When I first heard about using Listerine for my scalp condition my immediate response was NO. I thought this was another one of those "natural hair care trends" that had hair stylists screaming bloody murder.
BUT I decided to do my own research about it before making judgements.
So the Listerine being used is the original formula (the yellow one). The bottle actually says antiseptic on it which I never noticed before.
Originally, Listerine was formulated to be a surgical antiseptic. In other words, it was used to kill bacteria before surgery to lessen the likelihood of an infection. It wasn't until much later when Listerine was being used as a mouthwash to kill the bacteria in your mouth.
In the 1920s, the company started a campaign against bad breath and their sales exploded. The company has made many variations of the original formula, and now the yellow original is just known to us as the one that tastes bad lol

So what does this have to do with my scalp condition?
Well I actually don't know for sure what my scalp condition exactly is because I still haven't been to a dermatologist. BUT I do know that my scalp is oily and my dandruff is caused by scalp fungus. Dudley's Antiseptic pretty much helped me keep everything under control. However, my local beauty supply store doesn't sell it and I have to order it online. While I'm waiting for that package to come I still need to treat my scalp.
I already had an unopened travel size bottle of the yellow Listerine in my closet so I decided to suck it up and just test it.
I put about 1 fluid ounce of it in a bottle that had an applicator tip. I then added a fluid ounce of water to dilute it. I only applied it to my scalp; not all over my hair! Antiseptics are very drying.
I massaged it into my scalp and let it sit under a plastic cap for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I continued with my shampoo and conditioner. My scalp was just as clean as when I used Dudley's.
Three days later my scalp is just now starting to produce a bit of oil. Usually my scalp starts to produce some oil 1-2 days after washing.

Bottom Line

Using the yellow Listerine was very effective on my scalp. Still unsure if it's going to replace Dudley's antiseptic. If I'm tight on money or out of Dudley's I'll definitely use it though.

1) It sits on the hair
Would you melt candle wax and then put it on your hair? Of course not. But when you retwist your locs with beeswax, a similar process is happening. Beeswax does absolutely nothing for your hair. It cannot moisturize your hair. All it does is solidify on each strand and hold them in place. That may sound like a good thing for retwisting your hair, but it's very bad.
When something coats your hair strand, nothing can penetrate that barrier. That means conditioners won't be able to do their job. The hair also can't "breathe."
Beeswax is about as hard to wash out of locs as candle wax. Even the harshest of detergents wouldn't be able to get all the beeswax out of your locs.

2) It causes build-up
So beeswax sitting on your hair strands in itself is a form a build-up, especially if you're regularly retwisting with it. The real build-up happens when you try to use other products on your locs on top of the beeswax.
The conditioner you tried to apply while washing your hair wasn't all that effective, so now you're trying to keep your hair moisturized during the day. Leave-in conditioners and oils are being put onto your dry, suffocated locs daily and it's still not working. The beeswax is blocking most of the product from working and the rest is just sitting on top of the wax.

3) It causes dehydrated, brittle hair
All of what you've read so far is the recipe for dry, brittle hair. Beeswax makes locs feel extremely stiff. Healthy locs should feel soft and have some movement to them. Because the beeswax is blocking your hair from the moisture that it needs, it's dry, hard, and starting to break.

4) It causes dead-looking "dusty" locs
On top of being dry and hard, your hair also looks dusty. You can see the white to yellow-ish product build-up in your locs. Your hair also looks dull and lacks shine. Healthy locs are vibrant, have bounce to them, and look moisturized. But if you're using beeswax, it can be nearly impossible to achieve that look.

5) It attracts even more dirt and debris
Product build-up in locs attracts more build-up in other forms. Lint, dirt, dust, and other nonsense will be picked up by the beeswax in your hair. All of that stuff will also be hard to wash out of your hair because it has "bonded" with the wax build-up.


Please don't use beeswax to retwist your locs. Instead, opt for a light gel that will wash out easily.
Something interesting to know is that some people don't even use a product to retwist; they just wet their roots and retwist. I actually do that every now and then with my edges.
Retwisting is not so serious that your need the hold of a wax. Stay away from them and your hair will thank you for it.

Hairfinity Pros
Contains effective ingredients like biotin and folic acid
Affordable

Hairfinity Cons
Contains horsetail which is possibly unsafe
Pills are large/hard to swallow
Complaints about the smell of the pill
Vegetarians should know, contains collagen and gelatin

Hairfinity is a vitamin supplement that helps with hair growth. While it does contain effective ingredients such as biotin and folic acid, it also contains ingredients that can be harmful to your body and to the hair growth process.
Horsetail is not a recommended ingredient to include in multivitamins. According to WebMD, horsetail is possibly unsafe when taken by mouth long-term.
Consuming horsetail can cause your Vitamin B1 levels to drop. This is because Horsetail contains a chemical that breaks Vitamin B-1 down, causing a deficiency. If you don’t get enough B-1, you can experience symptoms such as difficulty breathing, heart damage, mental sluggishness, and hair loss. Having Horsetail in a vitamin that's supposed to promote hair growth is counterproductive. This may be why many Hairfinity users are reporting hair loss over time.
Hairfinity also contains substances that come from animals such as collagen and gelatin. This is not a vegetarian-friendly vitamin.
Based on customer reviews, the vitamins are large and smelly, making them hard for a lot of people to take consistently. The smell could be due to the fact that ingredients that derive from animals degrade quickly, and therefore smell bad.

SugarBearHair Pros
Contains effective ingredients such as biotin, folic acid and Vitamin C
Affordable
Doesn't contain any unsafe ingredients
Doesn’t contain any meat or beef by-products
Easy to take (chew and swallow)
Smells delicious
Gluten free
Dairy free

SugarBearHair Cons
For those allergic to nuts, contains tree nut oil
For those on a strict no sugar diet, contains sugar
Diabetics should request permission from doctors

SugarBearHair is a new, gummy bear hair vitamin. It contains the some of the same effective vitamins as Hairfinity but without the unsafe ingredients. They also don’t contain any gelatin or collagen, so that's good news for vegetarians. If you are sensitive to dairy and/or gluten, you don't have to worry since the vitamins don't contain any of those ingredients either.
These vitamins are chewy making them easy to take. SugarBearHair vitamins also have berry flavor that's from actual berries. They're really delicious so you could actually enjoy taking them every day.

I've been using a satin pillowcase for about 3 years and honestly it makes everything so much easier.
I had a common issue of my satin scarf coming off at night and I would wake up to a dry, tangled mess of hair in the morning. At the time my pillowcase was just the normal cotton one.

What I didn't know was the reason my hair looked like that in the morning was because the cotton material sucked the moisture out of my hair. Whenever my scarf slipped off at night it was as if an apocalypse happened on my head and it would take something short of a miracle to fix it.

When I switched to a satin pillowcase, I stopped waking up to a dry bush of hair. My hair was noticeably softer and my curls stayed intact. Eventually I even became lazy and started slacking on wearing a satin scarf. My hair was still fine. Now I only wear my scarf if I need my edges to lie down for the next day.

I definitely give satin pillowcases 5 out of 5 stars.

 

ACV Rinse Pros
Simple Recipe

ACV Rinse Cons
Didn't work

The Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse didn't do anything for my scalp or my hair. My scalp was still just as oily as before and my hair still had product in it. Other people have used the rinse and their hair was stripped, but not in my case.

Baking Soda Cleanse Pros
Simple Recipe
Got the build up out of my hair

Baking Soda Cleanse Cons
It was uncomfortable the do this in the bathroom sink lol

When I did the cleanse I could see the residue and flakes from my locs in the mixture. After washing and conditioning my hair, it was a lot shiner and healthier. The cleanse removed the bit of product build up that I had in my locs.

I can't judge on how it cleansed my scalp since it was done in the sink and it was difficult to clean. It removed a bit of oil but not a significant amount.

Either way, it was still a lot more effective than the ACV Rinse and I plan to do it once or twice a year.

Price: $30
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Description:
SugarBearHair vitamins are soft and delicious chewy hair vitamins! They are vegetarian, cruelty-free, and made in the U.S.A. They're flavored with natural berries for a sweet taste you can enjoy!
Formulated with essential hair-friendly vitamins like biotin, folic acid, and Vitamin D, it nourishes your hair from the roots to improve strength, elasticity, length, and shine.
Just chew and swallow 2 gummy bears a day to get all the nutrients needed to meet your hair goals! Unlike the conventional large, gross vitamins, our gummies are easy to take and are gentle on your stomach.
Our vitamins do not contain hormones so it will not affect your facial or body hair.
No gelatin. No dairy. No side effects.

Review:
SugarBearHair is a new hair vitamin that I've been trying out since I have a hard time swallowing pills. Because of that, trying Hairfinity and Hairburst didn't work out for me, so when I heard of these chewable gummy bear hair vitamins I knew I had to try it.

The vitamins taste really good and I haven't missed a day of taking them yet. I wish the company sold just the gummies as a candy (without the nutrients inside) so I could just eat them all. But I control myself and just chew the recommended 2 gummies per day lol

Another cool thing about SugarBearHair vitamins are that they're vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and cruelty-free. However, for those who are allergic to nuts, they do contain tree nut oil.
Since I started taking them 2 months ago my hair has been growing about an inch every month, which is double the normal rate for my hair! I will continue to take these vitamins because they really do work. SugarBearHair has officially become a holy grail product for me.

Bottom Line:

Great chewable and vegetarian hair vitamins that have helped my hair grow twice as fast.

 

Price: Free (I had all of the ingredients in my house)
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Recipe:
Large bowl/sink of warm water
1/4 cup of baking soda
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 tsp of sea salt
3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

Stir until all is well dissolved

Review:
I tried this on my locs more as an experiment to see how much build up was in my locs after a year of having them. I got the recipe from Chescaloc's YouTube video where she recorded herself doing the cleanse in the sink. She, along with other people, did the cleanse on their locs and the mixture in the sink turned from clear to brown. I wanted to see where my hair stood when it came to product build-up.

When I did the cleanse, my water did not turn brown, but it was slightly darker and I could see residue and flakes. I chose to shampoo as well since it couldn't get much of the oil from my scalp. After washing and conditioning my hair, it was shinier and looked healthier in general.
I am relieved to know that I'm not using too much product in my locs lol

Bottom Line:

Great recipe for getting the build up out of your locs. Wouldn't recommend doing a harsh cleanse like this more than twice a year.

Black Soap Pros
All natural
Affordable
Effective

Black Soap Cons
A bit drying on the hair
Scalp was oily the next day

Shampoo Pros
Affordable
Effective

Shampoo Cons
Can be drying to the hair
Usually has sulfates (unless labeled as sulfate free)


I've tried Raw African Black soap for my face and scalp. My face loves it (especially when I follow up with shea butter) but it may be too drying for my scalp and hair. It cleaned my scalp well but I think it may have done too good of a job. My scalp produced even more oil than usual as punishment, so I was back to square one.

I'll just stick to using sulfate-free shampoos. It may not necessarily be completely natural but it's what works better for my hair.

Price: $9.50
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Description:
Dudley’s Scalp & Skin Antiseptic is a soothing pre-shampoo treatment that removes odor-causing bacteria and excess oil and helps control dandruff. It stimulates the scalp for a better shampoo and conditions the skin, making it feel soft and refreshed.

Ingredients:

• SD Alcohol 40 – a readily evaporating colorless liquid is a powerful stimulant and antiseptic.
• Clove Oil – has antiseptic properties derived from a dried flower bud of a tropical evergreen.
• Peppermint Oil – a healing agent with cooling properties.
• Eucalyptus Oil – a colorless pale to yellow liquid.

Review:
I consider this product to be the reason my oily scalp and dandruff problem hasn't driven me insane. Other dandruff-targeted products didn't do anything for my scalp. This is the only one that has made a difference. This is a pre-shampoo that helps remove the oil and bacteria from your scalp and keeps scalp fungi in check.

The instructions say to use a cotton ball to apply it to the scalp, which does not work for dense hair. Since the product is a liquid, I put it in a bottle that has an applicator tip. After wetting my hair and scalp, I use the tip to pour it throughout my scalp (not hair), massage it through, and then rinse. I do it a total of two times and then use my regular shampoo.

Something that surprised me is that it burned a bit the first time I used it, but after that it didn't really burn; it only tingled.

This product is very drying to the hair strands so it's best to try to avoid getting it all over your hair. After you follow up with your usual shampoo, make sure you have a good conditioner.
If you have dry "dandruff" (which is actually dry scalp flaking; not dandruff) this product is not for you. It will make a dry scalp worse. Only use this product if you have issues with oily dandruff.

Bottom Line:

Perfect pre-shampoo treatment for oily scalp and dandruff issues. Not recommended for those with dry scalp issues.

 

Commercial Facial Cleanser Pros
Effective

Commercial Facial Cleansers Cons
Can be expensive
Only a little bit of product in the container
Can contain harmful chemicals


Raw African Black Soap Pros
Affordable
Great value (a little goes a long way)
Effective
All natural

Raw African Black Soap Cons
Can be a bit drying


Raw African Black Soap is the only thing I use to clean my skin for the rest of my life.
Commercial skin cleanser were effective, but to be honest they always dried my skin out too much. I've had other cleansers leave residue on my face, causing my acne to become worse.

I tried Black Soap after my cousin recommended it to me. She uses it on her face to remove her makeup and she attested to it being a good cleanser.

My acne improved significantly since I started using Black Soap, but I saw the most improvement after incorporating shea butter. These two work well together, as if they were made for each other. Black soap is a bit drying to the skin, but shea butter restores moisture. They are truly my holy grail products for keeping my skin healthy.