HAIR GROWTH ELIXIR PLUS
This is the most complete formula Dr Ophelia makes, and it is not the one most people should start on. It is for advanced thinning, where a single mechanism is unlikely to be enough, and for patients who understand this is long-term management rather than a course of treatment.
Three activities address three different parts of the problem. Finasteride reduces DHT at the scalp, which pushes susceptible follicles through miniaturisation until they stop producing visible hair. Minoxidil lengthens the growth phase and improves blood supply to the follicle. Melatonin acts on receptors in the follicle during the growth phase and is an antioxidant.
A randomised three-arm study of 60 men over 24 weeks found topical finasteride 0.25% with minoxidil 5% produced greater hair density than either alone. A small, honest study rather than a large claim.
Recyclable Packaging
Suitable for Vegans and Filler Free
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The part that makes this workable. Minoxidil is normally handed over at 5% on day one, and that is where the shedding comes from, the single most common reason patients abandon treatment. Where you start depends on where you already are. If you've never used minoxidil, you begin at 1%. If you're already on a topical, we start at your current strength. Oral minoxidil is different, because systemic exposure is already there.
From wherever you begin, we go up in increments over months, as far as you need and tolerate, and no further. By the time you reach a higher concentration, the finasteride has been reducing DHT for months, so you are adding minoxidil to a scalp in better condition.
What bespoke actually means. What is genuinely decided for you: which activities are in your bottle, the starting concentration of each, your ceiling, the size of each increment, how long you hold at each step, and the base, which changes if your scalp is dry, oily or reactive. We revisit everything every three months against your own imaging
Every Cause of Hair Loss Is a Medical One
Hair loss is sold as a grooming problem. It is not. Every cause of hair thinning is a medical condition, and figuring out which one you have is a diagnosis, not a product recommendation.
Most people offering hair loss services in this country are not doctors. That is a scope-of-practice statement, which does not extend to examining you for inflammatory scalp disease, interpreting bloods, or prescribing. Dr Ophelia is a Consultant Dermatologist on the GMC Specialist Register, number 6149018. She holds a PhD in hair follicle bioengineering, and founded the tertiary hair clinic at a major London teaching hospital.
How Your Formula Is Made For You
- History: Pattern and duration of loss, family history, what you have tried, your hormonal picture, and full medication list.
- Scalp imaging: HairMetrix measures density, calibre and growth-phase proportion in numbers. On this formula, the baseline is not optional; every decision to escalate is made against it.
- Bloods: Ferritin, thyroid function, vitamin D and full blood count. Dr Ophelia treats ferritin above 70, because normal for not being anaemic is not the same as normal for growing hair.
- Cardiovascular check: Blood pressure and cardiac history, because minoxidil began life as a blood pressure drug, and how much reaches your circulation relates to concentration.
Then the starting formula, with a review every three months and repeat imaging.
Start Your Consultation
Dr Ophelia is the sole prescriber for every formula in this range.
Hair consultation, 130 Harley Street. £400
Forty-five minutes in person: examination, HairMetrix imaging, diagnostics, and a treatment plan. For this formula, Dr Ophelia would strongly recommend the in-person route, because escalating three activities over years isn't something to set up from a form, and advanced thinning is often hiding under the first diagnosis.
Book a Hair ConsultationSkin and hair consultation. £500
Book a Skin and Hair ConsultationOnline medical questionnaire. Free
Dr Ophelia reviews every one personally, but for this formula she will often ask you to come in
Start the Free AssessmentWhat Goes In It
Factual information for patients considering treatment. Finasteride 0.25% to 0.5%, melatonin 0.1% to 0.2%, and minoxidil building to 7.5%, and to 10% where the clinical picture supports it, in a lightweight, alcohol-free base.
Finasteride 0.25% to 0.5%
Blocks the enzyme converting testosterone into DHT. A phase III trial across 45 European sites compared 0.25% topical against placebo and oral 1mg over 24 weeks: total hair count rose 20.2 hairs against 6.7 on placebo and 21.1 on oral. Plasma finasteride was over 100 times lower with topical. At 0.5%, systemic exposure is assumed to be higher. Evidence in women is thinner; its use in women is off-label. Recognised side effects include reduced libido, erectile dysfunction and mood changes. In April 2025, the FDA issued an alert about compounded topical finasteride, citing 32 adverse events including sexual dysfunction, low mood, anxiety, brain fog and insomnia, with effects continuing after stopping in most. It can transfer from the scalp to hands and pillows; wash hands after applying; let the scalp dry fully; and tell me if a pregnant woman may contact your scalp or bedding.
Minoxidil, building to 7.5% and in selected cases 10%
Widens blood vessels, improves flow to the follicle, lengthens the growth phase. We climb rather than start high because shedding is milder and spread over months, systemic absorption is concentration-related, and imaging tells us whether each increase is doing anything. The evidence above 5% is mixed; some studies find higher concentrations outperform 5%, and at least one double-blind trial found 5% better than 10%. Side effects: scalp irritation (mostly the vehicle), unwanted facial or body hair (concentration-related), and less commonly fluid retention, ankle swelling, palpitations or a racing heart. Tell me rather than pushing on.
Melatonin 0.1% to 0.2%
Produced in the follicle itself; follicles carry receptors for it. Acts on the growth phase and is an antioxidant. A randomised double-blind trial of 0.1% topical melatonin in 40 women published in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2004 found significantly increased hairs in the growth phase against placebo. Encouraging rather than settling.
The Base
Conventional 5% solutions contain around 500mg/ml propylene glycol and 280mg/ml ethanol. This base is alcohol-free, fragrance-free and preservative-free, chosen for your scalp.
Finasteride 0.25% to 0.5%
Blocks the enzyme converting testosterone into DHT. A phase III trial across 45 European sites compared 0.25% topical against placebo and oral 1mg over 24 weeks: total hair count rose 20.2 hairs against 6.7 on placebo and 21.1 on oral. Plasma finasteride was over 100 times lower with topical. At 0.5%, systemic exposure is assumed to be higher. Evidence in women is thinner; its use in women is off-label. Recognised side effects include reduced libido, erectile dysfunction and mood changes. In April 2025, the FDA issued an alert about compounded topical finasteride, citing 32 adverse events including sexual dysfunction, low mood, anxiety, brain fog and insomnia, with effects continuing after stopping in most. It can transfer from the scalp to hands and pillows; wash hands after applying; let the scalp dry fully; and tell me if a pregnant woman may contact your scalp or bedding.
Minoxidil, building to 7.5% and in selected cases 10%
Widens blood vessels, improves flow to the follicle, lengthens the growth phase. We climb rather than start high because shedding is milder and spread over months, systemic absorption is concentration-related, and imaging tells us whether each increase is doing anything. The evidence above 5% is mixed; some studies find higher concentrations outperform 5%, and at least one double-blind trial found 5% better than 10%. Side effects: scalp irritation (mostly the vehicle), unwanted facial or body hair (concentration-related), and less commonly fluid retention, ankle swelling, palpitations or a racing heart. Tell me rather than pushing on.
Melatonin 0.1% to 0.2%
Produced in the follicle itself; follicles carry receptors for it. Acts on the growth phase and is an antioxidant. A randomised double-blind trial of 0.1% topical melatonin in 40 women published in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2004 found significantly increased hairs in the growth phase against placebo. Encouraging rather than settling.
The Base
Conventional 5% solutions contain around 500mg/ml propylene glycol and 280mg/ml ethanol. This base is alcohol-free, fragrance-free and preservative-free, chosen for your scalp.
What Dr Ophelia Has Deliberately Left Out
- Dutasteride: at ~528 daltons, above the 500 Dalton rule for skin penetration, and highly lipophilic.
- Tretinoin: a reliable irritant, and irritation is the commonest reason a topical gets abandoned. Azelaic acid: same objection.
- Oestrogen and progesterone: Dr Ophelia does not augment hormones through a hair product.
Compounded Fresh
Every bottle is made to order, so no preservative system. Six-month shelf life, three-month supply.
Who This Is For, and Who It Is Not For
For advanced thinning; patients who have not responded to single-agent treatment; those already on minoxidil who want more; those who accept this is long-term; and those who want minoxidil without the shock loss.
Not suitable if you are pregnant, could become pregnant, or breastfeeding; finasteride can cause abnormal development of a male foetus. Reliable contraception is a condition of treatment. Also not suitable if a household member could contact your scalp or bedding and is or may become pregnant; if you have an unassessed cardiovascular condition; phaeochromocytoma; a history of depression; liver disease; or undiagnosed hair loss.
This is the most effective formula Dr Ophelia makes, and it is still not a cure. It treats ongoing loss rather than restoring what has gone. Past a certain point, no topical is the right answer; Dr Ophelia would rather discuss transplantation than sell three years of bottles.
How to Use
Apply to a dry or towel-dried scalp once daily, directing onto the scalp. Massage briefly, then wash hands thoroughly. Let it dry completely before your head touches a pillow. Using it every day, consistency does more work than concentration. Do not increase your own concentration. Expect nothing for three months, some shedding in the first two, and visible density change at six to twelve months. Come back in three months for repeat imaging. Tell me about ankle swelling, palpitations, dizziness, unwanted body hair or mood change.
Frequently Asked Questions
This Standard has two active ingredients and no minoxidil. This adds minoxidil as a third mechanism and allows for higher concentrations of all three - more effective, with more systemic exposure.
Progress is determined at the time of evaluation. Standard for most people: DHT blocker-free for those who can't take anti-androgens, PLUS for more thinning.
For some, yes. The gradual build spreads it out and makes it lighter than starting at full strength.
No. Treatment starts at your current strength. Oral minoxidil is evaluated separately.
Side effects are dose-related. More isn't automatically better, and imaging shows whether each increase is working.
Up to 7.5% for most people, and 10% in select cases, always in increments.
What activities, starting concentration, ceiling, increment size, hold time and base - all reviewed against your imaging every three months.
Relatively riskier. A decision under consideration, not an upgrade.
As long as you want the results. Stop for six to twelve months, and the damage starts again.
Then Dr Ophelia will say so, and discuss transplantation instead of a fourth active.
At ~528 daltons, it’s well above the 500 dalton rule for skin penetration. A strong drug that doesn’t penetrate is not a strong treatment.
It’s a reliable irritant, and irritation is the most common reason people abandon topical medications.
It could be concentration-related. Ask Dr Ophelia; the answer will usually be a step down.
The vehicle shouldn’t be drying. There’s no alcohol in this base.
Yes. Wash your hands after each application, let your scalp dry completely, and tell Dr Ophelia if anyone in your household is pregnant or could become pregnant.
No. It’s specifically a compound – the legal route is through a prescriber.
GPhC-registered UK compounding pharmacy. CQC Provider ID 1-27377085712, Location ID 1-29095875525. GMC 6149018.
A three-month supply costs £3.56 per day. It’s £60 more than other formulas because it includes a third active and a longer clinical time.
Yes, and Dr Ophelia would particularly encourage it.
Yes, that is part of the assessment.
The subscription includes a 100ml supply for three months. The subscription saves 10% (£288, £3.20/day). Reviewed every three months. Pause or cancel at any time.
7-10 working days combined, then Royal Mail 24. UK tracked.
Six months from the date of manufacture.
No, prescription medications cannot be returned once dispensed. If something isn't working, tell Dr Ophelia; the formula can be changed.
AWARD WINNING PRIVATE CONSULTANT DERMATOLOGIST
Dr. Ophelia Veraitch is a globally recognised dermatologist with an unparalleled educational foundation and international expertise in both medical and aesthetic dermatology.
As a private consultant on Harley Street, she specialises in diagnosing and treating complex skin and hair conditions while also offering a full range of professional aesthetic treatments.
Alongside her clinical work, Dr. Ophelia has developed her namesake line of prescription-strength skin and hair products, bringing her world-class knowledge and experience directly into patients’ hands, to continue treating their skin at home.
