For men and women alike, hair loss is challenging, both cosmetically and socially. It impacts one’s self esteem, and those suffering from severe thinning are willing to go to almost any length to save what they have, or better yet, improve the situation.
 
Enter Evolis Professional, a new line of hair care products billed as a natural alternative to the category-leading hair thinning brand. This new range, which is manufactured by Sydney-based life sciences firm Cellmid/Advangen, will soon enter the US beauty category with its Reverse Hair Care Collection.
 
Cellmid CEO Maria Halasz unveiled the line to New York beauty editors and bloggers last month.
 
Halasz is not only chief executive, she’s also a customer.
 
Halasz started losing her hair around age 40 and spent plenty of time and money searching for a solution. She admittedly had just about given up, when on a business trip to Japan she came upon a hair loss technology based on blocking a protein called FGF5. She started using the FGF5 blocking products, and was so impressed with what she was seeing on her own head, she acquired the company that owned the technology.
 
That patented FGF5-blocking natural plant technology is at the center of the entire Evolis system. It contains four natural botanical extracts that inhibit FGF5, which has been found to accumulate in the scalp and increase hair loss. Rosa multiflora and Sanguisorba officianals, an anti-FGF5 extract, are in the formulation along with hydrolyzed keratin, wheat proteins and 10 concentrated antioxidants.
 
The collection’s hero product is the Reverse Activator, which delivers a concentrated dose of the hair restorative actives. The range also includes shampoo, conditioner and a treatment mask that provides extra conditioning and shine as it revives mid-length and ends and fortifies hair to prevent breakage.
 
The range has already been well received in its home market of Australia, according to Halasz. Since it debuted in pharmacies in 2015, it has grown to control 70% of the female hair loss market and about 20% of the men’s side of the business.
 
Evolis Reverse will be out in December in the US; a set that includes the activator, shampoo and conditioner is $100. A 1.7oz supply of the activator is $55, 8.5oz bottles shampoo and conditioner are $27.50 each and four treatment masks are $40.
 
Cellmid has tapped Kerry E. Yates, partner and managing director of brand development firm Colour Corrective, to assist with the rollout in the states, including executing a study featuring approximately 100 women in the Dallas area.
 
As for already completed tests, clinical studies assessed after four months of use showed dramatic reduction in hair fall, increased hair growth and improvement in overall scalp health, according to Halasz, who told Happi Evolis offers consumers a new option with fewer trade-offs, such as the scent issue that is often associated with products like Minoxidil.
 
Just how pressing is it for people to find a solution for their thinning hair? In one poll cited by Evolis, 60% of thinning hair sufferers would rather have more hair than more money.
 
That’s a statistic that Halasz understands all too well—and one that her company will capitalize on in the coming months as Evolis Reverse make its entrance in the US.