Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - 7.0 oz.

by Nizoral

Product Features

• Nizoral hair shampoo for anti dandruff controls the flaking, scaling and itching associated with dandruff.
• freedom will go to your head.
• Protect from light and freezing.
• Non-prescription strength.

Product Description

Controls flaking, scaling and itching. The freedom will go to your head. Non-prescription strength. A-D Ketoconazole shampoo 1%. Made in Italy.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 1.6 x 7.2 inches ; 9.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0013OMJRE
• UPC: 300450895073
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47 in Beauty (See Top 100 in Beauty)
  • #3 in Beauty > Hair Care > Shampoos

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

211 of 214 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supply shortage due to manufacturing plant relocation, June 8, 2011

By 

KT Chong - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - 7.0 oz. (Misc.)

I called Johnson and Johnson's at 1 [phone] to inquire about the shortage of Nizoral A-D shampoo. Johnson and Johnson's informed me that the shortage is only temporary due to some manufacturing issue. The supply should return to normal later this year.

Online sellers everywhere are taking advantage of the temporary shortage to price-gouge unwary customers. Some sellers are falsely claiming that this product has been discontinued to create uncertainty and increase prices.

We just have to be patient. If you must have this shampoo immediately, you should call Johnson and Johnson's at 1 [phone] to find out where you can buy it at a local store near you. While all the online sellers are price-gouging people, the local stores (if they have the product in stock) are selling it at regular retail prices.

Update: September 26, 2001: Just called the customer service again to inquire about Nizoral. The rep reassured me that Nizoral has not been discontinued, but they are still having some manufacturing problem.

[...]

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make your own ketoconazole shampoo during Nizoral shortage., October 25, 2011

By 

codepink (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - 7.0 oz. (Misc.)

I decided to make my own ketoconazole shampoo because I refuse to pay the price gougers on Amazon. ($109, really?!) My son has severe scalp seborrheic dermatitis due to the rampant hormones of puberty, and our pediatrician recommended Nizoral. I did a literature search to learn the chemistry. See Useful Articles below if you need some juicy bedtime reading ;-)

First, if helpful, here's my layman's understanding of how various anti-dandruff shampoos work (since I had to do all that legwork anyway):

Dandruff in general is accelerated skin cell maturation/shedding cycles (keratinization) and the "disorganized" attachment of lipid droplets to skin cells as they migrate to the outer layer of the scalp, thereby forming itchy flakes. Seborrheic dermatitis is the population explosion of opportunistic Malassezia fungus feasting on increased scalp sebum in addition to the above conditions. There are 7 species of Malassezia, and one in particular loves scalp sebum because it's rich in the saturated hard fats: triglycerides and cholesterol.

Ketoconazole is a broad spectrum antifungal that directly attacks Malassezia by causing their cell membranes to break down. It's also anti-inflammatory and reduces sebum. The mechanisms of action of selenium sulfide and zinc pyrithione are less well understood. Both reduce Malassezia count and scalp sebum, but basically tackle dandruff by other routes. Zinc pyrithione normalizes the abnormal keratin structure of the stratum corneum resulting in fewer lipid inclusions between skin cells, and therefore fewer flakes. Selenium sulfide reduces the cell turnover rate, which is normally 28-30 days but has been observed to be a week or less in cases of dandruff. Salicylic acid breaks down skin cell-sebum plaques or flakes; in other words, it's symptom management and can be useful in combination with other active ingredients. I passed over tar and sulfur shampoos as my son won't use them. Tea tree oil is out for us; it's a phytoestrogen that's documented to be feminizing if used regularly by boys.

Making ketoconazole shampoo:

In summary, antifungal medications are lipophilic, so you need a fat solvent -- or so I thought until I tried fish pills--- followed by an emulsifier to keep ketoconazole dispersed evenly in your shampoo.

The important issue is formulating ketoconazole at one percent. That begs the question: one percent of what? At one point in the shortage, we had been able to get the 2% Nizoral from the UK thru Amazon, and I saved the leaflet which stated: "The active ingredient in 1 g of Nizoral Dandruff Shampoo is ketoconazole 20mg." Therefore the 1% represents a percentage of VOLUME. This saves us from the impossible task of titration.

This shampoo has worked beautifully. Materials needed:
(1) Aqua Fungus 200mg ketoconazole tablets. 30 tablets, for fish, from Amazon $19.99 + $5 shipping. I figured fish pills just might be water soluable. Indeed they are.

(2) Polysorbate-80, 2 ounces, $2. It's a safe, low toxicity solvent/emulsifier commonly found in food and shampoo. It's inexpensive and readily available from DIY cosmetics websites such as Making Cosmetics, Lotion Crafter, Garden of Wisdom, etc.

(3) A bottle of shampoo with a refillable opening. I used Organix Morocco Argan Oil Shampoo, 385 ml or 13 fluid ounces. I chose argan oil because it's a lipid and a known hair softener that eliminates the need for a conditioner.

(4) A food scale. If you don't have one, you can just use as much shampoo as I did.

(5) A long clean stick for stirring. I used a stainless steel escargot fork because it's easy to sterilize.

(6) A sterile pyrex measuring cup large enough to hold most of your shampoo.

Procedure:
(1) I bought a 385 ml bottle of shampoo, therefore 1% volume-wise would be 3.8 or 3.9 ml. The pills are dosaged in milligrams, so you need a ml to mg coverter. Google that, and count out the required number of pills on your food scale. I used 11 pills.

(2) Fold a thick piece of paper in half. You don't want it to tear. The crease in the paper will help you transfer the crushed pills very neatly. I used a new Papyrus notecard. Put the pills along the fold and crush them as fine as possible with a small hammer or similar.

(3) Put the powder in a small, sterile cup, such as a shotglass. Add just enough distilled or boiled/cooled water to mix it thoroughly. Add a couple of teaspoons of polysorbate 80 and stir.

(4) Pour your shampoo into the pyrex cup first and then add the crushed pill mixture. Stir well and pour back into bottle.

If your shampoo separates from using too much water, shake the bottle before use. It's easier than a do-over.

It might also be helpful to...
-- leave the shampoo on 5 minutes before rinsing.
-- shampoo your hairbrush also
-- change pillowcases frequently

Useful Articles:
Drug delivery strategies for improved azole antifungal action, W.Yang, et al, November, 2008. informahealthcare.com

Design and Development of Topical Microemulsion for Poorly Water-Soluble Antifungal Agents, P. Paranajoti, et al, Journal of Applied Research,2002

An Overview of Medicated Shampoos used in Dandruff Treatment, A. Sanfilippo & J. English. ptcommunity.com

Dandruff has an Altered Stratum Corneum Ultrastructure that is Improved with Zinc Pyrithione Shampoo, R.R. Warner, et al., Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Vol 45, Number 6.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't pay the markups..., July 3, 2011

By 

S. Ye - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nizoral Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - 7.0 oz. (Misc.)

For everyone trying to find these it honestly makes a lot more sense to look at either alternative products with ketoconazole, or to simply import from places where this apparently isn't in dire shortage like the UK. In the UK the 1% shampoo is branded Nizorelle instead of Nizoral, whereas the 2% strength is called Nizoral there. The price of Nizorelle is still very reasonable so if you have to get ahold of this I'd look on ebay and the like to buy a small bottle or two to tide you over until U.S. supply is restored.
Regenepure DR would be an alternate product that's sold by some sellers right here on Amazon, unfortunately it's also rather expensive but not a $40+ ripoff. The very cheapest alternative I could find containing Ketoconazole was oddly, pet shampoo, but the problem is that those also contain somewhat harsh anti-bacterial agents like chlorhexidine, and may also make for plain lousy human shampoos. If you can find a formulation that's human-safe that doesn't contain harsh chemicals and you're willing to risk using an animal shampoo this is probably the cheapest (and admittedly the worst and vaguely dangerous) alternative.