Updated November 6 2024. It seems like for most people, going gray as we get older is a fact of life -or is it? Several products have come to the marketplace touting their ability to reverse gray hair. Darkenyl is one of the latest of these products. So, does Darkenyl work? Where can you get it? In this review, let's look at the research on this product and try to figure it out. We'll also discuss potential side effects.
What Is Darkenyl?
Darkenyl is an ant-gray cosmetic product touted as restoring hair color. It's not a dietary supplement but rather a substance applied to the scalp.
According to the company which makes the product (Givaudan), Darkenyl is a combination of:
- Taxifolin glucoside
- N-acetyl-tyrosine
Taxifolin glucoside is said to be an antioxidant and simulator of stem cells while N-acetyl-tyrosine is an amino acid that helps us produce melanin, the dark pigment in hair and skin.
What Does Darkenyl Do?
On the product website, the company claims it will:
- Boost the proliferation of stem cells in the hair bulb
- Improve melanogenesis in the melanocytes of the dermal papilla
- Reduce free radical damage in melanocytes by improving antioxidant defenses
- Stimulate the recovery of natural hair pigmentation
- Boosts proliferation of stem cells into the bulb
Darkenyl Research
In a Givaudan news release from October 30, 2018, the company states the Darkenyl compound can:
- boost stem cell proliferation by over 30%
- reduce free radical production in hair follicles by 53%
- help protect existing melanocytes by over 189%
- deliver its melanin synthesis precursor to reactivate melanogenesis (hair pigmentation) by over 364%
These statistics are impressive but it's not known if these results are published in a clinical journal or not.
The news release also states that a clinical study was conducted where Darkenyl was compared to a placebo. After 4 months of use, those given Darkenyl had 3x less white hair than those using a placebo. Those using the darkening hair product showed over 56% less white hairs than those using a placebo.
These results are also very impressive. It's not known if these results are based on a study published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Study
In 2021 researchers at Givaudan released the results of a study they conducted that compared active ingredients in a hair-darkening serum to a placebo. Darkenyl is not mentioned, but Givaudan is the maker of that product. The serum contained both taxifolin and N acetyl tyrosine. The participants were 44 men over the age of 50. After 4 months of once-daily use, those using the key ingredient had darker hairs than those taking a placebo.
Next, let's look at the research for the two ingredients which make up Darkenyl: Taxifolin glucoside and N-acetyl-tyrosine.
Taxifolin Glucoside
Taxifolin, also known as di-hydro-quercetin is a plant chemical called a flavonol. Flavonols are a part of a larger class of compounds called flavonoids. Flavonoids are found in a variety of foods, such as citrus fruits and onions, to name a few.
As you can tell from its other name, taxifolin is chemically related to quercetin, which is found in tomatoes, broccoli, and kale.
Taxifolin is an antioxidant, so it helps reduce the deleterious effects of too many free radicals. The overproduction of free radicals can play a role in health like cancer and diabetes. Too many free radicals can also damage hair follicles, causing loss of hair color too.
So, can taxifolin help your hair?
Researchers in Russia noted a taxifolin preparation helped improve skin and hair that had been damaged after a chemical burn. This was a mouse study and not a human investigation.
In an earlier study, researchers in Japan reported that a combination of ingredients – which included quercetin – improved hair growth in mice, similar to Minoxidil. No mention of reversing gray hair was mentioned.
This study is interesting. Since taxifolin is related to quercetin, it's easy to think taxifolin might have a similar effect. But, since we are not mice and this study involved many ingredients, we can't say if quercetin/taxifolin would work in the same way in people.
Ironically, in another mouse study, researchers noted taxifolin and the flavonoid, luteolin, inhibited the formation of melanin – but also increased the enzyme which stimulates melanin production (called tyrosinase ).
This is a strange finding. How could taxifolin and luteolin both reduce melanin production and increase the enzyme which makes melanin?
The reasons for these odd findings are not understood. Could it be even though taxifolin and luteolin increased tyrosinase production, they also reduced how well the enzyme worked at producing melanin? Since this was just a mouse cell study, it' may not be relevant to people.
Most of the research on taxifolin involves lab animals (mice and rats) or isolated cells.
N-acetyl-tyrosine
This is basically the amino acid tyrosine. Tyrosine is required to produce melanin. The process of making melanin is called melanogenesis. Foods that contain tyrosine include nuts, beans, cheese, meats, and fish. There are actually many different types of melanin, each having different colors. For example, two types of melanin are:
- Eumelanin (brown/black pigment)
- Pheomelanin (red pigment)
Feeding dogs tyrosine has been shown to alter the color of their hair. This is intriguing. However, no human studies on this topic can be located. So, it's not known if taking tyrosine supplements would restore hair color in people.
In theory, applying a tyrosine-containing substance (like Darkenyl) directly to the skin /scalp might improve the production of melanin. Other than the research presented by Givaudan, clinical studies to further substantiate this claim cannot be located.
Tyrosine also helps us make thyroid hormones (T3 and T4). As many know, hypothyroidism is associated with hair loss. Interestingly some evidence suggests high levels of thyroid hormone may restore hair color. Might this be another reason tyrosine is part of the Darkenyl molecule?
It's an interesting theory. While there seems no doubt thyroid hormones play a role in hair follicle health and hair color, reversing gray hair is complicated. For what it's worth, nobody with hypothyroidism has ever told me their thyroid medicine reversed their gray hair.
Who Makes Darkenyl
The company, Givaudan (Givaudan.com), sells flavor and fragrance components to various food, beverage, and cosmetics companies worldwide. According to Bloomberg, Givaudan was founded in 1795 and has over 13,000 employees.
Givaudan is located at Chemin de la Parfumerie 5 Vernier, 1214 Switzerland.
Where Can You Buy Darkenyl?
Darkenyl may not yet be available in the US as a stand-alone product. Attempts to locate it at stores like Ulta, Target, Walmart etc. were not successful. When checked, neither Amazon or eBay carried it either.
This may be because the compound is so new to the marketplace.
This substance may be found as an ingredient in other hair color-restoring shampoos and topical applications. One product that contains the Darkenyl substance is called S3D ColourBack. This product also seems to not yet be available in the US.
See these videos for unbiased reviews on many anti-gray and hair growth products
Darkenyl Side Effects
No side effects were known when this review was created. There are no known drug interactions, but because it contains tyrosine, if you take any medicine for high blood pressure, Parkinson's disease or depression talk to your doctor and pharmacist.
Because the product is applied topically on the scalp, if you have any skin/scalp conditions, speak to your dermatologist prior to using it. Testing the substance on a small part of your skin first may help reveal any side effects you may experience.
Does Darkenyl Work?
It's hard to say. In theory, the ingredients in Darkenyl make some sense. The Givaudan company has presented some very interesting findings which are sure to have people looking for a natural way to restore hair color excited. For now, let's say I'm intrigued. I'd like to see their research published in medical journals and replicated a few times by others. See the comments below on the people who've tried it.
How well it works may vary according to your degree of gray or white. If their research is taken as gospel, one thing that seems certain is that if it's going to work, you should see results after about 3-4 months of use.
Hi everyone, as promised, here is the GR-7 review:
GR-7 Professional Review
I do not think that GR-7 is a hair dye, because the before and after photos show all shades of hair colors, light blond to black. I have never seen that with a hair dye.
Really looking forward to the formal review. Hope you bring light to this.
Interested, thanks I hope to have it posted soon
Hey Joe
I noticed someone posted this product in one of the comments section here for grey hair: accu-metrics.com/depo-melanin.php
I’m a bit skeptical especially with the layout of the website
Would you be able to look into this?
Thanks!
Joanne, yes the feel of the site doesnt instill confidence in me either. The site has been around since 2008 it looks like. The product they mention is called Depo Melanin. The product contains the catalase enzyme which is found in other anti-gray hair products. Ive seen catalase in supplements but this is a rub on your scalp product. Ive seen catalase in supplements (I dont think it works in supplements) but this is a scalp product. I dont think Ive seen any research on catalase topical scalp products restoring hair color.
Here is the catalase supplements review
They also said it has pesueocatalase too. Here is the pseudo catalase review
For me, I remain skeptical of it. If you try it let me know what happens.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ics.12620
On a side note I seen this study, looks promising, tried to find something with this ingredient in it but unfortunately couldn’t find anything. Hopefully something comes out in the near future…
Andrew. I looked at the study, thanks. Basically the researchers exposed cells to Eriodictyon angustifolium and they said it increased melanin production. They also applied it to men with gray beards and said it worked too. I have to take a closer look at this study.
Obviously this doesnt mean Eriodictyon angustifolium would increase melanin production in hair on the head. The other herb they used – Eriodictyon californicum – did not raise melanin production in the skin cells but did seem to work on beards.
Another name for Eriodictyon angustifolium is Yerba santa. There are several Yerba santa products on Amazon None of them look like they are promoted for restoring hair color.
Ill see what else I can dig up on this. if you find anything else on this let me know.
Also read the study and they tried it also on the head….
I see a couple of studies on it. I’ll read them and see what I can figure out
Biol Pharm Bull
. 2019;42(9):1446-1449. doi: 10.1248/bpb.b19-00295.
Flavonoids With Two OH Groups in the B-Ring Promote Pigmented Hair Regeneration
Other flavonoids have been found the same effect on hair pigmentation on mouse model by the same author including Luteolin which is commercially available.
They solubilised these flavonoids in solution of EtOH (ethanol)50%w/v and water 50%w/v The concentration that was used is 0.1%
That would be very easy to make it for yourself and see if there is any effect ..Darkenyl has quercetin derivative plus they added tyrosine..it could be also made in EtOH and water solution…
I have found a tincture with Eriodictyon angustifolium in it and will try it for 3 month. I’ll let you know if it works on scalp and/or beard.
Tried Darkenyl for 4 month on my heard and hadn’t had any effects.
Also purchased GR-7 and will try it for a few month…
Musti, yes do let us know if it works. Eriodictyon angustifolium is also called yerba santa. I found the studies. Will take a look at them and see what I can find.
Let us know if GR-7 works for you too. Here is the GR-7 review in case you missed it.
Thanks Joe for your comment. As i understood it, Yerba Santa could be made out of Eriodictyon californicum and Eriodictyon angustifolium. Most Yerba Santa products online are made out of Eriodictyon californicum. Regarding the study that one wouldn’t work for reverse gray hair.
Musti, like all things about gray hair, I’m sure the science is complicated.
Have you seen any improvement with eriodictyon angustifolium?
https://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/news/article_page/Silab_foils_the_natural_process_of_hair_greying/164742
Just seen this…interesting to see if this works 🤔 Darkenyl just seems to darken hair further from what I gather but hair that is totally white it doesn’t seem to have any effect tried it myself for 4 months 😔 hopefully something comes out with this new ingredient I’m trying to stay hopeful 😬
PS I tried Gr7 aswell and it was more of a hair dye in all honesty after a few days of application it did not look natural at all my natural hair colour is dark brown/ black and it turned it ginger brown on the areas that were white hairs so I stopped using it.
Andrew, I looked into the Silab cosmetics anti gray product. Some websites say the key ingredient is a compound called Agreynist which is said to be a combination of black oat seeds and and a plant called spiny restharrow roots (also called ononis spinosa). The black oat seeds are said to be an antioxidant while the spiny restharrow is said to restore hair color.
If it helps, one site I found noted Agreynist contained these ingredients: Butylene Glycol & Water & Ononis spinosa Root Extract & Avena strigosa Seed Extract.
What I did not see is the clinical research on Agreynist. That’s something Id be interested in looking at. If you hear more on Agreynist do let me know.
thanks for the feedback on GR7 too. I still have not seen GR7 in the US to see what products have it.
Isn’t GR-7 a indirect hair dye?
When you look at the ingridients list at https://gr-7.co.uk/discover-the-product you can see that there is ammonium chloride and ammonium acetate in it?
Jon, they say GR7 is supposed to stimulate melanin production. I’m still looking for answers on this.
Hmm ok. Do you know the effect of ammonium chloride and ammonium acetate in such a product? I always thought that these ingridients are doing something with your hair (not the root)…
Jon, Im not aware of what effects ammonium chloride or ammonium acetate have on hair as far as resorting hairs natural color is concerned. The company says GR-7 stimulates melanin production. I did reach out to the company who told me they are in talks to bring GR-7 to the US. They also shared with me some of their research. I will be looking at that and will do a formal review on GR-7 soon.
So I have tried darkenyl for 6 months now. I think that is more than a fair amount of time. Darkenyl is not a product sold by itself it was listed as an ingredient in Reviv Serum’s product alongside of whatever was in Phyto Re 30.
At some point, I thought I saw maybe a little bit of improvement on my greys. But it was hard to confirm, even with pictures. So either it was very very little change or none at all for me not to notice after 6 months. I hoped it would control new grey hair growth at least, but I still found some new greys springing out.
I noticed in their review section, they get very defensive even somewhat rude when someone leaves a negative review claiming it doesn’t work. I myself, have experienced that too. I also asked them what if I am not seeing improvements after 3-4 months, they just told me then there are other factors like genetics involved that their formula can’t work with, and recommended maybe I can also take vitamin supplements to maybe help enhance the effects…
I really wanted this to work, but I don’t think the answer is in darkenyl. Although, I remember messaging darkenyl and a rep told me nothing will be out until end of 2019 approx, at that time reviv already claimed they had darkenyl in their product. So maybe something to think about.
Also, anyone tried or looked into gr7?
Joanne, thank you for this update. I also think 6 months is more than enough time to see if Darkenyl works or not. For what it’s worth, I doubt if vitamin supplements would have helped Darkenyl work better.
GR7 has been on my list to look at for a long time. I was just thinking about it today actually so it’s ironic you bring it up. Is GR7 sold in the US?
Hello guys! Any news from darkenyl available ?
Paulo, I have not heard anything so far. Has anyone else? Has anyone in the US seen Darkenyl?
gr-7.co.uk
Hi Joe,
This sounds a little to good to be true, am I missing something ???? product says it contains all-natural ingredients and stimulates melanin at the bulb and fast results compared to Darkenyl just 7-14 days for natural hair colour. A few random pictures but Solid evidence is lacking. I was trying to find more info on the studies but couldn’t find any. Can you do a quick review please to see if it is worth trying thank you.
Hi Andrew, I looked up GR-7, They make the bold claim it will restore hair color in 7 days. It doesn’t seem to be available here in the US (I didn’t see it at least when I checked). the before/after pictures are impressive. As for the ingredients, GR-7 seems to have different ingredients than Darkenyl. From the link you listed here are the ingredients in GR-7:
burdock and horsetail extract.
Horsetail is found in hair growth supplement like Viviscal (review)
The Burdock ingredient may be one of the key ingredients since it’s listed first. I will have to look closer at this. stay tuned.
Other ingredients listed are: sulphur, aqua, biotin, arctium lappa, polysorbate 20, inositol, ammonium chloride, gallic acid, tyrosine, glycerine, ammonium acetate, parfum, horsetail extract, palmitic acid, isopropyl alcohol
They say the liquid doesn’t contain ammonium but I do see ammonium chloride listed.
Has anyone in the US heard of GR-7? Thoughts?
Hi Joe,
Did you have the time to look closer into GR-7?
GR-7, not yet unfortunately. I do want to look it closer. Do you have any new research I might want to consider?
Hi Joe,
Have you already seen this summary ? It seems pretty convincing, including before / after results :
https://www.benevablack.ch/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Study_Darkenyl.pdf
What do you think as a professionnal ? The product is extremely expensive, over $100 per bottle. Has anybody tried it yet ? If it delivers as it seems, it is for sure a game changer …
Vlad, thanks for that document. Ive saved it and will look at it. I see they listed some studies in small print. I want to look at them and compare to what I have listed in this review. I think some people have tried Darkenyl here. Judy did you try it?
Judy has tried it, but I remember she only tried it for a month. I’m trying it at the moment. Hasn’t been a month for me yet and it says on that link it takes 4 months. I’m not sure where the $100 price tag is coming from, reviv is selling it for $60 CDN. Which is roughly $40 in USD. Can you provide a link to where you are seeing that particular price tag?
Joe , do you mind taking a look at Reparax. I see a lot of reviews on Amazon and most people are saying it works. But I still have my doubts…because it’s been out for awhile but no hype around it for such successful results? Thanks!
Hi Joanne, I have emailed the company that makes Reparax for a list of its ingredients. I looked on their website but didn’t see any listed. If you know which ingredients are in Reparax let me know. Hopefully, we will hear back from the company soon.
Joanne, just to follow up, the email that was listed on the Reparax website bounced back to me. In my book thats not a good sign. Id still love to see the ingredients in Reparax to see what might be going on. If you can find them, let me know.
Hey Joe,
Thanks for following up! I googled it and found this based on amazon.
Water, Propylene glycol, Glycerin, Silver acetate, Perfume, α-reductase enzyme
Hope this helps 🙂
Joanne, alpha reductase enzyme sounds like 5α-reductase which is something I see in hair-growth supplements. by blocking the 5α-reductase enzyme the hope is this will regrow hair. But since Reparax just says “alpha reductase” its hard to know if that’s what they are referring to. If they are, my guess is the ingredient may be saw palmetto. the herb saw palmetto is in many hair growth supplements. See the Nutrafol Review for an example.
Silver acetate (silver) has a side effect that prolonged exposure can turn the skin blue. The technical term for this is Argyria. This is very rare but it has occurred. Im not sure if silver would change hair color.
Other than this I cant think of how Reparax would work. Its too the email I sent to the company bounced back to me. I’d love to learn more about how it might work. I will keep digging and see if I can find anything else. If you find anything else, send it over 🙂
Thanks for the quick response Joe! That’s too bad, it did sound too good to be true. Hopefully we will get an update on Revivserum soon and see if there is positive results from that.
Joanne, I hope so too 🙂
https://revivserums.com/products/revivhair-rev-with-grey-hair-reverse?variant=17240295342170
1st product on the market with both Greyverse and Darkenyl.
Andrew thanks for that! I wonder when it will be here in the US?
I think it’s available for shipping. Because I see it’s price is converted to canadian.
Joanne, that’s a good point. I’m also sure it will eventually be at Ulta etc. here in the US.
Wow the before and after pictures of darkenyl are impressive.
The company offers free shipping worldwide.
Hoping more reviews will come out for it, after that phyto thing I want to make sure first before committing.
Joe, for me what is more interesting that flavanoids that have 2OH group in the B ring have been found to be excellent candidates for treating grey hair ( dyhidroquercitin ,ellgalic acid, sterubin, luteloin). in the study I sent you there is also a human male subject involved and a grey hair beard was totally reversed within 2-4 weeks by using sterubin 0.1 w/v. Also interesting that loreal patented ellgalic acid in 2006 for this purpose but never the product never got commercialized..
Viktor, thanks for pointing out that part about the men’s beard returning to its original color. I admit I missed that part – the researchers put the cell study part at the top and I thought that was the end of things. My error. Thanks again. It’s quite interesting that the color of his facial hair returned to normal after only a week of topical sterubin use. More interesting is sterubin only seemed to work on the beard. it did not restore melanin to the facial skin. I didnt know about the Loreal connection. Maybe this will spark renewed interest?
The part where they restored hair color to someone’s beard would seem to be a pretty easy investigation to replicate. I’m looking forward to more sterubin-anti gray hair research.
Hey Joe,
I emailed Darkenyl about their product and got a reply on the release. Read below: (hope this helps anyone wondering)
S3D Colourback is a prototype (sample not for sale) to support the launch of our new active ingredient Darkenyl.
There will be some products on the market but not before the end of the year/next year depending on the product developement timing from the Beauty brands.
Joanne, thanks so much for this! This clears up why people have not been able to find Darkenyl. Looking forward to seeing it in products soon 🙂
Any updates on the availability of this? Seems like its been released awhile ago.
Hi Joanne, So far I have not heard anything. I have not heard of anything in the US containing it. I asked somebody at Ulta and she also had not heard of it. Im looking forward to when it goes mainstream so we can get a better idea of what its all about.
https://skinfab.co/Hair_Restore_Serum.htm
The ingrediants listed in above link match the ingrediants for Darkenyl?
https://www.ulprospector.com/en/eu/PersonalCare/Detail/830/1310602/Darkenyl
Andrew, have you seen Darkenyl sold anywhere in the UK?
Where can I buy darkenyl?
Customer, I cannot say. I don’t believe Darkenyl is sold in the US at this time. Im not aware of any products in the US which contain it – yet. Its possible Darkenyl may be in products sold in Europe, Asia etc but I’m not yet aware of which would have it. When I discover this I will be updating the review. If you or anyone else knows where Darkenyl can be purchased, let us know here.
Joe, would you say the approach of darkenyl differs from Phyto RE30/Greyverse (Ingriedients obviously differ).
Hi Tony, yes Phyto RE 30 has different ingredients than Darkenyl. I debated putting up a table that compared their ingredients. Darkenyl seems to have just 2 ingredients while phyto RE 30 has many more. Ive not seen any research that compared Phyto RE30 to Darkenyl so I don’t know which works better.
Thanks Joe, that would be super helpful! I have a feeling it’s not even publicly released yet, because I looked up S3D Colourblock and got nothing back.
Joanne, I did the same thing and also came up with nothing. If its all they say it is, then I think its only a matter of time before we start seeing it in stores.
Thank you very much.
Very interesting, this could be a game changer.
Has anybody had contact with givaudan, regarding the release date?
I will buy darkenyl as soon as it hits the market.
Dar, I still have not heard back from Givaudan. I think I may have written the first review – unbiased review – ever on Darkenyl. I don’t see anything about it other than stuff from the company. I think the ingredients are interesting but I’m a bit concerned if their research isn’t published in medical journals. Time will tell if its a game changer. Let’s see what the future holds. I’m still on the look out for when its available in the US.
Doesn’t sound positive, it sounds exactly like Phyto with the 3-4 month thing.
Where is this product even being sold currently?
And can you update us if this becomes available in America? Thanks for the review by the way!
Joanne, absolutely, I have some systems in place to help me keep tabs on Darkenyl so when I learn more info, I’ll let you all know and update the review too. As of today, I dont think its sold in the US – I cant find it anywhere. I will continue my search when I find myself at malls etc and ask around. You will know as soon as I know where it can be found.
Hello John,
I have checked Darkenyl s ingredients, it is a Taxifolin which is dihydroquercetin plus N acetyl tyrosine
“Use of dihydroquercetin and at least one amino acid to positively influence the natural pigmentation” process was patented by Henkel in 2009
1Administation of ellagic acid for the treatment of canities patent by Loreal
2.https://www.jdsjournal.com/article/S0923-1811(18)30407-9/ Reduction in human hair graying by sterubin, an active flavonoid of Eriodictyon angustifolium
These flavanols seem to have indeed an effect on stopping or reversing canities
Viktor, thanks for the reference! I looked this study up. Sterubin is a food nutrient present in a plant called Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon angustifolium). The study involved treating skin cancer cells with sterubin. After a week, the cells showed a 1.47 to 1.65 fold increase in melanin production. I’m not sure why they picked skin cancer cells for this study but it’s interesting nevertheless.