I Give Full Marks to Those Lousy Lice (Full Marks Head Lice Solution)

Member Name: foreveramber

Product:	Full Marks Head Lice Solution
Date:	13/10/08 (288 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exterminates lice in a short time, no leaving on overnight, no traditional pesticides

Disadvantages: Can leave hair greasy

Full Marks Head Lice Solution

Having survived my entire school days without so much as a hint of a louse in my hair, I've been somewhat mortified to have fallen victim to the little blighters in my adult years. How could this have happened? Blame it on the kids. No, correct that. Blame it on other people's kids!!!

My son made it all through primary school without succumbing to lice and my elder daughter made it to year three, lice free. The trouble all began last year when my youngest daughter started at nursery.

Periodically, when collecting her at the end of the day, the teacher would hand out notices to all the parents/carers. These notices were quite inoffensive. They simply explained that head lice had been found in my child's class and could we please check them for infection. No finger pointing, so we all felt we could hold our heads up high. Damn those other kids and their licey hair.

Having never made the acquaintance with headlice, I wasn't sure what I should be looking for. I imagined they looked like fleas. I'd part her hair and look out for running insects, but never found anything.

Then last year during the summer holidays, I was styling my elder daughter's hair when, horror of horrors, I noticed this dark brown insect scuttling away from the parting I'd made. I guessed immediately what it was and started sectioning all her hair for other signs. And there were lots. I couldn't believe how I had not seen these hideous things before.

Of course, the big worry is who else is infected. I checked through the youngest daughter's hair, and sure enough, there they were. However, they were a different colour, lighter. On reading up about them later on, it turns out that lice camouflage themselves to match the hosts hair colour. Sneaky or what!

So began my relationship with head lice equipment and solutions to treat them. This took me to a new area of the chemist. The first time I had to speak to the pharmacist about the different treatments on sale, I must admit I did feel kind of ashamed having to buy this stuff. But hey, they're advertising all the time on TV so it must be a common problem.

There are quite a range of head lice treatments out there and the Full Marks was one of two good options recommended by the pharmacist.

I chose the Full Marks solution for two reasons. One, it states it takes 10 minutes and two, it doesn't contain traditional pesticides. The problem with pesticides is that lice can become immune to them, hence, after repeated use, the treatment won't have any effect. Full Marks solution works by dehydrating the lice which causes them to die.

~~~How to Apply~~~

You must comb the hair first to eliminate all tangles. This is because you need to go through the hair with a very fine nit comb which will make the whole episode extremely unpleasant and painful, for all concerned.

Once the hair is combed, you part it into sections and pour over the lotion, massaging it through to make sure every stand of hair is well covered. After 10 minutes the fun begins. OK, it's not fun. It can be quite horrifying actually. You need to comb through each section of hair with the nit comb. This traps the nits in a way normal wide tooth combs can't.

It's not nice seeing a load of these insects coming off your child but better off than on! You should rinse the comb after each stroke. You'll also be combing out the eggs.

After 7 days you need to repeat the whole scenario because it's possible that you may have missed the odd egg during your combing session. Any eggs you do miss can hatch and the nasty little things will start laying more eggs.

The annoying thing about lice is, if you've found them in one member of your family, the whole lot of you need to be checked very thoroughly otherwise you'll keep on infecting each other.

~~~How Well Did it Work~~~

Applying the solution is very easy and it coats the hair well when combed through with a normal comb. Reassuringly, I can't detect any noticeable smell at all from the liquid.

This whole process of applying the lotion takes me a long time because both my daughters have waist length hair! If anything has made me come close to cutting their hair, it was head lice. Once the 10 minutes are up and the combing is done, it can be washed out.

Now, washing their hair after using this treatment is tricky. The first couple of times after their hair had dried, it left their hair extremely greasy and lank. It looked so bad that they had to wash it again. As I read too late in the instructions, it does say you should wash the solution out with a non-conditioning shampoo - a conditioner is not necessary.

After 7 days, when repeating the exercise, I was lucky with one child and not the other. However, there were only about 2 lice, so I think that was just a matter of missing a couple of eggs the previous week. The following week, not a louse in sight. Verdict = success.

When you're using this solution, I'd recommend making sure you cover the child/person with a towel and also the floor. I seated my kids on chairs in the kitchen so they could watch TV to keep them occupied. However, when I was combing the solution through their hair, quite a bit of it did drip onto the floor. This had the effect of making the floor extremely slippery. Again, I read too late that clothes and floor should be covered prior to using. Note to self: always read all the instructions first.

~~~Contents and Packaging~~~

It's a clear, oily liquid packaged in a transparent, squeezy bottle with a screw on lid. The bottle itself is supplied in a purple, white and red cardboard box with the Full Marks name clearly on the front. The bottle contains either 100ml, 200ml or 300ml which is enough for 2, 4 or 6 treatments respectively.

~~~ Availability and Price ~~~

It's available at many major supermarkets as well as Boots and some other chemists.

In Boots the 300ml bottle costs around £10.99. Sainsbury are currently selling a 200ml bottle for £6.99, enough for 4 treatments. Tesco are offering a 100ml bottle for £3.60 (until 7/10/08)

~~~Ingredients~~~

Cyclomethicone and isopropyl myrisate (not harmful to eyes or skin.)

~~~Caution~~~

A word of warning here, no matter how stressful the ordeal of de-nitting can be, DON'T smoke while using it or stand near naked flames. I can only assume this is because it's flammable, but I'd rather not test it out (not that I smoke but I won't try turning on the gas cooker).

~~~Further Information~~~

Full Marks also produce a variety of different head lice options. These come in mousse and lotion form with treatments ranging from 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours and 12 hours.

If you want to know more about Full Marks solution, you can find it here: http://www.headlice.co.uk/

Summary: A good product that kills lice in a short time