# Pro-Vitamin Shampoos and Skin Lotions with Vitamin E

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-vitamin-shampoos-and-skin-lotions-with-vitamin-e/366446>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 28, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-vitamin-shampoos-and-skin-lotions-with-vitamin-e/366446 "2006-07-28T19:38:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-vitamin-shampoos-and-skin-lotions-with-vitamin-e/366446/1 "2006-07-28T19:38:02Z")

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This has been bugging me for a while, actually. You see those ads for things like Pantene Pro-V (with VITAMINS!) and skin lotions with Vitamin E. As I understand it, besides your hair and the outer layer of skin being _dead_ already, vitamins aren’t really any use topically. They have to be metabolized to work, right? So the vitamin shampoos and skin lotions don’t actually DO anything that non-vitamin versions don’t do, right?

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**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-vitamin-shampoos-and-skin-lotions-with-vitamin-e/366446/2 "2006-07-28T19:59:26Z")

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I’m not promoting these things but I do have a problem with some of your reasoning. For one, most forms of vitamin E are oils and oils can certainly have an effect on hair and skin. They may not be working on a systemic level, but there is no necessary reason they can’t work on a topical level. Whether they do or not is a separate issue, I just wouldn’t be so quick to say that it couldn’t possibly happen. When it comes to my body, I’ve learned to try things and see what happens.

I have a friend that has amazingly beautiful gardens around her home. When I asked her how she does it, she said, “I try lots of different plants in different locations. I keep the ones that work and discard the ones that don’t.” Simple advice, but it seems to work in many situations.