PPG vs Alcohol

[ali777]

I recently got 2% minoxidil from ebay because I urgently needed new supply and the delivery of 5% was going to take 5-9 working days.

The 2% minoxidil is branded as H-E-B and it's got 60% alcohol and 20% ppg concentration. I believe Rogain and Kirkland are 50% ppg and 30% alcohol. I googled for the correct ratios, and those are the numbers I saw in some forum. Cassin's favourite brand of minoxidil Dr Lee has 50% alcohol and 30% ppg.

Anyway, the 2% minoxidil I used does have stronger alcohol smell but it dries pretty quickly and the smell of alcohol is gone in a few minutes. I feel like in the 10 days that I used HEB 2% minoxidil I had more hair rejuvenation than when I was on 5%. I presume this is due to more effective absorption caused by higher ration of alcohol?

I'm kinda tempted to ditch 5% Kirkland minoxidil and to switch to the crappy 2% minoxidil, or get Dr Lee's which has the advantage of being 5% minoxidil and 50% alcohol.

I was looking for some info in the forum, and I came across the following:

It's possible to build a reasonable-sounding scientific argument for using either MORE alcohol and LESS propylene glycol, or LESS alcohol and MORE propylene glycol. That's because there was that one in vitro study showing that the higher the alcohol content, the better the penetration of minoxidil into mouse skin (but how important is it, really, for minoxidil to penetrate into skin, as opposed to the hair follicle?). On the other hand, alcohol evaporates pretty quickly, leaving dried minoxidil behind on the surface. Having more propylene glycol in the vehicle, with less alcohol, would help hold the minoxidil solution in contact with the scalp for a longer period of time.

So which is ultimately the better vehicle, more alcohol and less PG, or less alcohol and more PG? Nobody really knows for sure, because it's never been tested clinically to find out which of those effects cited above wins-out over the other one. Personally, _I_ would definitely want to have at least a reasonable amoung of propylene glycol in any topical minoxidil product that I use...

I understand what Bryan is saying, but I am confused why 5% minoxidil doesn't feel as effective as a 2% minoxidil.

Could it be that I respond better to minoxidil with higher alcohol content?