Okay, I’ve put this off for weeks, so it’s long overdue. It’s time to talk vitamins. Blue, chewy, Instagram-famous vitamins.
Famous for their rep with the Kardashians and maintaining a safe spot on their Instagram feed, girls have fled to the site to purchase these SugarBearHair gummies claiming to add inches to their hair — I’ll admit I was one of them.
Now, I am in no way a Kardashian fan. However, I’m a strong believer in long, healthy hair. At the 1 a.m. mark, when I should have been asleep but decided to purchase the vitamins, I was in an ecstatic treat-yo’-self mood. So, I ordered a one month supply of the supplements which contained 60 gummy bears.
The vitamins claim to be vegetarian-based gummies with no gelatin or gluten. They have over 15 vitamins and minerals while still maintaining a “real fruit flavor”. When my gummies arrived, I literally assumed they sent me plain ol’ gummy bears. They smelled like candy, looked like candy and…you get the picture.
The directions stated to only take two gummies a day, so I measured my current hair length (about 12 inches), set my 30-day countdown and faithfully took two. I will say I never forgot to take them because it felt more like I was treating myself than taking vitamins.
By the 29th day, I measured my hair again and saw nothing. Nada. There was no significant difference in the length of my hair, and I contemplated throwing away the last two gummies rather than eating them —then I thought about the 40 bucks I spent on them and reconsidered. I was more disappointed that they didn’t work, and I basically spent 30 days excited about eating fruit snacks.
A few days later, I found an article and study on Buzzfeed about the credibility of SugarBearHair vitamins. A company called Labdoor who debunks the nutritional claims made by supplement supply companies tested these gummies and found the biotin levels were 70% above their label claim while other minerals were also found to have higher a potency than their label statement. The biggest scare was the amount of lead found in the vitamins. LEAD. If consumers ate over the two-a-day mark, they’d be in danger of lead poisoning.
While I long for beautiful, healthy hair one day, running the risk of lead poisoning is definitely not worth it. The vitamins tasted good, and that’s about it. I did get a cool hair elastic out of it, though.