, the “expansion power” of this shampoo is a dense 8,000 ppm concentration level of carbonic acid. A single bottle of this hair fortifying product contains 150ml of foam. It can be used by both men and women.
Simfort is made in Japan and distributed by Seiseidou America. Do not confuse the latter with Shiseido and its Adenovital shampoo. Note that this product is based on a sulfate, paraben and cruelty-free formula.
The full list of ingredients in Simfort is very lengthy. Besides carbonic acid, it also contains keratin, numerous natural extracts, protein, rosemary oil and more:
According to the company website, carbonic acid help unclog hair pores, minimize excess sebum levels, increase blood circulation and repair hair follicles.
The Simfort shampoo (with almost 2,300 reviews on Amazon) does all of the above by:
“Absorbing deteriorating proteins that sebum plugs are made up of. The reaction between the carbonic acid and the plugs won’t get in the way of our shampoo doing the other half of its job: gently cleaning your scalp and outer layer of hair.”
Fortero and Vanidox
Other somewhat well known brands of shampoo that contain carbonic acid (carbon dioxide dissolved in water) include Fortero and Vanidox.
Fortero contains seven rare ingredients in rice bran protein, algae extract, charcoal powder, citrus lemon fruit extract, paeonia suffruticosa root extract, scutellaria baicalensis root extract and swertia japonica extract. It also has rosemary oil, green tea and lavender oil. Vanidox is fortified with biotin, collagen, argan oil, peppermint oil and tea tree oil.