Fennel seeds benefits for hair: fighting sebum and hair loss thenatural way

Harnessing the well-known fennel seeds benefits for hair in traditional cultures, brands are eveloping successful sebum and hair loss products today. This illustrates how major achievements in the beauty market today are highly dependent on being able to understand current trends that are shaping the market and not only follow them but surprise consumers with innovative solutions.

We take a look at the current “back to the roots” trend that is pushing traditional medicine forward, taking the fennel seeds benefits for hair as a paradigmatic example of how brands are mobilizing this knowledge today. 

The re-emergence of traditional knowledge and what it means for the beauty industry

The new interest in fennel seeds benefits for hair is framed within a larger context. Traditional knowledge and medicinal solutions are experiencing a strong revival, pushed by new consumer priorities around community values and traditions. 

A few stats gathered by Mintel demonstrate this shift in consumers’ perspective and its potential impact on the beauty market

• 82% of consumers in Indonesia agree that their heritage is an important part of their identity
• 79% of consumers in the Philippines aged 18-24 prefer to buy products that reflect their local culture
• 69% of consumers* in Singapore prefer to be associated with brands and companies that respect their values

Heritage, local culture and traditional values are thus being put to the center of consumer preferences, a movement that demands brands to take action.

In order to fill this market opportunity, there are a few developments that brands are experimenting with: 

• The rise of botanical beauty has given way to developing products that use traditional knowledge and traditional medicine. In fact, plant-based ingredients used in traditional medicine are a hot trend in cosmetics now. As consumers increasingly pay attention to ingredients as a sign of product efficiency, pairing natural solutions with traditional remedies is a winning formula today.
• This development, however, must go hand in hand with building an ethical supply chain ethics that guarantees that traditional knowledge is respected. For instance, Provital has become the first beauty ingredient supplier to have an International Certificate of Compliance with the Nagoya Protocol. 
  
  This document was established years ago and guarantees that companies implement a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and local communities.

• COVID-19 enhanced a sense of social responsibility in both consumers and brands. In fact, 51,9% of companies report they’re currently prioritizing social issues, according to Euromonitor’s ‘Voice of the industry: sustainability in the coronavirus era’ report. Also according to this report,  “supporting local communities“ has become a priority for  two thirds of surveyed companies, which represents a 15% increase compared to the previous year. 

How do you use fennel seeds for hair growth?: Where natural and traditional remedies collide

In such a context, traditions such as Ayurveda are being put to the front, with consumers showing a renovated interest in them.

Defined as “the science of life”, Ayurveda is one of the oldest traditional medicine practices in existence. Ayurveda was originated in India and comprises around 2,700 different described medicinal plants used to awaken the natural balance between the mind and body and to promote healing.

With a new interest in well-being, self-care and a desire to connect with nature,  Ayurvedic claims in beauty and personal care products have the potential to target a new breed of health-conscious consumers.

Aiming to provide brands with new opportunities for growth, at Provital we’ve looked at Ayurveda in order to find inspiration for new product developments. This is how our  FENNEL EXTRACT H.GL. – M.S. was born.

Fennel, a vegetable native to Europe and widely consumed by the Romans, has been used by Ayurveda practitioners as a digestive tonic and diuretic, which helps eliminate toxins as well as being a seboregulator and a calming agent. 

These advantages make it the perfect ingredient to regulate sebum and hair loss issues, thus proving the traditional claim of fennel seeds benefits for hair. In fact, a number of hair loss processes are related to sebum secretion activity. Scalp issues such as dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis can arise from a badly regulated sebum secretion and trigger sebum hair loss issues. 

Fennel’s astringent activity acts as a regulator for sebum secretions. This is caused by this plant’s tannin content, which provides an astringent action due to their capacity to form complexes with different substances. 

As a consequence, applied topically, tannins contained in fennel coat the outermost layers of skin and mucosa, protecting the deeper layers and acting as vasoconstrictor agents on superficial micro-vessels. 

Therefore, the fennel seeds benefits for hair are encapsulated in this extract, which can be used to formulate cosmetic products with regulatory activity on sebum secretions, while at the same time gaining consumers’ attention for solutions based on traditional knowledge. Want to learn more about the potential for traditional medicine in the current BPC market and how to develop successful products in such a context? Download our free ebook  ‘Back to the roots’ and find more natural extracts related to traditional medicine and how to incorporate them into a beauty and personal care product catalogue.