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Cruiser (Midwest, Usa) on 06/12/2014:
My experience, Fo ti (He shou Wu) has worked quite well for darkening hair, and reducing grey hair. I'm a 50 something male, had about 20 to 25 percent grey, mainly on top and on the sides. I reduced it to about 5 to 10 percent in a few weeks. I purchased some of the prepared root from a vendor on Ebay in China. Here's what worked for me. The root is quite leather like and dark when you get it. I would take 5 or 6 pieces of the root and brew my cup of coffee into it and let it soak overnite. Drink the coffee the next day. I do that 2 or 3 times a day. When the root softens up enough, I put it in the coffee grinder and break it down as much as possible, and then drink that in with my coffee the next few days. Been doing this for a few weeks, and have noticed quite a difference, my brown hair has darkened and I notice alot of new hair growth that is dark. I plan on continuing it for about a month on and then a month off, month on, month off. It's a somewhat gradual process, I would give it a month or 2 for results. I didn't experience any negative side effects.
I have to retract my Yea for fo-ti to a Nay. I was not meaning to be deceitful but I only figured out recently that it is due to where the flash of the camera is placed on my hair. The camera flash really picks up the gray, and if the camera is further away, my hair looks darker. However, recently I took another photo at exactly the same distance from a picture I took back in June and there was no change in the gray. I wish there was a way to post pictures on Earth Clinic to show what I mean. Guess I will have to put up with aging and the gray, such is life, Peace, Rena.
