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Shampoo and conditioner have gone scientific.
The everyday products now promise to bring back your crowning glory, banish thinning locks and even keep grey hairs at bay - all for less than a tenner.
High street brands like L'Oreal and Pantene offer 'growth boosting' products containing medical-sounding compounds like Stemoxydine and Mandelic Acid, said to 'reduce hair loss 10-fold' and 'maximise growth'.
There's no doubt demand, with 40 per cent of women and 85 per cent of men suffering hair loss at some point in their lives.
But shoppers can be forgiven for being puzzled by the choice, especially when there's £20 difference between almost identical shampoos on the shelves at luxury beauty store SpaceNK and Boots.
Briogeo's shampoo, which uses 'clean science' to deliver 'density-boosting' caffeine and biotin costs £30, while OGX's bottle offers virtually the same ingredients for just £5.
So which, if any, are worth investing in? And do any of these impressive-sounding ingredients actually work?
Here, top trichologist Eva Proudman - who has treated scalp and hair loss issues for two decades - provides the answers.
The only compounds proven to make hair grow are medications like monoxidil and finasteride - but there are plenty of products that can boost thickness to make hair appear full
Which ingredients will help my hair grow?
The compounds that are most often used in products that claim to boost hair growth are peptides, niacinamide, caffeine, vitamin B7 (or Biotin) and Rosemary oil, says Ms Proudman.
Peptides have long been the subject of research into hair loss, as they are proteins which form the building blocks of keratin - the tough fibres that form our hair.
According to Ms Proudman, keratin and peptides are the ingredients that are most likely to make a visible difference to the look and feel of your hair.
'They bind to the hair shaft as the shampoo or conditioner is rinsed away, which increases the diameter of each strand, creating "fuller looking" hair,' she says.
However crucially she says this doesn't mean the ingredients 'penetrate into the hair follicles'.
Studies have shown that stimulation of hair follicles, by increasing blood flow to the scalp, can boost the activity of the cells, encouraging more hair to grow.
According to Ms Proudman, who is also founder of UK Hair Consultants, none of the shampoos on the markets have been proven to do this.
'Unfortunately, the rate of hair growth is inherited and you'll have the same number of follicles that you're born with throughout your life,' she says.
But there is some good news. Many products can make your hair 'appear' thicker and fuller.
Hair loss claims on shampoo bottles are based on customer surveys, rather than high quality scientific studies, experts say
Look for those including collagen, peptides and vitamin B3 (also known as niacinamide) which studies show can thicken the strands of the hair, Ms Proudman says.
Rosemary oil, tea tree, ginger and menthol, meanwhile, may help soothe the scalp and reduce inflammation in the follicles that could be limiting growth.
You're more likely to get a significant result with a serum or mask, compared to a shampoo she adds.
'The best evidence is for leave-on treatments such as serums, which have time to be absorbed into the scalp,' she says.
'With shampoo there's only brief contact time with the hair, which is unlikely to allow it to work in the same way.'
And products like the L'Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular Leave-In Mask (£15.99), or the OGX ProGrowth + Peptide Clarifying Shampoo (£5) are just as likely to boost the strength and fullness of hair than the super pricey stuff, Ms Proudman says.
Products with caffeine, however, are practically useless.
When applied to the scalp the ingredient is said to boost blood flow to hair follicles and block a hormone called dihydrotestosterone which limits hair growth.
However Ms Proudman says there's little evidence from human studies that this is true.
'It's more marketing than science,' she says, adding that experiments that show a benefit of caffeine on follicles have only been performed in laboratory conditions.
'There's little proof you'd get the same effect on a human scalp, especially within a shampoo that's quickly rinsed off.'
Briogeo's shampoos use caffeine and peptides to improve the density of hair - but do they make your hair grow?
Most of the claims used by companies to promote products - for example '20 per cent fuller hair' - are based on customer surveys, rather than peer-reviewed scientific evidence.
'For instance, the L’Oreal Elvive Growth Booster was only tested on 87 people,' says Ms Proudman.
'Results would depend on who those individuals were, what was wrong with their hair and scalp and what other changes they made.
'For real proof you'd need a baseline hair count and then a review at a minimum of 12 weeks with a double-blind random placebo study - the highest quality of scientific research.'
Can I get rid of my greys without dying my hair?
Some haircare products on the market now claim to reduce, delay or even reverse grey hair. Neofollics' £33 'anti-grey serum' supposedly decreases the appearance of greys in 90 days.
But experts say consumers should be wary.
'Grey hair is essentially a loss of pigment due to factors such as genetics, stress or environmental influences,' says Proudman. 'Some products may tone grey hairs to alter their appearance, but they won't reduce or reverse greying.'
The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA), which represents the UK's cosmetics industry, agrees. It says the only proven way to change grey hair is through hair dye, typically a permanent oxidative colourant.
A spokesperson said: 'Shampoos are unfortunately unable to reduce or reverse grey hair.
'Some contain colourants or other optical features to adjust the tone of grey hair, but again this is achieved through colouring existing grey hair rather than altering the actual state of the hair or hair growth.'