Nutrafol for Women, and What to Know Before You Start a Hair Supplement

Nutrafol for Women, and What to Know Before You Start a Hair Supplement

Nutrafol for women is a daily hair supplement built around a patented botanical blend, with versions for different life stages. Here is the range with other supplements and topical serums, and what to ask your doctor first.

Nutrafol was started by three people who had each dealt with thinning hair: Giorgos Tsetis, who noticed it while modeling in his early 20s, Roland Peralta, and Dr. Sophia Kogan, who saw her own shedding during medical school and residency. It launched in New York in 2016, built around the Synergen Complex, a blend of standardized botanicals that received a patent in 2020, and Unilever agreed to buy a majority stake in 2022 after holding a smaller share through its venture arm. Nutrafol for women comes in versions for different stages. Women is the core formula, Women's Balance and Postpartum are made for specific life stages, as their names suggest, and the Hair Serum is the topical piece. Before you start any hair supplement, talk to your doctor, especially if you are pregnant, nursing or on other medication, because some ingredients interact and thinning can have causes a capsule cannot address. Supplements take months to judge, so plan on at least three before deciding.

Twelve boxes on a pale grey page, one for each product in this edit, each with its brand and name printed below: Nutrafol Women, Nutrafol Women's Balance, Nutrafol Postpartum, Nutrafol Hair Serum, Vegamour Gro Biotin Gummies for Thinning Hair, Vegamour Gro+ Advanced Growth & Density Supplements for Hair Thinning and Loss, OMI Hair Growth Peptide Capsules, Lemme Grow Hair Growth Soft Chews, Agent Nateur Holi (growth) 84 advanced leave-in growth scalp treatment, Act+Acre 2% Stem Cell Scalp Serum For Thicker-Looking Hair, K18 FutureIQ Hair Longevity Serum for Graying, Thinning, & Scalp Aging and Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Scalp and Hair Serum.
Nutrafol for women

Other supplements

Nutrafol is not the only brand in this space. Vegamour, founded by Daniel Hodgdon in 2016 with a lash serum, makes biotin gummies and a dual-pill Gro+ formula. OMI comes from the nutrition author Naomi Whittel, who started it after noticing hair loss in a selfie and worked with the researcher Dr. Rob Kelly on a peptide approach; the colorist Tracey Cunningham later joined as chief innovation officer. Lemme, co-founded by Kourtney Kardashian Barker and Simon Huck in 2022, makes Grow chews in bottles inspired by vintage candy jars. Compare ingredient lists carefully, because many overlap and doubling up is not better.

Topical treatments, and the skip

If you would rather not swallow anything, a scalp serum is the alternative, and the last row works from the outside. Agent Nateur, which Jena Covello started by making deodorant in her own kitchen, makes a leave-in scalp treatment in its holi line. Act+Acre, from the trichologist Helen Reavey, makes a stem cell formula for thicker-looking hair. K18, whose peptide builds on research by Professor Artur Cavaco-Paulo's team in Portugal, makes a nightly treatment, and Kérastase's Genesis serum strengthens weak hair. What I would skip is taking two hair supplements at once. Biotin and other vitamins add up, and high doses of biotin can interfere with some lab tests, so tell your doctor what you take.

Giving it time

Hair grows slowly, so any change takes months to see. Take photos in the same light each month. Keep eating enough protein and iron, since supplements do not replace a balanced diet. Keep a simple log of what you take and when. If shedding gets worse, stop and see a dermatologist. Bring the log and your photos, since they make the conversation easier.