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The Hair Edit · Pumpkin seed oil, compared · Advertisement feature by HALO Hair

It was never your shampoo. I compared 5 pumpkin seed oil capsules instead. Only one passed.

Five pumpkin seed oil bottles in a row, HALO Hair in the centre

Four of the five fail the same test — and it's not the one you'd guess. The cheapest one fails it. The "3,000 mg" one fails it too. Read to the end and you'll be able to check any bottle in 30 seconds.

Ellie
By Ellie, 38Started losing hair at 34 · co-founder, HALO Hair · 6 min read

The short version: I was 34 when my parting went see-the-scalp wide, my bloods came back "normal", and I'd tried everything in the aisle. Then my sister Beth — who checks supplement labels for a living — opened my cabinet and said: "Ellie, half of these aren't even allowed to mention hair."

Read the full story

I was 34 when I noticed my parting had gone wide. Not "a bit thin" wide. See-the-scalp wide. So I did what everyone does: biotin for four months, a caffeine shampoo, and the rosemary oil thing everyone was doing on TikTok. Nothing changed, except my bathroom cabinet got fuller.

I went to the GP. She ran my bloods, everything came back "normal", and she actually said the words "some women just thin". I went home and, if I'm honest, I just accepted it.

Then Beth came round. She's spent eight years checking supplement labels for a living, so she's a nightmare in a health shop. She opened my cabinet, picked up three of the bottles, and read them out loud. Half of them didn't have a single ingredient that's allowed to be connected to hair on a UK label. Not because the brands forgot — because what was in the bottle didn't qualify.

or skip to the 5-bottle comparison ↓
I had no idea what she meant. Turns out there's a simple test. Here it is, and here are the five bottles I ran through it.

First, the short version

Why the shower can't fix it.

Shampoo stays on the outside. It washes the hair you already have, sits on it for two minutes, and goes down the drain. Thinning doesn't happen out there. It happens at the root, under your skin — a place no shampoo has ever been. That's why every bottle in the shower "did nothing". It was doing something. Just not the thing you needed.
Written on a steamed bathroom mirror: it was never your shampoo
1Every hair grows from a root.It grows for a few years, rests, falls out, and a new one starts from the same root. The root decides how thick the new hair is.
2DHT makes sensitive roots shrink.DHT is a hormone everyone makes, women too. DHT sticks to hair roots. Some roots have more spots it can stick to. Every time it sticks, that root stops growing a bit earlier than it should and comes back a bit smaller.
3A smaller root grows a thinner hair.And lets go of it sooner. Your hair isn't falling out more. It's coming back thinner, every time. That's the widening parting.
Why some roots and not others? It's in your genes. The roots on top of your head are born with more spots that DHT can stick to than the roots at the back and sides. That's why hair thins on top and along the parting, never at the back — and why it often runs in families.
Why did the GP say "normal"? A blood test measures how much DHT you have, and that is normal. It can't see how sensitive your roots are. So the test is fine, and your hair still thins.
So what needs to happen? You can't switch the hormone off. You look after the roots instead. They need three things, and a bottle only helps if it does all three. That's the whole test.

The solution — and how to check a bottle for it

Three things your roots need. Three things to check.

1Cope with DHTTwo plant oils get in the way, so less DHT sticks to the root: pumpkin seed oil, and saw palmetto (an extract from a berry).Check: saw palmetto as an extract with the mg shown. An extract is the concentrated part of the berry. "Powder" is the whole dried berry — much weaker, and you can't tell how much is in it.
2Protection from wearRoots work hard for years and pick up everyday damage — the same kind that ages skin. Vitamin E helps protect cells from it.Check: vitamin E on the label. Almost no hair bottle has it.
3FoodZinc builds new hair, biotin turns the food you eat into it, selenium guards the root while it's built.Check: zinc · selenium · biotin. UK rules only let a bottle mention hair if it contains a nutrient with a proven role in hair — and only these three qualify.
Plus two honesty checks: every amount printed on the bottle (no "blend"), and made in the UK for women's hair. Most pumpkin seed oil capsules are sold in the US to men for prostate health — same hormone, different body part — and were never made with hair, or women, in mind.
Three things your roots need

The results

The top 5, ranked on those checks.

Scored on the three needs plus the two honesty checks. Prices are what I saw on Amazon UK in August 2026 and may change.

Side by side.

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On the labelHALONOWSwansonNature's TruthSolaray
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What women say

They read the label too. Swipe.

One honest thing

Give it twelve weeks. Here's why.

A new hair takes about 12 weeks to grow long enough to see above the skin. So nothing can show before then — from any bottle. Take a photo on day one by a window, same spot, and compare at week 12. That's why the guarantee runs 90 days. Two easy checks: the photo, and the hair-tie test — wrap your hair tie round your ponytail and count the turns. Fewer turns = thicker ponytail.

Week 1Week 1Settling in
Week 4Week 4Still quiet
Week 8Week 8The check-in
Week 12Week 12You decide

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HALO Hair Pumpkin Seed Oil — with saw palmetto extract, zinc, selenium & biotin. Two soft capsules a day. Every amount on the label.

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Ellie and Beth, HALO Hair

Who's behind this

Two sisters. One parting.

I'm Ellie — the one whose hair thinned. Beth is my sister, who spent eight years checking supplement labels for a living. She made the first batch for me. Then for my friends. That's HALO Hair: a real extract, the three nutrients that are actually allowed to mention hair, the protection job nobody covers — and every number printed.

What we'll never do: fake doctors, before-and-after photos we can't stand behind, "regrow in 14 days" promises, or a "proprietary blend" that hides the amounts.

Before you buy.

Can I take it with the pill?

Yes — a high-street pharmacist checked the label for everyday use alongside the combined pill. On prescription medication, pregnant or breastfeeding? Ask your pharmacist first.

Is it vegan?

Not yet — the soft capsule is made with gelatine from cows. Gluten-free, no artificial colours. A vegan version is on the way.

Any side effects?

Most people notice nothing. The plant oils can occasionally upset a sensitive stomach — take them with food.

Is it a subscription?

Only if you want it to be. The refill option (ticked by default) is 17% cheaper and renews automatically — cancel anytime, in one click. Untick it and it's a simple one-time purchase; nothing renews.

Is this a DHT blocker?

We don't make that claim — in the UK no food supplement legally can. What we do: real saw palmetto extract at 320 mg, pumpkin seed oil at 1,000 mg (pressed without heat, so the oil keeps its goodness), and zinc, selenium and biotin at the full daily amount.

Start my 12 weeks →

Advertisement feature by HALO Hair. Food supplement. Zinc, selenium and biotin contribute to the maintenance of normal hair; vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress. Not a medicine; does not treat hair loss. Competitor products are named for comparison only; prices observed on Amazon UK, August 2026, and may change; trademarks belong to their owners. Results vary. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or on medication, speak to your pharmacist or GP.

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