by Cap'n Jim C

Blackbeard for Men

Ahoy, lads! I thought I'd tell ye all a little bit about how our Seaspray hair energizer serum product came to be. As a pirate of a certain age, we all experience terrible things - ye know, such as our hair turning gray, and then, eventually, falling out. Over a decade ago, when I saw the salt had fled my formerly salt n' pepper goatee, I did something about it - I created Blackbeard for Men, the first (and patented) instant, brush-on, beard, mustache, sideburns and eyebrow color.

Argh, but Father Time was not done with me. And over the next decade or so, he chipped away at the hair on me very head. Oh, sure, I was able to keep the grey away with a bit of natural henna dye (Blackbeard for Men doesn't make hair dye, as of yet - only mustache and beard color) but sadly, there was nothing to be done about the ever-widening bald spot on me noggin. Sure, I use minoxidil spray (generic Rogaine) and take finasteride too, the only two FDA-approved baldness treatments. Neither regrew me hair (although aye, I'd say they did slow the loss quite a bit.)

I began looking into other treatments that supposedly had some efficacy with regards to hair loss. I read several articles on the positive effects of caffeine, and I was intrigued. Of course it makes sense it would stimulate the scalp - it's a stimulant. And indeed, it increases blood flow - this is why the brand 'Excedrin'  adds it to aspirin, to increase it's speed and effectiveness. 

But would it help against male pattern baldness?

I started pulling up any and every published study that I could find involving caffeine and hair and the scalp. To my joy, I found a small study in which caffeine, along with a minoxidil spray, was administered to a test group for a 3-month period of time. The results were jaw-dropping. The test subjects reported far better results using minoxidil with a 2.5% caffeine solution than without - 14% better. This was revelatory!

I combined this with some of the other research I had been doing into other possible ingredients either proven or suspected to be effective against hair loss. I then retained the services of a well-known Chinese hair products manufacturer and shared my ideas with their product development team. They contributed their own knowledge, as they manufacture their own hair thickening serum using ginseng. The also recommended adding Arginine HCL - an amino acid which improves blood circulation and stimulates and fortifies hair follicles.

Aye, but of course, there had to obstacles. My original plan was to combine all these powerful ingredients with minxodil. I soon discovered however that this was a pipe dream, based on the extremely high cost of US regulatory approval for any products using minoxidil - even though minoxidil is now available with a prescription. Simply put, it would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars (!) with no guarantee of approval. As a small company, this was simply not possible.

So we keelhauled the minoxidil idea and instead decided to make a sort of super hair serum designed to work hand in hand with your minoxidil spray. The chemists at our manufacturer came up with a few samples.

Well, you can see the results above. That's actually around 70 days, and yes, this was using Seaspray combined with my daily minoxidil spray as well as prescription finasteride. But the results were, and are, remarkable. Yes, I'm still thinning at the hairline, and you can still see the bald spot -- but it is not as pronounced as it once was. In fact, the thinning hair appears substantially reduced.

Much of this has to do with the thickening/texturizing aspect of the serum. It's not a thin liquid like water, and it's not thick like an oil; perhaps somewhere in between. The volume and hold were impressive. I found I no longer needed to use any hair styling products!

I got back to the manufacturer with a thumbs-up and just a few notes. They had also been doing a small test with their own people, and their feedback  that helped us refine the texture as well as the spray bottle. We also eliminated the scent, because many men will be using their own styling products, and we did not wish to clash. Then finally, we rolled out Seaspray in December 2022.

Now I do have one tip for using Seaspray. If you apply it after a shower, and then style your hair normally, after it dries it may not have much flexibility. So I recommend brushing it out after it's thoroughly dry. The amazing thing is that your hair should hold its shape - the Seaspray does have a light hold to it - but it will also have bounce and appear to have more volume. 

So if ye be looking for a, I hope ye will consider Seaspray. I use it meself every day. Thanks for reading, mateys!

- Cap'n Jim

Blackbeard for Men