I Tried Gummy Vitamins To Fix My Postpartum Hair Loss & They Were Basically Magic

Full, bouncy pregnancy hair is one upside to the wild total-body transformation taking place, but then, just when you are used schussing your thick mane, you lose it. I expected a lot of postpartum changes — stretch marks, swollen limbs, sore breasts, and feeling hormonal — but my postpartum hair loss caught me by surprise. After a few weeks, I started to notice more hair in my shower and on my brush. Then it was hard to miss all the shedding on my pillow, in my bedsheets, and around the house. Not only was I losing my mind because of sleep deprivation and adjusting to motherhood, but I was losing my hair. Womp.

During pregnancy, higher estrogen levels prolongs the growth phase of your hair, which is why some women notice thicker hair at that time — you are shedding less. But shortly after birth, our hormones suddenly drop back to normal and all of that hair starts to fall out in clumps. Telogen Effluvium, or postpartum hair loss, occurs around 1-5 months after birth and can last up to a year. For some, "mom hair" can be a styling challenge. For me, it was stressful: on top of the dark circles under my eyes, I now had bald spots and thinning hair. Attempts to disguise the hair loss had failed.

Enter gummy vitamins.

At about nine months postpartum, I kept seeing celebrity endorsements for miracle gummy-vitamin hair-growth cures on Instagram. Celebrities like Kim and Kylie Kardashian were raving about Sugar Bear Hair Vitamins. Do I believe Kim K has ever wanted for full hair? I do not, but I did a little research and found that most vitamins on the market for hair loss contained biotin, so, science? After skimming product reviews, I settled on Nature's Bounty Hair Skin and Nail Gummy Vitamins, which were affordable and easy to find.

I took gummy vitamins for one month to help fix my postpartum hair loss, and here's what happened.

Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails Gummies, $20, Walgreens

Week One

The vitamin was easy to add to my routine, because I am always down for eating candy under the guise of health. I took two strawberry gummies a day, as recommended (by purveyors of candy). During the first week, I didn't notice any difference, nor did I expect to so soon. I'm happy to report I didn't have any adverse affects like acne or nausea, as some reviewers had experienced.

Weeks Two and Three

After about two weeks, I started to notice a lot of new growth around the crown of my head. It was very noticeable. When I tied my hair in a ponytail, little hairs popped out and I had to try to tame them. By week three, those little hairs were almost long enough to form bangs. I was shocked and really excited — it was almost enough to send me on a celebrity-endorsement tear. Hair was now growing in the bald spots that had seemingly fallen fallow, too. Honestly, I had never been so excited to sport baby bangs.

Week Four

I have to say, the new hair growth was really encouraging. Though my hair was not all-around thicker, because the hair growth was still mostly baby hairs around the crown, once those hairs grow in we will be back in business.

Results

I'm not the type to get evangelical about vitamin supplements, but I believe biotin gummies should be in every new-mom swag bag. I am definitely happy that I conducted an unsupervised experiment for a month. That is, I'm not a doctor, nor an expert in hair loss, but these vitamins worked for me. So far, my hair is growing faster and in places it had stopped. After two weeks, I was experiencing new hair growth like never before! I will continue to nom my way through the jar of gummies because I think it will take a few months for me to achieve the hair growth that I want.

Candy for the win!

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