The
old saying, "if you want something done right, you have
to do it yourself" definitely holds true for Dr. Chris
Catalfo. And now the rest of us can benefit from his perseverance!
Growing up, Dr. Catalfo thought he was the last guy
who would ever be concerned about hair loss. "As a teenager,
I had thick, bushy black hair," recalls Dr. Catalfo.
"Going to the barber shop for a haircut was always a
spectacle. After they finished cutting my hair, there would
be three guys sweeping the floor. My barber always joked that
after I left, he had to close shop to get his scissors sharpened."
Dr. Catalfo was a collegiate All American Greco-Roman wrestler
at Syracuse University, and was ultimately inducted into the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He also had the honor of
being chosen to represent the United States in the 1984 Olympic
Games held in Los Angeles. However, one of the highlights
of his life quickly turned into a major downer. "When
I returned from the Games, I was looking at photos from my
matches and said, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO MY HAIR?"
At 24 years old, Dr. Catalfo was rapidly going bald.
What did he do? "I panicked!" says Dr Catalfo.
Over the next several years, he tried every hair growth product
he saw advertised, but his hair loss kept getting worse. "I
tried every product that you have heard of, and probably at
least ten that I guarantee you have never heard of."
Frustrated, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
A benefit of studying to become a doctor was that he had great
access to available research materials and clinical studies.
"I wanted to take a totally different approach to a hair
growth product. I wanted to identify all the likely reasons
for my hair loss, and then create a formulation to address
all of those problems," says Dr. Catalfo.
"Many of the existing products were not specifically
designed for hair loss. For example, minoxidil initially was
developed for treating hypertension. Researchers noticed a
side effect --- it grew hair on some participants. So they
decided to pursue approval to market it topically as a hair
growth product. To this day, researchers aren't completely
confident why or how minoxidil grows hair."
However, for most men, minoxidil alone is not enough. Says
Dr. Catalfo "The clinical data showed minoxidil, when
used alone, is only effective on about 35% of men. Unfortunately,
I was in the other 65%."
He continued to experiment with his own formulations, and
after about four or five years developed the initial version
of Follicare. "I knew that I had something when people
started asking me if I had hair transplantation surgery."
Still, Dr. Catalfo's formulation was not quite ready for
prime time. "My initial formulation was gooey and smelled
awful, but I didn't care because it was growing hair on my
head!" The lady of the house had a slightly different
opinion about the look and smell. "I would apply the
topical formulation at night in the bathroom. After I was
done, my wife would come into the bedroom screaming, what
have you done to my bathroom?" Yet, laughs Dr. Catalfo,
"she admitted that I looked A LOT better with a full
head of hair, so she learned to deal with the mess."
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Individual results may vary.
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Over the next decade, Dr. Catalfo worked with chemists from Advanced BodyCare Solutions to refine and further test Follicare and make the application of the topical spray cosmetically appealing. Today, Follicare is a pristine product that takes less than 5 minutes a day to use and fits easily into one's daily routine. "If it weren't for the hair growing on your head, you would forget that you are using Follicare", says Dr. Catalfo.
Concludes Dr. Catalfo, "From my personal experience,
I know Follicare is by far the most effective hair growth
product on the market and we tried to make it extremely affordable
as well. I don't want any man to have to experience that sick
feeling of looking in the mirror or at photos and seeing lots
of scalp. And, I promise, we will try to keep making Follicare
better and better!!"

Dr. Chris Catalfo: before
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Individual results may vary. Dr. Chris Catalfo: after
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