ProGrowth + Peptide Hair Strengthening Scalp Serum

In the US, ingredients above 1% are listed from most to least. Below 1% they can appear in any order. Each note keeps three things apart: what the ingredient generally does, its role in this type of product, and what its position can tell you.

• 1 Water · Water (Aqua)
  General function

  The base of almost every rinse-off and cream hair product. It carries everything else and is normally the first ingredient on the label.

  Leading ingredient

  Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

  • solvent
• 2 Pentylene Glycol
  General function

  A humectant that also helps preserve the formula, often used where a brand wants a short preservative list.

  Leading ingredient

  Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

  May suitFine or easily flattened hair

  Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.

  May suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

  A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.

  DependsClimate-sensitive or frizz-prone hair

  A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.

  PubChem
  • humectant
  • solvent
  • preservative
• 3 Pisum Sativum (Pea) Peptide
  General function

  A short-chain pea protein used for strength and body claims in vegan formulas.

  Leading ingredient

  Listed in the first three ingredients, it is likely a structural part of this formula.

  May not suitProtein-sensitive hair

  A large surface-depositing protein. If protein reliably makes your hair feel rigid, this is the form most likely to do it.

  DependsVery dry or highly damaged hair

  Unhydrolysed protein is too large to enter the strand. It sits on the surface, which is a coating effect rather than internal reinforcement.

  • protein
• 4 Niacinamide
  General function

  Vitamin B3, used in scalp products for conditioning claims.

  Supporting ingredient

  Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.

  May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  Deposits a lubricating layer that makes combing easier, which is most of what stops mechanical damage adding to frizz.

  PubChem
  • vitamin
  • conditioning agent
• 5 Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
  General function

  A light plant protein that adds body and shine, popular in volume products.

  Supporting ingredient

  Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.

  May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  Filling surface gaps evens out the cuticle, which is part of what makes damaged hair comb and reflect light more like undamaged hair.

  May suitMaximum-hold styling

  Film formers are what hold a style: they dry into a connected film across the strands so the shape resists movement.

  May suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

  Hydrolysed fragments are small enough to sit in the gaps of a worn cuticle for a wash or two, temporarily restoring stiffness and cutting breakage in combing.

  • film former
  • protein
  • hydrolysed protein
• 6 Panthenol
  General function

  Provitamin B5. It draws in water and penetrates the strand a little, which is why it is the standard ingredient for softness and shine claims.

  Supporting ingredient

  Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.

  May suitFine or easily flattened hair

  It hydrates without adding oil or a film, which is the combination fine hair usually needs.

  May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  Deposits a lubricating layer that makes combing easier, which is most of what stops mechanical damage adding to frizz.

  May suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

  A humectant that also penetrates the cuticle, so it holds water inside the strand rather than only on the surface.

  PubChem
  • humectant
  • conditioning agent
  • vitamin
• 7 Caffeine
  General function

  Included in scalp and thickening products for label appeal. Evidence for applied caffeine changing hair growth is limited.

  Supporting ingredient

  Listed in positions 4–8, it likely makes a meaningful contribution alongside the formula's main ingredients.

  PubChem
  • active
• ▾Below about here, the order stops meaning much. These are usually used at 1% or less.
• 8 Feverfew flower, leaf and stem juice · Chrysanthemum Parthenium (Feverfew) Flower/Leaf/Stem Juice
  General function

  Juice from feverfew flowers, leaves and stems, used for antioxidant and skin-conditioning functions in cosmetics.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  • botanical extract
  • antioxidant
• 9 Mangifera Indica (Mango) Leaf Extract
• 10 Isochrysis Galbana Extract
  • botanical extract
• 11 Propanediol
  General function

  A corn-derived humectant and solvent, often chosen as a lighter-feeling alternative to propylene glycol.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  May suitFine or easily flattened hair

  Light and water-binding rather than oily, so it adds less weight than oils or butters do.

  May suitVery dry or highly damaged hair

  A small water-binding solvent. It holds moisture and helps the rest of the formula spread evenly over the strand.

  DependsClimate-sensitive or frizz-prone hair

  A humectant follows the air: it holds water in humid conditions and can give it up in very dry ones. Climate decides what it does more than the label does.

  PubChem
  • humectant
  • solvent
• 12 Hydroxyethylcellulose
  General function

  A cellulose thickener that gives gels and conditioners their body and adds a soft, flexible film.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  May suitCurls or waves needing flexible hold

  A polysaccharide film stays softer than a synthetic one as it dries, which is what leaves a curl defined but still able to move.

  May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  A soft film binds neighbouring strands together, which is most of what helps flyaways lie down.

  May not suitMaximum-hold styling

  Gum films stay soft. A style that needs firm fixation usually wants a synthetic polymer doing the holding.

  PubChem
  • gum
  • thickener
  • film former
• 13 Disodium EDTA
  General function

  Grabs metal ions from hard water so they cannot dull the hair or destabilise the formula.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  May suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

  Binds the calcium and magnesium in hard water, which is what stops mineral deposits accumulating on the strand wash after wash.

  May suitGray, silver, or brass-prone hair

  Copper and iron carried in tap water deposit on the strand and read as a dull, warm cast on gray or light hair. A chelator holds those metals in solution so the wash carries them off.

  PubChem
  • hard-water chelator
• 14 Sodium Benzoate
  • preservative
• 15 Citric Acid
  General function

  Used to bring the product to a slightly acidic pH, which helps the cuticle lie flat. It is almost always near the end of the list.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  May suitBuild-up-sensitive routines

  Holds hard-water minerals in solution so they rinse away instead of depositing on the hair.

  May suitFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  The acid side of pH adjustment, and the reason it matters is measured: alkaline formulas raise the fibre's surface negative charge, increase friction between strands and lift the scales, while lower-pH ones do the reverse.

  May suitGray, silver, or brass-prone hair

  Where a warm cast comes from water minerals rather than from the hair itself, holding those metals in solution is what removes it.

  International Journal of Trichology
  • pH adjuster
  • hard-water chelator
• 16 Sodium Hydroxide
  General function

  A strong base used in trace amounts to raise pH; fully neutralised in the finished product.

  Estimated lower-concentration zone

  It appears around or below the estimated 1% line, where label order no longer indicates relative amount; its role may be minor or technical.

  DependsFrizz-prone, damaged, or high-friction hair

  The alkali half of a pH-adjusting pair, used in small amounts to bring a formula up to its target rather than to make it alkaline. Alkaline conditions raise the fibre's surface charge and lift the scales — but the finished pH is not on the label.

  International Journal of Trichology
  • pH adjuster

What the whole list adds up to

• 3 solvents
• 3 humectants
• 2 preservatives
• 2 proteins
• 2 vitamins
• 2 conditioning agents
• 2 film formers
• 2 botanical extracts
• 2 hard-water chelators
• 2 pH adjusters
• 1 hydrolysed protein
• 1 active
• 1 antioxidant
• 1 gum

Ingredient list captured 2026-09-13. Formulas change, so check the package in your hand when an ingredient matters to you.