Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: a daily habit for stronger hair

Hair thinning is a common concern for men and women. As we age, our hair naturally becomes more sparse and thinner than it once was. While there are all kinds of serums, potions, and ointments that promise to return your scalp to its youthful vigor, not every product lives up to expectations.

In the past few years, new beauty and wellness devices, like the best LED face masks, have started to rely on red light, which has been credited with all kinds of beauty-enhancing benefits, from skin-firming and clearing to mood-boosting. The Higher Dose Red Light Hat is the latest product in the explosion of red light gadgets for home use. I tried the cap myself to see if it produced the results it claims to.

Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: price and availability

The Higher Dose Red Light Hat costs $449 in the US and £449 in the UK. It's available to buy via the Higher Dose website and retailers like Healf. For a cap, this is pretty expensive, but as it's engineered with red lights, this is the standard price you'd be looking to spend on this type of technology, whether it's in a hat or mask.

Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: Design and build quality

This product has a simple design that's easy to use. From the outside, it looks like your typical flat-brimmed trucker-style hat. It may not be the type of cap you’d want to wear out and about (it’s definitely on the bulky side), but it’s also not designed like a futuristic helmet.

Under the dome, the hat is fitted with soft, foam panels of 120 LED bulbs that emit 650-nanometer red light. The charger and power source is a small plastic piece about the size of your palm that clips to the back of the hat. There’s a single button for the singular function: on and off. For charging, the power source quickly unclips. Conveniently for travelers, the charging block includes interchangeable plugs for use around the world.

The hat material is thick, sturdy, and durable-feeling. The foam padding around the red light bulbs are soft and flexible, so there’s nothing digging into your head or causing discomfort while you wear it. Once you hit the power button, the device lights up for 10 minutes, the recommended daily dosage, then automatically shuts off. Overall, the product is sleekly designed for comfortable use.

Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: Performance

This device demands regular use if you want to see results. The brand recommends wearing the hat for 10 minutes a day for the first 16 weeks. Then, you can transition to regular maintenance by wearing the hat for 10 minutes for three to four times a week.

Though the hat is perfectly comfortable to wear, it does get warm during use, which takes some getting used to. It’s not so hot that it becomes uncomfortable, but you can definitely feel that those bulbs are glowing.

The science behind the hat is pretty solid, though there aren’t many human trials to draw full conclusions. Researchers found that low-level (650-nanometer) red light increased human hair follicle production in cultured tissues (aka in a manufactured environment, not a real human head). Another study on a small group of men with baldness (41 participants) showed that 655-nanometer laser therapy “significantly improved hair counts."

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Higher Dose warns users that the first few weeks of regular use may cause increased hair shedding – this is normal, and is evidence that the red light is working. Users can expect to experience the full extent of results within six months of consistent use. 

I have fine hair that tends to shed very easily, and I did experience increased shedding after I started wearing the hat regularly. According to Higher Dose, this happens as “weak hair makes room for stronger new growth.”

Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: verdict

Pretty quickly upon starting to use the Higher Dose Red Light Hat daily, I experienced the shedding that Higher Dose says to expect. To me, this is a sign that the therapy is doing its job and my follicles are responding. I’ll have to continue use to see if the texture or amount of my hair improves at all with regular use for several months.

Higher Dose Red Light Hat review: alternatives to consider

If you’re looking to increase the thickness and volume of your hair without a pricy device like the Higher Dose Hat, consider one of the best hair-thickening shampoos (this would also complement the work you're doing with red light therapy).

CurrentBody offers a LED Hair Growth Helmet, a helmet-like red light device for hair growth, which is available in the UK for £650. While we haven't tried it yet, current customer reviews have said that it's easy to use and has shown impressive results, particularly for those who experience alopecia.