Hi Street Cents. My name is Ingrid Sly, I'm 17 and I live in Vancouver, B.C. Here's my dilemma. I have short hair. I've always had short hair. And, I can't stand it anymore. I also can't stand the rate at which my hair is growing. So, I set off to find a way to make my hair grow faster. Some people told me to eat jello. Others told me to eat yogurt. Someone even told me to wash my hair with eggs! I tried them all but none of them worked.

In 'Seventeen' magazine I came across an ad for THICKER, STRONGER, LONGER hair. The company's name is Valor Enterprises Incorporated. The ad said that in just 5 to 7 days my hair would look like it had 3 months of growth!

I would do almost anything to make my hair grow. Please help me. I would really hate for all my hair to fall out because of it. Bald would be a huge set back.

Street Cents Response

Hair beauty creme is not going to make your hair fall out - but it won't make it grow longer either. It's just a conditioner.

This miracle product makes claims like, "you'll have easy to manage, magnificent, full-flowing tresses," and the "Hair Beauty Formula is developed through scientific research" and, "it expands the size of each individual hair."

Street Cents talked to a cosmetic chemist who said there's nothing in the beauty creme ingredients that could make hair grow longer or faster. As a matter of fact - no product can.

Hair growth isn't affected by anything you put on your head. So, this creme will coat it, hydrate it and glue split ends together. Just the same as any conditioner or hair spray. It also contains ammonia - this will help straighten your hair. And, straighter hair looks longer - non?

So, Valour Enterprises Incorporated hasn't just made a major breakthrough in hair growth technology - their claims are pure hype.

Street Cents tried to get a response from Valour enterprises in New York, but they didn't get back to us. The Better Business Bureau in New York has received complaints against Valor Enterprises for dissatisfaction with merchandise and misleading advertising.

So, don't waste your money on this over-hyped conditioner. Hair Beauty Crème is "Street Cents Rejected."


Claims Test

Most people's hair grows about ¾ of an inch a month, so three months growth would be over two inches.

The Hair Beauty Crème ad says this "amazing formula nourishes and builds stronger, thicker, longer-looking hair in just 5 to 7 days."

The company toned-down their advertising. Earlier Hair Beauty Creme ads made stronger statements like, "your hair will look like three months growth in only one week's time. And, "you'll look years younger."

To find out if there was anything in the hair beauty creme that would speed up hair growth, Street Cents had 17-year-old Ingrid Sly, of Vancouver, B.C. test the product for a week. Can miracles really happen?

The Hair Beauty Crème ad advertises this stuff for $6.95 but that's in U.S. dollars. Street Cents spent $14 on a bottle and to have it shipped. Then, we sent it off to Ingrid in B.C.

Ingrid followed the instructions on the bottle diligently.

"Shampoo hair, rinse well, towel dry. Apply Hair Beauty sparingly to damp hair. Comb through hair thoroughly. Do not rinse. Style, shape, blow-dry as usual."

So, after one week did Ingrid notice a difference? Did she have "thicker, stronger, longer hair?" Did the product deliver?

Nope. "My hair didn't get thicker, longer or stronger," says Ingrid, "it stayed exactly the same, exactly the same length.

Ingrid measured her hair before and after the test and found that her hair grew the normal amount in one week - maybe ½ a centimeter. Ingrid wasn't only disappointed with the lack of growth- but when she tried blow-drying her it turned into a "frizz ball of goo."

Despite their claims - the Hair Beauty Crème just doesn't work.