Korean Shampoo for Hair Loss: Ingredients a Dermatologist Checks

I'm Dr. Hongseok Kim, a board-certified Korean dermatologist with 21 years of practice and the medical director of VOS Dermatology Clinic in Gangnam, Seoul, in front of Dosan Park. At VOS I see every patient myself, from the consultation to the treatment.

Visitors often ask me which Korean shampoo for hair loss they should take home. I don't recommend brands here. Instead, I'll explain what I look for on the ingredient list as a dermatologist, what a shampoo can and cannot do, and how to use one so it has a chance to help. This page is based on my YouTube video from May 2024; I rewrote it for readers abroad. The video above can be watched with translated captions.

Can a shampoo help with hair loss?

Short answer: a shampoo cannot treat hair loss, but because you use it every day, it can help keep your scalp healthy, and that supports less hair loss over time (in the video at 00:10).

Not everyone can take medication or come in for treatment. Something you already do daily, like washing your hair, is the easiest place to start. That is why the demand for hair loss shampoo is so large, and why I think it deserves a clear explanation instead of hype.

Gentle cleansing comes first

Short answer: choose a shampoo that removes sweat and dust without stripping the scalp, and be cautious with strong sulfate surfactants (in the video at 00:48).

Cleansing means removing waste such as sweat and dust. Wash too hard and you also remove the lipids on the skin surface, which leaves the scalp dry or sensitive (in the video at 01:02). For the face, I tell people to finish cleansing within one minute without make-up and three minutes with it. On the scalp, that is hard to do, so surfactants stay in contact longer, and the scalp skin can weaken more easily (in the video at 01:25).

That makes the choice of surfactant important. Sodium laureth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate are strong anionic surfactants. In a product that has to sit on the scalp for a while, they are more likely to weaken the skin (in the video at 01:49). The scalp is also hard to moisturize afterwards, unlike the face, so cleansing with as little damage as possible is, for me, the most important point when choosing a shampoo.

Antioxidants: why the scalp needs them

Short answer: UV and pollution cause oxidative damage on the scalp, research links that damage to hair loss and poorer hair quality, and shampoo is a practical daily way to deliver antioxidants (in the video at 02:29).

Outdoors, your scalp takes UV and environmental pollution, and both cause oxidation. In studies, this oxidative damage affects the scalp and raises the chance of hair loss, and it also affects the quality of the hair itself (in the video at 02:44). Few people put sunscreen on their scalp, and a hair tonic is a hassle for many (in the video at 03:01). Shampoo, however, is used every day. Even if only a small amount of the antioxidant ingredients stays on the scalp, repeating that morning and evening, or every other day, adds up (in the video at 03:41).

Here is why I take this seriously. As a hair moves from the growth phase toward shedding, there is a moment when it actually falls out, called exogen. Around the follicle, enzymes called MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) break down proteins, and TIMPs keep them in check. Normally TIMPs hold things tight. When a hair is due to shed, TIMP activity drops, MMP activity rises, the attachment loosens and the hair falls (in the video at 05:05). Oxidative damage from UV can tip this balance, and in people with a predisposition to hair loss, that means more chances for it to progress (in the video at 05:46).

The ingredients I look for on the label

Short answer: niacinamide, biotin, EGCG from green tea, ginkgo leaf extract and violet extract (in the video at 04:08).

• Niacinamide: I don't present it as something that makes hair grow. It supports ceramide production, calms inflammation and helps control excess sebum, so it soothes a sensitive scalp (in the video at 04:10).
• Biotin: whether taken or applied, it helps calm inflammation and plays an important role in healthy hair (in the video at 04:36).
• EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate): one of the most potent antioxidants in green tea extract. It also reduces 5-alpha reductase and calms inflammation (in the video at 07:07).
• Ginkgo leaf and other plant extracts: these are included to calm inflammation (in the video at 07:27).
• Violet extract: minoxidil is a medicine and cannot be used in cosmetics, so researchers look for cosmetic ingredients with similar effects. Violet extract is one that has been showing this kind of function (in the video at 07:59).

For pattern hair loss in men and women, hormones matter. The enzyme 5-alpha reductase turns testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which shrinks follicles and speeds shedding (in the video at 06:21). Ingredients that reduce this enzyme are welcome; they work better in a toner or leave-on product, but since many people never use one, a shampoo that contains them still offers small, steady exposure.

How to use it: leave-on vs rinse-off

Short answer: leave the lather on your scalp for about one to two minutes while massaging, then rinse (in the video at 08:51).

A leave-on product such as an essence or cream stays on the skin longer, so its ingredients have more time to act. A rinse-off product such as shampoo has much less contact (in the video at 08:13). Leaving it on for a minute or two while you massage gives the ingredients a short window, and because you repeat it every wash, the effect builds. I don't think any shampoo ingredient can act like a medicine inside the skin (in the video at 09:15). What it can do is help keep the scalp healthy, and many studies associate a healthy scalp with less hair loss.

What the label is allowed to claim

Short answer: in Korea, a functional hair loss shampoo may claim to help relieve hair loss symptoms, not to treat hair loss or regrow hair (in the video at 09:41).

When the Korean cosmetics law was revised, the functional cosmetics category was widened to include "cosmetics that help relieve hair loss symptoms", excluding products that make hair look thicker physically, for example by coating it. So a shampoo with that label is registered for symptom relief, not as a treatment. As a doctor, I tend to call anything that doesn't fully cure "ineffective". Over many years with patients, though, I've learned that people value even a small improvement, and keeping the scalp in good condition is worth the effort compared with doing nothing (in the video at 10:30).

If your hair is thinning noticeably, a shampoo should only be the supporting act. At VOS, functional medicine testing is one of the ways we look for underlying causes when patients come in worried about skin aging and hair loss. My page on what board certification means for a Korean dermatologist explains who should be making that call, and our creator experiences at VOS show what a visit looks like.

Results vary from person to person, and the right plan for your scalp is decided at an in-person consultation.

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Results, swelling and recovery vary from person to person. This page is general information from VOS Dermatology Clinic based on Dr. Kim's video and does not replace an in-person consultation.