If you’ve been following the Charles Antell story in this blog you have been eagerly awaiting the results of the mass spectroscopy test from SiDMap in Los Angeles.
I paid to have a small sample of Charles Antell Formula #9
hair pomade chemically analyzed. (The
sample came from Ed Griffin, a blog reader.) I heard the first TV infomercials in 1953 for
this miraculous hair product that would guarantee to keep me from going bald. Now 53 years later, there is good evidence
that it worked.
The TV infomercial said the product was mostly lanolin. So I had the mass spec comparison made with
pure commercial lanolin. You can
enlarge the results of the mass spec images by clicking. The top image is Charles Antell and the
bottom is commercial lanolin.
The top image has two main lines; one at 6.3 which is a 16
carbon saturated fatty acid palmitate, the second peak is 8.6 an 18 carbon
saturated fatty stearic acid. Together
these are an animal fat: lard. Charles
Antell lied about the ingredients of his miracle pomade. He was apparently put out of business for
false advertising in 1954 by the State of Utah.
Another point to note: the lanolin is not a natural product. The control sample of lanolin came from NOW Foods Herbal Remedies and claims to be 100% organic from sheep's wool. From the mass spec lines it is obviously made from carefully measured separate ingredients. Organic nonsense.