By now it’s common knowledge that popping biotin daily won’t guarantee long, lush hair. The truth is that biotin doesn’t make hair grow faster or longer. It can only promote longer hair by strengthening the hair follicle. Stronger hair allows each strand to reach the end of its growth cycle. Your genetics then decide just how far that cycle will take you.
Another sad fact: Unless you’re deficient in biotin (or B vitamins), the supplement won’t make much of a difference. “Most people get enough biotin from foods as well as the biotin our bodies produce,” says dermatologist and scalp expert
Dr. Rebecca Kazin. So popping a pill (just like any vitamin supplement you don’t need) won’t do much…or anything at all.
But now there’s a new breed of biotin products, coming in the form of serums, shampoos and even hairspray. Topical biotin offers the same (not-so-reliable) results as ingested biotin, but it guarantees the added benefit of instant fullness. “Applying a hair product that is made with biotin will help strengthen the surface of the strands,” says Schwarzkopf Essence ULTÎME celebrity hairstylist
Richard Collins. The formulas coat each strand and thereby increase the diameter of each existing hair.