Reversal of hair loss in Mice with “sugar gel”

I tried topically applying some L-Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate and it made me smell like a chlorinated pool, or something. So it's not something that I will be able to keep on my scalp throughout the day. Instead I will try to apply it for an hour or so prior to showering, along with dextrose.

LetTheRedeemed

@Gaston look forward to hearing how that goes.

CrumblingCookie

@Mauritio
I've been using

0.5% Butyrate sodium
1.5% Dextrose
1.5% Lactic acid (L(S)+)
1.0% Potassium chloride

and since I didn't have any pure alcohol or propylene glycol at hand I added the above to a store-bought hair tonic containing alcohol, glycerin, panthenol, coffeine, ocimum basilicum extract.
I clearly went on the very generous side with the dextrose concentration. Maybe I'll back down to 1%.

Findings:

This blend works better than what I had used before (dextrose or dextrose+ASS+glycine or the store product by itself).
What I ascribe to the lactic acid: My scalp was slightly itchy after application in the beginning. Then I seemed to get used to it. Now still again sometimes. It seems in many cosmetic recipes, they just go for 0.5% free lactic acid and 2-10% lactate-sodium. The latter is allegedly much gentler. I may therefore choose to use potassium carbonate next time instead of KCl.
This blend leads to an odd kind of coating on my hair, though, which can make them look like not been washed for several days. It's not immediate, i.e. when I've applied the solution after a shower in the evening it's all fine and dandy but in the morning it will already appear as if I hadn't washed my hair for at least day or as if I had worked out and sweat. It's not sticky nor does it look dirty or truly greasy, however. Kind of reminds me of the dry oilyness of saturated magnesium chloride solution.

Any idea what causes this? I'm thinking perhaps the combination of the butyrate or salts with the glycerin or alcohol.

Other thoughts I haven't yet deeply looked into or decided upon:

Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol
Benzoic Acid, Sorbic Acid (+Benzyl Alcohol)
Phenetyl Alcohol
for preservation instead of alcohol + propylene glycol.
Pirocton olamine for antifungal action to take up the discussed topic of skin fungal burdens. This one had been proposed at the old RPF yet without feedback.
2% Urea for keratolysis, i.e. better absorption + as a skin humectant.
Bisabolol for antiinflammatory + antimicrobial action + as a skin humectant + reductant.
Allantoin for antiinflammatory + proliferative action + mild keratolysis (instead of urea?) + as a skin humectant.
Vitamin E, racemic acetate or natural tocopherol as a skin humectant + reductant.
Propolis (extract) for flavonoids for soothing +proliferative action.

Gardner

@CrumblingCookie said in Reversal of hair loss in Mice with “sugar gel”:

@Mauritio
I've been using

0.5% Butyrate sodium
1.5% Dextrose
1.5% Lactic acid (L(S)+)
1.0% Potassium chloride

and since I didn't have any pure alcohol or propylene glycol at hand I added the above to a store-bought hair tonic containing alcohol, glycerin, panthenol, coffeine, ocimum basilicum extract.
I clearly went on the very generous side with the dextrose concentration. Maybe I'll back down to 1%.

Findings:

This blend works better than what I had used before (dextrose or dextrose+ASS or the store product by itself).

What I ascribe to the lactic acid: My scalp was slightly itchy after application in the beginning. Then I seemed to get used to it. Now still again sometimes. It seems in many cosmetic recipes, they just go for 0.5% free lactic acid and 2-10% lactate-sodium. The latter is allegedly much gentler. I may therefore choose to use potassium carbonate next time instead of KCl.

This blend leads to an odd kind of coating on my hair, though, which can make them look like not been washed for several days. It's not immediate, i.e. when I've applied the solution after a shower in the evening it's all fine and dandy but in the morning it will already appear as if I hadn't washed my hair for at least day or as if I had worked out and sweat. It's not sticky nor does it look dirty or truly greasy, however. Kind of reminds me of the dry oilyness of saturated magnesium chloride solution.

Any idea what causes this? I'm thinking perhaps the combination of the butyrate or salts with the glycerin or alcohol.

Other thoughts I haven't yet deeply looked into or decided upon:

Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol

Benzoic Acid, Sorbic Acid (+Benzyl Alcohol)

Phenetyl Alcohol
for preservation instead of alcohol + propylene glycol.

Pirocton olamin for antifungal action to take up the discussed topic of skin fungal burdens. This one had been proposed at the old RPF yet without feedback.

2% Urea for keratolysis, i.e. better absorption + as a skin humectant.

Bisabolol for antiinflammatory + antimicrobial action + as a skin humectant + reductant.

Allantoin for antiinflammatory + proliferative action + mild keratolysis (instead of urea?) + as a skin humectant.

Vitamin E, racemic acetate or natural tocopherol as a skin humectant + reductant.

Propolis (extract) for flavonoids for soothing +proliferative action.

So many ingredients . How are you going to pinpoint what exactly helps if anything helps?

Mauritio

@CrumblingCookie nice one.
Maybe the greasiness is from the chloride, which I don't use .

Do you not get weird rancid butter smell from the butyrate. I have dropped it from the newest batch.

I get a great cosmetic effect still. It doesn't seem to work everyday but most days. It's like a hair gel /wax strengthener .

I also feel like my scalp is more flexible and I can wiggle it around more easily.

Not sure if it decreased hair loss in general.

CrumblingCookie

@Mauritio said:

Do you not get weird rancid butter smell from the butyrate

Not at all. I had also used the butyrate suspended in water on my arms before and it was fine. Smell-wise it only slightly lingers when blended into oils. Maybe others with a selectively different sense of smell would disagree. Disappointing that you've given up on the topical butyrate as I would have liked to read more from your experience with it.

I get a great cosmetic effect still. It's like a hair gel /wax strengthener .

Could it be that we are referring to the same observation? The kind of coating or dry, non-sticky look of greasiness I mean could also be described as a fashionable surfer-style to out-of-bed-look. I agree the hair feels and looks smooth and nice immediately after application, easy to comb and accentuate and antistatic, i.e non-frizzy.

I also feel like my scalp is more flexible and I can wiggle it around more easily.
Not sure if it decreased hair loss in general.

Generally I've noticed much less hair loss since applying this blend. It's almost as much as before on some days, though, annoyingly.

I'm definitely liking the lactic acid. The scalp seems smoother and less dry after regular use. I've looked through reviews online of pure LA drops and many people use it to rub their faces with, reporting smoother and fuller skin.

Intuitively I'd still like an alternative to the ethanol as a preservative and feel there's more immediate leeway for improving the scalp skin barrier and therefore the endogenous nutrient homeostasis. I don't want to obtain and store every possible substance but still perhaps blend in either something like those apple polyphenols or flavonoids like apigenin as a complementary (and definitely non-smelly) HDACi.

Another thought is, that if there's a reason to (always or specifically) suspect aforementioned inflammatory fungal influences I should really trial adding that pirocton olamine. Especially since the extra topical glucose would feed them too (and first).

@Gardner said:

So many ingredients . How are you going to pinpoint what exactly helps if anything helps?

The bottom list is still ideas to look through by me, or by you, or by any reader. Essentially, I'm currently only applying dextrose, LA, butyrate, KCl.

Gaston

@Gaston I want to correct my earlier comment in which I said that Alpha Ketoglutarate was odorous. It was actually potassium bicarbonate which was responsible for the odor. The L-Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate is very water soluble and has been easy to use, if anyone wants to try it.

LetTheRedeemed

Peaty symptom: my scalp is consistently warm now… it used to always be cool.

I also massage my scalp 10 minutes a day.

The last few days it was hot to the touch!

In combo with massage I find the scalp even more pliable.

I just use dextrose, alcohol, and a few drops of glycerin (from coconut).