Horse vs. Human - who comes out on top?

So. The latest 'growth enhancer' that I'm using comes in three different formulations. Thanks to LondonDiva, I've got the ingredient list for all three - so I want to compare them, and see who comes out on top. It's product deconstruction, ya'll!!


Ovation (current 'human' version):

Deionized Water, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, DM DM Hydantoin, Methlparaben, Propylparaben, Tetrasodium EDTA, Frangrance

Rejuvenator (discontinued 'human' version):

Deionized Water, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydrolized Keratin, Panthenol, Tocopheryl Acetate, DM DM Hydantoin, Methlparaben, Propylparaben, Tetrasodium EDTA, Frangrance.

Mega-Tek Rebuilder (current 'animal' version):

Deionized water, hydrolyzed keratin protein (HU), stearalkonium chloride, glyceryl stearate, peg 100 stearate (DI), marine protein (DI), peg 40 (no castor oil), panthenol, dimethicone copolyol (the one cone), magnesium citrate (DI), allantoin (DI), amino acids (DI), methylparaben, mucopolysaccharides (DI), polyparaben, imidazolidinyl urea (DI), fragrance

DI = Different ingredient
HU = Higher up on the list

The Ovation and the Rejuvenator are identical, as far as the ingredients and the order they are in.

The Rebuilder, though, has MORE hydrolyzed keratin protein (by virtue of it being higher on the list of ingredients), and it has marine protein and amino acids, which neither of the others have, along with a few other 'different' ingredients.

Now - here comes the reason I decided to put this in my blog - I'm about to go crazy ingredientHunter over here. So!


The rebuilder is missing DM DM Hydantoin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, the castor oil in the peg 40, and Tetrasodium EDTA.

The DM DM Hydantoin is a preservative, that the imidazolidinyl urea replaces. The Cetrimonium Chloride is an anti-static agent (most likely leaves your hair feeling softer and smoother) but it doesn't really seem to be involved in accelerating growth. The Tetrasodium EDTA is a chelating agent - so that's more about the hair 'feel' than about any additional growth.

It makes sense that they would take out the 'make my hair feel good' stuff from the 'animal' version - they tend to not have paw in hair disease, ya know?

Now. The difference between peg-40 and peg-40 Castor Oil is - well, one has Castor Oil added in, the other doesn't. It acts as am stablizer/emollient, and I assume they took it out of the animal version because animals tend to lick themselves - and castor oil is a known laxative. Ew. *lol*

Tocopheryl Acetate is a fancy word for Vitamin E Oil, so that's easy.

I can add some Castor Oil, and some Vitamin E oil to the Rebuilder. I can also add some citric acid to it, if I REALLLY wanted to, for the chelating action to kick in.

Okay. Now, let's explore the ingredients in the Rebuilder that are NOT in Ovation.

We have peg 100 stearate, marine protein, peg-40, dimethicone copolyol, magnesium citrate, allantoin, amino acids, mucopolysaccharides, and imidazolidinyl urea.

We already know that the imidazolidinyl urea replaces the DM DM Hydantoin, so we can ignore that one. And we know that the only difference between peg-40 and the peg-40 castor oil is the castor oil, so we can ignore that, too.

So.

The peg 100 stearate apparently is a cleansing agent/emollient mix - I assume that's to make it easier to wash off of the horses without having to use another soap - basically making the whole thing MORE water soluable.

The marine protein - is well, a protien. Without knowing exactly what kind of marine life it came from, I can't get much more specific than that. We'll call it a protien boost, though.

Our old friend dimethicone copolyol is the only TRULY water soluable silicone. I don't like cones, do not like them at all, but I'll give this one a pass. It's lowish on the ingredient list (#9 out of 17), so, I won't whine, too much. Though! It DOES crack me up that dead on the bottle it says 'contains no silicones' - and there dimethicone is, big as day. Annnyhow.

The magnesium citrate is - well, it's a laxative, at least that's all wiki has to say about it. PLEASE tell me that ain't milk of magnesia!! *lol* It also says that it works by bringing water into the intestines via osmosis - so maybe it's doing something similar in the hair - acting as a humectant? I bet this ingredient is also the culprit for the 'dandruff' look that some ladies have reported seeing. I don't know - I haven't been able to find any references to why you would use this externally.

On to the allantoin, which appears to be - well, I'll copy the juicy stuff from wiki:

Allantoin has a moisturizing and keratolytic effect, increasing the water content of the extracellular matrix and enhancing the desquamation of upperlayers of dead skin cells, increasing the smoothness of the skin; promotion of
cell proliferation and wound healing; and a soothing, anti-irritant, and skin
protectant effect by forming complexes with irritant and sensitizing agents.

Which, in slightly less chem heavy language, appears to be saying that it's a humectant, speeds the turnover of skin cells, makes the skin smoother, increases the rate of cell growth, and soothes.
Damn, the horses got the GOOD stuff.

Amino acids are kinda like the marine protien - without knowing EXACTLY which ones, I can't say anything about it except it's a damn good thing for hair.

Finally, the mucopolysaccharides. Innnteresting. They appear to be one of the the natural moisturizing factors, and actually help 'hold' cells together. I can only think that this would ROCK on your scalp, and so, I'm saying once AGAIN, the horses got the good stuff.

So, overall.

The ingredients that the rebuilder is MISSING are the stuff that makes your hair 'feel' good, but without really DOING anything. The ingredients that might actually do something - castor oil, vitamin E oil, and a chelating agent, are super easy to substitute in.

On the other hand, the ingredients that are UNIQUE to the rebuilder are - stellar. We've got protiens & amino acids. We've got two things shown to help hold skin together and increase the rate of cell growth. We've got some stuff to make it stick together better, and to rinse off easier. And we've got a random cone. *lol*

Definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY - the Rebuilder (the HORSE product *faint* ) is a much better buy - and it's almost HALF the price of the Ovation.

Hrmph. Horse-sense, indeed.