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A founder's story · PCOS & Hair
Black Women With PCOS: The Real Reason Your Part Is Widening, and the Simple Daily Shift That Helps It Look Fuller Again
Why so many Black women with PCOS are done with edge oils, biotin, and "it's just stress", and what's actually shrinking their hair.
I used to apologize for my hair before anyone had said a word about it.
At the salon. In photos. To my own reflection. I'd call it breakage, or dryness, or say I'd been slacking on my wash days. I had a whole vocabulary for it that wasn't the truth.
The truth was the part I kept moving further to one side. The ponytail that went round my finger one more time than it used to. The scalp that caught the light in photos when nobody else's did. And the shed hair every wash day, more than I wanted to count.
I did everything right. Protective styles. Low manipulation. Silk bonnet. Every oil my aunties swore by, every serum Instagram sold me.
And it kept getting thinner.
I was diagnosed at 32. Nobody, not one doctor, connected it to my hair. I was told it was stress. Or my styling. Or "just how some women's hair is."
It took me 12 years to learn the question I should have been asking: not how to fix the hair I already had, but why my body was building weaker hair in the first place.
Your Hair Isn't Breaking. It's Being Built Smaller.
What DHT does to a follicle, cycle after cycle
Illustrative diagram, not to scale.
Here's what almost nobody tells women with PCOS.
PCOS isn't just an irregular-periods condition. For most of us, it means our bodies make more androgens, the "male" hormones like testosterone. Insulin resistance, which is really common with PCOS, pushes that even higher.
Your body converts some of that testosterone into a stronger hormone called DHT. And DHT does one thing to a hair follicle on your scalp: it makes it shrink.
Not all at once. A little, every cycle. Each new hair grows back slightly finer than the one before it. Doctors call this miniaturisation.
That's why the thinning shows up where it does: your part, your crown, the top of your head. The follicles there are sensitive to DHT, while the ones at the back and sides mostly aren't.
Why it feels so unfair
It's the same hormone behind the extra hair on your chin and the thinning on your head. Same DHT, opposite effects, depending on where the follicle is.
And with coily hair, it hides for years. Shrinkage masks lost length. Protective styles hide the part. By the time you can see it, it's been happening for a long time.
Once I understood that, every product I'd ever bought made sense, and so did why none of it had worked.
Everything in My Cabinet Was Working on the Wrong End of the Hair
One day I pulled it all out and lined it up on the counter. Years of money. And I asked one question of every bottle: does this do anything about DHT?
Works on the surface
The edge oils and growth serums
I love a scalp oil. They feel good, and they're part of how so many of us care for our hair. But oil sitting on your scalp can't change a hormone your body makes on the inside and delivers through your blood. You can't moisturise your way out of an androgen problem.
Feeds a follicle that isn't hungry
The biotin gummies
Real biotin deficiency is rare in adult women. Your follicles aren't short on vitamins; they're under hormonal pressure. That's why "I took it for a year and nothing happened" is the sentence I hear more than any other.
Did you know
The FDA has warned that high-dose biotin can interfere with some lab tests. It can change what your bloodwork says, not what grows.1
Down the drain in minutes
The "DHT blocking" shampoo
It's on your scalp for a few minutes, then it's gone. DHT is made inside your body, around the clock.
Helps some, not for everyone
Spironolactone
This one came from my doctor, and it genuinely helps some women. But it's a prescription drug with side effects and monitoring, and it can't be taken if you're pregnant or trying to conceive, which matters for so many of us with PCOS. I wanted to understand my options first.
Never aimed at the hormone
Minoxidil
It works on blood flow at the scalp, not on the hormone underneath. Stop, and you tend to lose what it gave you. And one of its best-known side effects is unwanted facial hair. For a woman with PCOS already fighting her chin, that's a hard trade.
Lay it all out and the pattern is obvious. Everything was working next to the problem, not on it.
Two Ingredients That Work on the Hormone Side
If the problem is DHT, the answer has to work where DHT is made: inside the body. That means something you swallow, not something you rub in.
Pumpkin Seed Oil
Contains natural plant compounds that research suggests help support healthy DHT levels by working on the enzyme that makes it.
Works on the enzyme that makes DHT
Cold-pressed, compounds intact
Saw Palmetto
A traditional botanical studied for its effect on androgen activity. It works on the same pathway from a different angle.
Supports healthy androgen balance
Fruit extract, not dried powder
I'll be honest with you, because nobody was honest with me: the research is promising but still early, and much of it wasn't done in women with PCOS. That's exactly why I care so much about the form and the dose.
Why "I Tried Pumpkin Seed Oil and Nothing Happened"
Not all pumpkin seed oil is equal. A lot of cheap capsules use roasted seed powder, and heat damages the compounds that matter. Cold-pressed virgin oil keeps them intact.
Saw palmetto is the same story. Many products use dried berry powder with very little of the active part.
I couldn't find a formula that got both right and was made with women like me in mind. So I made one.
What Happened When Women Like Me Tried It
Before I ever put a label on it, I gave this formula to women I knew with PCOS, women who'd tried everything I had. I asked them for one thing: take photos, same spot, same light, and don't judge it until the cycle has had time to turn.
Here's what they sent back.
Months 1–2
Wash Day Changes First
Month 2
The first thing most women notice isn't on their head. It's in the comb, the shower drain and the pillowcase. Less shedding means the hair you have gets to stay.
Months 3–4
The Part Starts to Soften
Month 0
Month 4
New hairs along the part have time to grow in stronger instead of snapping off short. The line of scalp that used to catch the light starts to look less obvious.
Months 5–6
Other People Notice
Month 0
Month 6
This is when a fuller ponytail and more density at the crown become something you can feel in your hands, and usually when someone else says something before you do.
Real customers, unedited photos, shared with permission. Everyone's hormones are different and individual results vary.
Black Queen
Pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto. Cold-pressed virgin oil. No proprietary blends, no fillers, no gummies.
That's the simple daily shift: one routine with a meal, instead of a cabinet full of products. The fat in your food helps your body absorb the oil. It doesn't sit on your hair. It works on the hormonal side, where the problem actually starts.
A question I get a lot
Because Black Queen isn't pushing growth at the surface the way minoxidil does, it isn't associated with facial hair growth.
What to Honestly Expect
Hair grows in cycles, so this isn't overnight, and I won't pretend otherwise.
Months 1–2
Wash day changes first
For many women, shedding is the first thing to ease. Fewer hairs in the comb, less to pull out of the drain.
Months 3–4
New growth holds on
New hairs have time to come through stronger instead of breaking off short.
Months 4–6
Density you can feel
This is when a fuller part and a thicker ponytail become something you can see and feel.
Everyone's body and hormones are different, so give it the full cycle before you judge it.
Try It for 180 Days
That's why we offer a 180-day guarantee. Take Black Queen for six months. If you don't feel a difference in your shedding or density, email us and we'll refund you.
Founding Sisters Offer
Start Your 6-Month Journey
Cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil and saw palmetto in one daily softgel routine, made for women with PCOS.
$31.99
Get Black Queen →
180-day guaranteeFree shipping over $50
Please read: Black Queen is not for use if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive. If you take hormonal medication (including birth control or spironolactone), blood thinners, or diabetes medication such as metformin, talk to your doctor first.
Your Next Cycle Starts Anyway
Your follicles are already building the next round of hair. The only question is whether DHT is still pressing on them when they do.
I spent years treating the hair I already had. Black Queen is for the hair that grows next.
Founding Sisters Offer
Start Your 6-Month Journey
$31.99
Get Black Queen →
180-day guaranteeFree shipping over $50
P.S. Every sister who finds us tells me the same thing: "I wish someone had told me this years ago." Now someone has.
References
- U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Safety communication on biotin interference with laboratory tests (2017, updated 2019).
- Cho YH et al. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on hair growth in men with androgenetic alopecia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2014.
This is a founder's personal story and is not medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results vary.