I’m not sure if the whole world already knew this, or it’s just a few odd individuals that are using it, but it’s about time for me to join my other family members in the prevention of gray hair, not that I have many, just one here and there. My dad has been using it for over 20 years, but originally it was a preventive treatment for dandruff, but through times, it has been doing a double duty, and helps to prevent gray hair for my dad as well.
When we first came to the US, my dad has a Mexican friend that told him that Listerine mixed with any types of shampoo helps to reduce or eliminate dandruff. My dad was a bit skeptical at first but had so many problems with his dandruff and dandruff shampoo didn’t seem to help him much, so in desperate attempt he gave it a try. My dad is in his early 70s and has very few gray hairs, the monk at the temple that we visited yesterday is only 53, and his short hair was practically gray.
What my dad does every morning is mixing Listerine with shampoo in a small cup; it has to be done right before each usage, can’t be premixed and left in a bottle. Seems like a lot of work to me and my mind has the tendency to think of everything in term of costing, it has becoming second nature to me, you can say that I’m a cost accountant in nature. As we were talking about the ingredients, my mind started to wander off, to find a cost saving strategy, then I thought, if we have to rinse our mouth every morning with a mouth wash, why not use Listerine, then what you can do is to use it to rinse your mouth, after finish rinsing, then save it in a cup, and recycle it by mixing it with shampoo, you can save lots of money by doing it this way. I must have thought out loud because my sisters were practically rolling on the floor, they thought I was being silly. I didn’t think it was funny; when it comes to money and saving, I’m dead serious.
I’ll be using this from now on to help prevent my hair from graying. If any of you have a better remedy that you think it’s worth sharing, I’d love to know.
TERMS & NOTICES OF USE – Please read carefully before using,
The information contained throughout the post of “Nye’s Family Recipe To Prevent Gray Hair” is provided ‘AS IS’ without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and the performance of the information is assumed by the user, and in no event shall Nye Noona be liable for any consequential, incidental or direct damages suffered in the course of using the information in this posting.
Nye Noona 
I’m 24 and have so much grey hair, I put it down to to much work 🙂
I’ll give it a try though and let you know if it works. If my hair turns blue I’m coming to get you! hahahaha
hahaha I am not sure if it works for me. Just listerine? I think it’s expensive to buy each time and mix it with any shampoos? I had been complaining of some shampoos causing dandruffs – not necessarily because I don’t take daily shower (or maybe I shampooed too much?) How about other mouthwashes? I am now using the jojoba phyton shampoo, a little expensive for a 50mls bottle (call me high maintenance) but just a little amount and it worked.
Then maybe, if I don’t have enough money to buy for decent product, I might try these one day. If you haven’t heard of me in a few days, that means I’m may be in a hospital bed and hopefully won’t happen.
shoot – “phyto shampoo” rather. How did I end up using a phyton shampoo? LOL.
Chris, I didn’t think you’re 20 yet, but 24 with gray hair, might want to try it. I’m a jack of all trade, so I also cut my dad’s hair and at age 72, he still has a full set of hair, very few gray, he’s still wearing the same size clothes as when he was in his 30s, looks almost 20 years younger than his age. I’m crossing my finger that I’d have his gene.
Make sure you use the original Listerine, and if it turns blue, please read below (I should have put this with the original post) 😛
TERMS & NOTICES OF USE – Please read carefully before using,
The information contained throughout the post of “Nye’s Family Recipe To Prevent Gray Hair” is provided ‘AS IS’ without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and the performance of the information is assumed by the user, and in no event shall Nye Noona be liable for any consequential, incidental or direct damages suffered in the course of using the information in this posting.
K, as for you please also read the terms and notices of use before using. For a guy that was thinking about recycling his underwear, my recycling idea of reusing the Listerine might be ideal for you. I don’t know if other brand names would also work, but back then there’s not that many brands of mouthwash and the original flavor of Listerine was all they’ve had, so I wouldn’t substitute for anything else.
For it to work, it takes time and my dad even mentioned that my mom also started using it before her passing, the majority of her gray hair started to turn reddish, he swore that it would have eventually turned back black if she’s still alive today.
I may write a post about this on my blog, very interesting.
I love recipes that are out of mainstream marketing and science. If it works then there is nothing to loose. Just as we are dependant on gasoline, if we were to be dependant on a specialize hair product then the manufacturer could raise the prices on us.
Hi TheQuipster, I’ve been using it for over 2 weeks now and I’ve to admit that my hair feels a lot cleaner. I’ve not noticed any odd odor, no more than Neutrogena cleaning shampoo that I’ve used once in a while to clean out the residue left on my hair from using certain shampoo for too long, in away the Listerine and shampoo give me the same result as the Neutrogena cleaning shampoo, but a lot cheaper.
Being a girl starting to show her age (and after working in my garden yesterday; i feel it too!)reading your blog this AM I looked over at the tag cloud “beauty tip”. So, since it’s over a year old..still using the Listerine?
I just might give it a try this AM. : D
(Little honey on my face and Listerine in my hair… the things we do!) : D
Hi Kelly, I only use it when I remember, but my dad still use it everyday. I think he also has good gene because he looks 10 to 15 years younger than his age, I’m hoping that I’ve his gene. 🙂
You know what ! I think it’s worth the shot. I am going to rush to the nearest pharmacy to get myself a bottle of listerine. But what about the shampoo you reckon. Can I mixed the listerine with baby shampoo. Let me know ha…
Hi Yati, I think any shampoo will do, even baby shampoo but just don’t use it on baby, seems obvious, but I just have to mention, made me feel better, and good luck.
Hi Ginger ! Thanks for the tip. I just washed my hair awhile ago with baby shampoo and listerine. I snitched my sister’s. I hoped it worked for me coz these damn strand of gray are freaking me out. Does it work for your dad ?
Yes, I cut his hair, and he is 73 years old and has very few strands of gray. He also looks very young for his age (walks a lot), and also might be his Chinese gene, and I’m hoping that I inherited this from him, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Hey Ginger ! Can you tell me the exact measurement of combining listerine and baby shampoo. Should the shampoo and listerine be equal or more listerine usage. Let me know ha ! I will you let you know of my progress ! Where are you from, by the way ?
He uses the same portion, and mix in a small cup before use. I guess your normal portion of shampoo, then add the same portion of Listerine. I love to hear back. Thanks.
Thanks for the prompt reply. I will definitely let you know about my hair progress. Cheers ! Oh…one more question. How often do I have to shampoo my hair ?
Just your normal, this shouldn’t break your normal routine, but my dad does it once a day.
Oh, washing too often can dry up your scalp because Listerine has alcohol content.
Hi Ginger ! This is my second attempt of mixing listerine with my baby shampoo. So far so good. Will the strand of gray eventually turned red or back to it’s normal colour ? Can you ask you dad ? How long will it take ? Not that I have so many grays. But I am curious to know the outcome. I am going to start using this for as long as it takes. Cheers !
Hi Yati, I’ve not a chance to ask my dad, but from what I understand it is a preventive from it turning gray and not a natural dying process. I recalled my dad did mention that my mom started using it prior to her passing away and her grays started to turn reddish, but not completely back to black and she didn’t live long enough for us to see the result.
Since you don’t have many gray, it’s best to pull it off, but some don’t like to do this because they believe that 2 more grays will come from that one gray, and what my youngest sister does with her gray hair is to clip it close to the root. It will grow back, but slowly and by then, hopefully my dad’s prediction of my mom’s hair is true and your gray hairs will turn back to your natural color, I think it’s worth a try. 🙂
Hey Ginger ! Thanks for uplifting my spirit. I am definitely going to used your dad’s preventive measure. I will keep you update with my progress, ok. Take care…..Hopefully you dad’s prediction is tue. It’s definitely worth a try !
Hi Yati, I’ve been slacking off on this, but I didn’t want you to do it alone so I bought myself another bottle of Listerine today. We’ll see. 🙂
Yeah ! At least now I know that I am not alone in this world…..let me know of your progress too ha !!!
Yati, I will. 🙂
Hi Ginger !
This is my update on the usage of listerine mixed with shampoo. I have been using it for over more than a month and this is my verdict. So far so good. I do spot a few growth but nothing to be alarmed of. How is your progress so far ? My hair did not fall off and I will keep using it. This will be my own beauty regime until the day I drop dead.
Hi Yati, thanks for the update, if you’re that serious about it, I guess I’ll stick with it also. 🙂
I’m almost finished with my small bottle of Listerine, and my hair is doing good, I still have a full set of hair and have seen only 1 or 2 gray hair, which I pulled them out. My dad has been using it for over 20 years, so I don’t think it will hurt and he is in great health. Thanks again for the update.
Hey Ginger !
I liked to share this with you. I have one gray hair that keep on growing right in front of my hairline and it really bugs me. It sticked out like an antenna. On several attempt, I have pulled it out and it will regrow in a week time. Now here is what I did. I put a small amount of listerine in a container and I pulled off the gray hair. Then I sprayed the listerine on the exact spot. Now and then I will spray it anytime I feel like it and it is also cooling. It has been more than a month now and I don’t any new growth as of yet. So whenever I saw a new growth, I will yanked it out and sprayed the listerine. Apart from continuously mixing the shampoo. I like share this new piece of info with you……try it……yes I am dead serious about your dad’s beauty regime. Say thanks from me to your dad.
keep in touch…
Hi Yati, I cut my dad’s hair the past Saturday and I’m amazed of how few gray hair he has. I told him about you, and he just smiled, which is a good sign, he smiles a lot. I’ll tell him that you said thanks.
My second sister is 10 years older than me, and she has premature gray hair, and the past Sunday, I didn’t see that many gray hair in her front, so I asked if she pulled them, then she said that she uses mascara to brush over her gray hair. Lol, so I asked if the Listerine didn’t work for her, she said it does, otherwise she’d have a full head of gray hair by now. I told her she might have to get a waterproof mascara, it wouldn’t look pretty on a rainy day, would be a sight to look at. Lol.
It’s good to hear from you. I’ll let my sisters know about your technic and I’ll try it myself. Thanks. 🙂
Hi Ginger !
Just to drop a line to wish you and your family and ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope you have the best time ever.
Hi Yati, thank you for thinking of us, I also want to wish you and your family the Merriest holiday season. 🙂
Wow, I almost miss out on this family recipe to preventing gray hair. It sounds pretty neat.
Hopefully I don’t need to try this yet. Maybe in another 5 years.
Every now and then, I’ll find a few gray hair sticking out…. but it doesn’t bother me too much. At this point I’m more freaked out by wrinkles! JK. 🙂
Cambree, my dad swore by it. When we went to Laos, he couldn’t fine the Listerine and he searched high and low and finally found one, I thought he got a few more gray hair for not using it, but his hair seems to be back to his normal self now. I’m not as faithful as him, I’d buy a small bottle at a time and ran out a lot, but he has a stock of them. 🙂