While on a business trip to Northern Greece (near the Albanian border) I had some free time for some hiking in the foothills surrounding the ancient city of Ioanina. I came to a small village with a population of no more than 100 people, most of them old as their children had moved to the big cities.



As is my habit I often have a coffee with local people and strike up conversations about their place and its history.

While in the only coffee shop I saw an old grandmother sitting in her front yard boiling some brew with a distinctive and unforgettable odor. It smelled of the forest and reminded me of the smell of the earth after a good rain.

I asked what she was making, if it was some food, or concoction.

The men in the coffee shop told me to ask her, and I did. Her name of Grandmother Irina, and she told me she was making her elixir to re-grow lost hair.

I sort of laughed, until an hour later a small lorry pulled up and a man got out and paid a large sum of money for what she was brewing, and took it away in an oil drum.

After much coaxing, I got her to tell me what was in it, although she did not say the proportions, as they were “secret". However, after about an hour with her, and our pleasant conversation progressed, she told me all about her folk remedy, which I pass on to you now.

Since Grandmother Irina had no children (in Greece, the term Grandmother is respectfully given to any aged woman), she had no one to pass her secret on to, and she was glad to give it to me.

She hoped it would become well know, and help people who have lost their hair, re-grow it without medicines.

She said the recipe well as old as Greece itself, and she did not wish to die when she did.

Grandmother Irina’s Elixir

Taking 2 liters of rainwater (you will find a way to collect it), you boil 20 berries from the bitter laurel tree, along with 10 small cones from the Cyprus tree, for 12 hours under very low heat.

The mixture will become very dark, almost black.

When cooled and the solid particles streained out about one liter of liquid that remains.

In a frying pan, fry 9 very fresh eggs in a large quantity of sesame oil till the eggs are hard fried. Let the mixture cool, and throw away the eggs. The oil is part of the treatment.

Re-Grow Lost Hair Treatment

After a daily morning shower or bath, and a good shampoo of what hair remains on your head, apply the herbal liquid to the scalp, and let it dry. When dry, apply some of the sesame oil (small amount) to the same area. Leave it in place.

After 3 weeks you will notice hair growth.

The longer you apply the treatment, the better the result. This must be a daily event, and not discontinued once hair is in place.

The hair may be very fine, and of a black color, but nevertheless, it is hair, and if that is what you wish, you will have it…without medicines or transplant surgery.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Grandmother Irina, and we hope you shall pass on this wonderful folk remedy to anyone who needs to know about it.