Abstract:

With the continuous rise in living standards, consumer demand for high-quality hair care and beauty products is growing steadily. This is particularly evident in addressing hair and scalp concerns such as hair loss, hair graying, and dandruff, where demands have become increasingly refined, professional, and personalized. These issues not only adversely affect personal appearance and self-confidence but may also trigger psychological stress in many individual, subtly impacting their daily lives and overall well-being. Their pathogenesis is closely linked to multiple factors, including the decline in hair follicle growth function, scalp microecological imbalance, impaired skin barrier function, genetic predispositions, and environmental stressors such as pollution and UV radiation, making them primary focal points in hair care research and core hotspots in the efficacy evaluation system of hair care products. Precise and efficient efficacy evaluation methods are indispensable core tools for analyzing the pathological mechanisms of hair and scalp damage, screening bioactive compounds, and evaluating product efficacy. This article summarizes the latest advances in efficacy evaluation methods for hair loss prevention, hair darkening, and anti-dandruff activities across three dimensions: in vitro models, animal models and human efficacy evaluation. It comprehensively sorts out the specific application scenarios, technical characteristics, inherent advantages, and practical limitations of various methods, aiming to provide reliable and practical references for basic research on hair and scalp health, the efficient screening of bioactive ingredients, and the standardized development of high-performance functional hair care products. Ultimately, this work is expected to effectively promote the scientific, standardized, and sustainable development of hair care and beauty industry.

Key words: hair darkening efficacy evaluation, anti-hair loss efficacy evaluation, anti-dandruff efficacy evaluation, hair follicle model, follicular melanocyte