hopelessromanticc
High IQ Looksmaxxing Theories
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- Nov 10, 2025
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Hair is very important in the field of looksmaxxing it can hide insecurities, improve overall face shape, and also just give a overall significant boost to your smv.
However some peoples hair grows faster than others and what do you do if your barber fucks you up and you have to start over. Luckily I made a guide dropping game on hair growth and not water tiktok shit
disclaimer: this guide isn't specialized in hair regrowth, although some of the advice could help in hair regrowth this is mainly in actually speeding up already existing hair growth
so before we can start we must first understand how hair growth works
first thing we should know is that your hair grows in phases. there is a few different phases:
Anagen phase - we want all of our hairs in anagen phase, this means your hair is actively growing and not just sitting there on the top of your hair shedding off or remaining the same length
the anagen phase naturally is just based on genetics mainly. its the reason why youve never seen anyone with hair grow to their legs. its not necessarily trimming but it literally is the life cycle of active hair growth. most peoples anagen phase ranges from 2-7 years
you ever seen people whos hair is the same length pretty much and it never really grows. essentially they literally have "dead hair" not necessarily cause they dont take care of it but because their hair literally stops growing after a few years
but essentially the anagen phase determines how long your hair can get
Catagen phase - shutdown. we dont want our hairs in this phase
once hair is in catagen phase it literally disconnects your follicle and detaches it from the blood supply. literally over if your hair is in this phase. this phase is usually 2-3 weeks
Telogen phase - we dont want hairs in this
once hair is in telogen all your hair does is literally just sit there. it will literally never get longer from that point on. this phase is usually 3 months
Exogen phase - over
hair stars falling out in this phase. this phase is usually 1-2 months
tldr: hair needs to be in anagen phase as long as possible
but we are going to go even deeper. when hair actually is in anagen phase, what actually causes hair growth?
There are 4 main mechanisms you should understand
1. matrix keratinocyte proliferation
the main mechanism for active hair growth
in the follicle bulb theres a zone called the hair matrix.
The keratinocytes in the hair matrix divide and differentiate into the layers of your hair shaft (like the cuticle or cortex) and actually is what becomes your visible hair
now there are a few ways to actually trigger keratinocyte division:
- FGF7
- FGF10
- IGF - 1
- Wnt ligands
- Noggin
- Sox9
- HGF
if you dont have these you have no keratinocyte proliferation and no growth EVEN IF YOUR HAIR IS IN ANAGEN, the faster the cells divide the faster your hair grows
2. melanocyte activation
gives your hair color, not rlly doing much for hair growth but do add some mitogenic factors.
no real need to worry about this
3. Outer root sheath (ORS) stem cell flow
from the bulge of your follicle stem cells go downward while your hair is in anagen to basically give a "boost" to your hair, they
- replenish the matrix
- rebuild lower follicle
- provide keratinocytes progenators (more material to build follicles)
this mainly helps keep your hair in the anagen phase rather than actually causing much growth during it
- Wnt/b-catenin | main one along with shh to maintain anagen phase
- Sonic hedgehog (shh) | main one along with wnt/b-catenin to maintain anagen phase
- BMP inhibition
- TGF inhibition
sonic hedgehog is the main one, if its blocked you will never grow hair even if its in anagen phase
4. dermal papilla signalling
basically the control room of your hair, the dermal papilla doesnt actually become hair but rather instructs hair on how fast it grows, how thick it becomes, and how long anagen (growth) phase lasts
heres the basic key
Wnts = activate stem cells in your hair
fgf7/fgf10 = stimulates matrix growth
igf1 = accelarates keratinocyte mytosis
vegf = increases blood/nutrient supply
hgf = aids in proliferation
noggin = blocks bmp to keep anagen phase lasting
if dp cells weaken, your hair growth slows down or stops completely
so for low iq basically your dermal papilla tells your stem cells to divide and the matrix creates new hair fiber
in order to have fast hair growth we need 2 main factors
1 - hairs in anagen phase (directly determine if your hair is even growing at all, if its not in anagen phase its over)
2 - stimulation in the matrix
- Wnt/β-catenin activation
- Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) activation
- PDGF and TGF-β2 signaling
- fgf7/fgf10 stimulation
- igf1 stimulation
- hgf stimulation
- vegf stimulation
- BMP antagonists like noggin, gremlin, and follistatin (to keep hair growing longer)
- Notch / Edar signaling
- or overall just dermal papilla strength]
so is there a way to? well you already know what this thread is for so lets begin
we will start by getting hair in anagen phase. if no anagen phase, matrix stimulation doesn't even matter since hair wont grow anyways.
now most of the time your hair is already in anagen phase but some follicles might be in catagen or other phases. there are a few mechanisms on how to force catagen or telogen phases back into anagen phase but your hair has to already be in early catagen or telagen after its been in it for too long it will just have to shed off
here are some ways you can make catagen or telagen go back into anagen so growth can reactivate
- wnt/catenin activation
(in mice weve shown it literally can restart anagen)
- sonic hedgehog (can restart anagen)
- bmp signal blocking (pushes follicles into telagen and catagen
- fgf7/fg1 (additional help to pushing into anagen)
- igf1 (prevents follicles from entering catagen and telagen)
or again just dermal papilla strong signal activation
we dont want to overactivate wnt or sonic hedgehog because doing this at a rapid rate will cause extremely rapid cell division and what the fuck do you think is going to happen when ur cells are replicating at a rate faster than your body can process them genetically? you just get a breeding ground for replication errors, tumors, or cancer. we dont want to cancermax so i am including stuff thats relatively strong but not too strong where its going to upregulate it like crazy
here are some products that can do all of these:
Minoxidil: upregulates vegf, some wnt activation, shortens telagen and anagen re-entry
remember though minoxidil is sort of overrated when it comes to hair speed boosting cause
- barely activates wnt
- doesnt activate sh
- mild igf1 increase
- no bmp surpression
so
Microneedling: activates wnt/catenin, activates fgf, igf, dermal papilla regeneration (the thing that signals basically everything), bmp inhibition, vegf increase, dermal papilla activation
unironically speeds up hair growth better than pretty much everything on here other than red light therapy
Red light therapy: strong but safe wnt activation (stronger than minoxidil), safe sonic hedgehog activation (stronger than microneedling), igf1 increase, vegf increase,
peppermint oil (3-4%): igf1 increase, wnt signaling, anagen induction
red gingseng: activates wnt/catenin, increases dp cell proliferation, increases vegf, protects dp from aptosis, upregulates hair matrix activity
retinol: stimulates dermal papilla cells, increases wnt/catenin signalling, promotes anagen entry,
all of these 5 things can literally push a hair out of telagen and catagen at a safe rate and even trigger rapid growth
theres other shit like vpa or bimatoprost but lets be real, your never getting your hands on it and its unknown how safe it is anyways for regular use on scalp
now the final step is taking care of hair so it doesnt get damaged, fall out etc. obviously even if your hair grows fast, you dont want it falling out
preventing hair from falling out:
hair fall is mainly preventative, once a follicle grows out theres nothing you can really do
nutrition:
make sure eat vitamins like vit b2, vitamin d, zinc, iron, biotin,protein, omega 3s. overall just eat a healthy balanced diet or ur follicles will fall out nigga
stimulate your hair, once follicles get dormant and stop growing for a while it leads to permanent hair loss (the products above are pretty much the best otc stimulants you can get
inhibit dht. dht is the strongest cause of hair loss. now obviously dht is mainly dangerous for people who have dht receptability in hair which is genetic but most people in general should be on dht blockers (hair only dont do oral or ur development will be fucked). finasteride is the best but dut also works great.
otherwise cope with green tea, saw palmetto, and pumpkin seed oil till you have a prescription
also i recommend just using a dht blocking shampoo probably litle effect but worth it
sleep, stop eating like shit, stop smoking, drink green tea, also when you sleep use a durag so you dont break your hair
finally keep your hair moisturized all day, it isnt going to grow faster from stuff (other than the stuff in this thread) but if its dry 24/7 not only will it look ugly but it will be prone to breakage easier
heres a simple routine if you want your hair moist all week
wash your hair, while its still wet apply aloe vera leave in (or hylauronic acid), then apply avocado oil
this combo will keep your hair nice all week pretty much
only wash hair once or twice a month unless it starts smelling or you get buildup.
for the optimal hair growth stack do
- minoxidil every day
- microneedling twice a week
- peppermint oil - daily
- red ginseng - daily
- retinol once a week
- red light therapy daily or every other day for 30 minutes
However some peoples hair grows faster than others and what do you do if your barber fucks you up and you have to start over. Luckily I made a guide dropping game on hair growth and not water tiktok shit
disclaimer: this guide isn't specialized in hair regrowth, although some of the advice could help in hair regrowth this is mainly in actually speeding up already existing hair growth
so before we can start we must first understand how hair growth works
first thing we should know is that your hair grows in phases. there is a few different phases:
Anagen phase - we want all of our hairs in anagen phase, this means your hair is actively growing and not just sitting there on the top of your hair shedding off or remaining the same length
the anagen phase naturally is just based on genetics mainly. its the reason why youve never seen anyone with hair grow to their legs. its not necessarily trimming but it literally is the life cycle of active hair growth. most peoples anagen phase ranges from 2-7 years
you ever seen people whos hair is the same length pretty much and it never really grows. essentially they literally have "dead hair" not necessarily cause they dont take care of it but because their hair literally stops growing after a few years
but essentially the anagen phase determines how long your hair can get
Catagen phase - shutdown. we dont want our hairs in this phase
once hair is in catagen phase it literally disconnects your follicle and detaches it from the blood supply. literally over if your hair is in this phase. this phase is usually 2-3 weeks
Telogen phase - we dont want hairs in this
once hair is in telogen all your hair does is literally just sit there. it will literally never get longer from that point on. this phase is usually 3 months
Exogen phase - over
hair stars falling out in this phase. this phase is usually 1-2 months
tldr: hair needs to be in anagen phase as long as possible
but we are going to go even deeper. when hair actually is in anagen phase, what actually causes hair growth?
There are 4 main mechanisms you should understand
1. matrix keratinocyte proliferation
the main mechanism for active hair growth
in the follicle bulb theres a zone called the hair matrix.
The keratinocytes in the hair matrix divide and differentiate into the layers of your hair shaft (like the cuticle or cortex) and actually is what becomes your visible hair
now there are a few ways to actually trigger keratinocyte division:
- FGF7
- FGF10
- IGF - 1
- Wnt ligands
- Noggin
- Sox9
- HGF
if you dont have these you have no keratinocyte proliferation and no growth EVEN IF YOUR HAIR IS IN ANAGEN, the faster the cells divide the faster your hair grows
2. melanocyte activation
gives your hair color, not rlly doing much for hair growth but do add some mitogenic factors.
no real need to worry about this
3. Outer root sheath (ORS) stem cell flow
from the bulge of your follicle stem cells go downward while your hair is in anagen to basically give a "boost" to your hair, they
- replenish the matrix
- rebuild lower follicle
- provide keratinocytes progenators (more material to build follicles)
this mainly helps keep your hair in the anagen phase rather than actually causing much growth during it
- Wnt/b-catenin | main one along with shh to maintain anagen phase
- Sonic hedgehog (shh) | main one along with wnt/b-catenin to maintain anagen phase
- BMP inhibition
- TGF inhibition
sonic hedgehog is the main one, if its blocked you will never grow hair even if its in anagen phase
4. dermal papilla signalling
basically the control room of your hair, the dermal papilla doesnt actually become hair but rather instructs hair on how fast it grows, how thick it becomes, and how long anagen (growth) phase lasts
heres the basic key
Wnts = activate stem cells in your hair
fgf7/fgf10 = stimulates matrix growth
igf1 = accelarates keratinocyte mytosis
vegf = increases blood/nutrient supply
hgf = aids in proliferation
noggin = blocks bmp to keep anagen phase lasting
if dp cells weaken, your hair growth slows down or stops completely
so for low iq basically your dermal papilla tells your stem cells to divide and the matrix creates new hair fiber
in order to have fast hair growth we need 2 main factors
1 - hairs in anagen phase (directly determine if your hair is even growing at all, if its not in anagen phase its over)
2 - stimulation in the matrix
- Wnt/β-catenin activation
- Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) activation
- PDGF and TGF-β2 signaling
- fgf7/fgf10 stimulation
- igf1 stimulation
- hgf stimulation
- vegf stimulation
- BMP antagonists like noggin, gremlin, and follistatin (to keep hair growing longer)
- Notch / Edar signaling
- or overall just dermal papilla strength]
so is there a way to? well you already know what this thread is for so lets begin
we will start by getting hair in anagen phase. if no anagen phase, matrix stimulation doesn't even matter since hair wont grow anyways.
now most of the time your hair is already in anagen phase but some follicles might be in catagen or other phases. there are a few mechanisms on how to force catagen or telogen phases back into anagen phase but your hair has to already be in early catagen or telagen after its been in it for too long it will just have to shed off
here are some ways you can make catagen or telagen go back into anagen so growth can reactivate
- wnt/catenin activation
(in mice weve shown it literally can restart anagen)
- sonic hedgehog (can restart anagen)
- bmp signal blocking (pushes follicles into telagen and catagen
- fgf7/fg1 (additional help to pushing into anagen)
- igf1 (prevents follicles from entering catagen and telagen)
or again just dermal papilla strong signal activation
we dont want to overactivate wnt or sonic hedgehog because doing this at a rapid rate will cause extremely rapid cell division and what the fuck do you think is going to happen when ur cells are replicating at a rate faster than your body can process them genetically? you just get a breeding ground for replication errors, tumors, or cancer. we dont want to cancermax so i am including stuff thats relatively strong but not too strong where its going to upregulate it like crazy
here are some products that can do all of these:
Minoxidil: upregulates vegf, some wnt activation, shortens telagen and anagen re-entry
remember though minoxidil is sort of overrated when it comes to hair speed boosting cause
- barely activates wnt
- doesnt activate sh
- mild igf1 increase
- no bmp surpression
so
Microneedling: activates wnt/catenin, activates fgf, igf, dermal papilla regeneration (the thing that signals basically everything), bmp inhibition, vegf increase, dermal papilla activation
unironically speeds up hair growth better than pretty much everything on here other than red light therapy
Red light therapy: strong but safe wnt activation (stronger than minoxidil), safe sonic hedgehog activation (stronger than microneedling), igf1 increase, vegf increase,
peppermint oil (3-4%): igf1 increase, wnt signaling, anagen induction
red gingseng: activates wnt/catenin, increases dp cell proliferation, increases vegf, protects dp from aptosis, upregulates hair matrix activity
retinol: stimulates dermal papilla cells, increases wnt/catenin signalling, promotes anagen entry,
all of these 5 things can literally push a hair out of telagen and catagen at a safe rate and even trigger rapid growth
theres other shit like vpa or bimatoprost but lets be real, your never getting your hands on it and its unknown how safe it is anyways for regular use on scalp
now the final step is taking care of hair so it doesnt get damaged, fall out etc. obviously even if your hair grows fast, you dont want it falling out
preventing hair from falling out:
hair fall is mainly preventative, once a follicle grows out theres nothing you can really do
nutrition:
make sure eat vitamins like vit b2, vitamin d, zinc, iron, biotin,protein, omega 3s. overall just eat a healthy balanced diet or ur follicles will fall out nigga
stimulate your hair, once follicles get dormant and stop growing for a while it leads to permanent hair loss (the products above are pretty much the best otc stimulants you can get
inhibit dht. dht is the strongest cause of hair loss. now obviously dht is mainly dangerous for people who have dht receptability in hair which is genetic but most people in general should be on dht blockers (hair only dont do oral or ur development will be fucked). finasteride is the best but dut also works great.
otherwise cope with green tea, saw palmetto, and pumpkin seed oil till you have a prescription
also i recommend just using a dht blocking shampoo probably litle effect but worth it
sleep, stop eating like shit, stop smoking, drink green tea, also when you sleep use a durag so you dont break your hair
finally keep your hair moisturized all day, it isnt going to grow faster from stuff (other than the stuff in this thread) but if its dry 24/7 not only will it look ugly but it will be prone to breakage easier
heres a simple routine if you want your hair moist all week
wash your hair, while its still wet apply aloe vera leave in (or hylauronic acid), then apply avocado oil
this combo will keep your hair nice all week pretty much
only wash hair once or twice a month unless it starts smelling or you get buildup.
for the optimal hair growth stack do
- minoxidil every day
- microneedling twice a week
- peppermint oil - daily
- red ginseng - daily
- retinol once a week
- red light therapy daily or every other day for 30 minutes
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