# How do I make my beard white like Santa's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630 "2007-11-24T19:06:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/1 "2007-11-24T19:06:59Z")
I have a salt and pepper beard that is gradually getting more white than grey. But suppose I want to make it all white, like Santa Claus; what product would I use to bleach it? I don’t want to use excessively harsh chemicals on my face, so let’s limit suggestions to widely used hair care products, preferably those that are known to work on coarse beard hair. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/2 "2007-11-24T19:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] I have a salt and pepper beard that is gradually getting more white than grey. But suppose I want to make it all white, like Santa Claus; what product would I use to bleach it? I don’t want to use excessively harsh chemicals on my face, so let’s limit suggestions to widely used hair care products, preferably those that are known to work on coarse beard hair. [/QUOTE] Spray paint? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/3 "2007-11-24T19:41:13Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Spray paint? [/QUOTE] What kind of horrid Christmas nightmare do you inhabit where Santa paints his beard? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/4 "2007-11-24T20:46:44Z")
Just be patient. Worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/5 "2007-11-25T11:48:40Z")
Powdered sugar donuts. Danish wedding cookies. Side effect: belly like a bowl full of jelly. Seriously though, bleaching or similar isn’t recommended if you plan to keep the beard. To remove a lot of color, the hair gets badly damaged and will break off easily. I like having a beard, so that was out. Beware of the spray paint hair whitening. I got some at Halloween one year to use for the holiday season. It went all over the place and stiffened up so my beard looked fake after all. I didn’t take the warning to use in well-ventilated room seriously and just about suffocated myself. That stuff was noxious! Or you could just move to Japan. If you have a long beard, you’re Santa-san. It surprised me that whiteness isn’t really a factor. I have Bin Laden streaks in an otherwise brown beard, but I was still Santa-san. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/6 "2007-11-25T15:22:26Z")
No bleach necessary - there’s a brush-in product from Ben Nye ([www.bennye.com](http://www.bennye.com)), which is a theatrical makeup company. It’s a liquid that you brush in with an old toothbrush and shampoo out. You can check with year-round costume shops in your area (try [www.costumers.org](http://www.costumers.org) for a listing) to see if they carry Ben Nye, or call a local theater and ask what makeup they use and where they get it. High schools and colleges may have a theater department where you could ask that question as well. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/7 "2007-11-25T18:07:39Z")
**Avarie537** , how does that stuff do for long-term use? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/8 "2007-11-25T22:39:46Z")
Before I lost so much weight I had a large bushy beard and other physical attributes that made me a good stand in for Santa Claus. I had a couple of charity gigs, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, The Elks Lodge, though not for the Elks, they had some children come in from somewhere. The first couple of years I went for the theatrical paint, then got a bright idea to dye it white. Never again. Beard hair is incredibly hard to bleach, and by the time you get the color removed you have undergone some pretty severe skin burns, and the best you can get is a pale yellow, which necessitates the use of the theatrical stuff anyway, and forget about it. I wish I could. The experience haunts my dreams. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/9 "2007-11-26T13:43:45Z")
[QUOTE=Caractacus Pott] **Avarie537** , how does that stuff do for long-term use? [/QUOTE] It’s not a dye at all, so it’s not meant to be used for longer than between hair washings. I’ve never used it myself, but I’ve seen it used and it works pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/10 "2007-11-26T13:48:05Z")
Grow a beard. Raise a daughter. Should take care of it. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/11 "2007-11-27T01:45:56Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] Beard hair is incredibly hard to bleach, and by the time you get the color removed you have undergone some pretty severe skin burns, [/QUOTE] Not to mention the fumes, which nearly killed me the first time I tried to use regular hair bleaching goo on my beard. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/13 "2011-05-14T01:37:59Z")
For some reason, yesterday I was wondering if the bluing used by Blue Haired Ladies would blue a white beard. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/14 "2011-05-16T19:30:31Z")
Yes. It covers yellowish white hair to make it appear white, much as [bluing in laundry use](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(fabric)). If not done well, it may look like the wearer was doing unthinkable things with Smurfs. **Fear Itself** , it’s been almost 4 years. Did nature take its course or did you help it along? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/15 "2011-05-16T19:45:03Z")
> [@Caractacus\_Pott](#): > > **Fear Itself** , it’s been almost 4 years. Did nature take its course or did you help it along? I cut it off. Maybe I’ll try again when my Social Security kicks in. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_of_Lucan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/16 "2011-05-17T13:26:40Z")
You should shampoo the beard daily, then go outside into the open air. Repeat daily for a half century or until fully white. It’s working for me. . . almost there. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/17 "2011-05-17T13:35:11Z")
By now it’s probably turned white on its own. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/18 "2011-05-17T13:46:42Z")
I wish there had been a better answer to the OP, because I want the same thing. My goatee is about equal dark and white, and it’s changing so slowly, it’ll be pure white sometime after my life expectancy. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/19 "2011-05-17T14:28:10Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Grow a beard. Raise a daughter. Should take care of it. My husband says that this works for him. He got a Father’s Day card once from our daughter. On the outside, it said “Dad, I know I’ve given you a few white hairs over the years”. The inside zinger was “But I didn’t mean for the rest of them to fall out, honest!” This might be my husband’s favoritest card ever. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-beard-white-like-santas/427630/20 "2011-05-17T14:51:18Z")
I’d be happy to simply have an even distribution of color v. white. I wore a beard for many years but gave up and shaved when it took on a piebald appearance.