A Hangzhou woman, surnamed Wang, found a box of prophylactics in her daughter's room. The girl, whose anonym is Xiao Wen, is only a senior high school student, so Wang became upset that her daughter might already be having sexual relations. But Xiao Wen told her mother that the prophylactics were only being used as a "miracle shampoo."

"My classmates told me that my hair will grow blacker, faster and smoother when the pills are mixed into ordinary shampoo, and I'd have hair like the models in advertisements," Xiao Wen said.

Xiao Wen said her hair quality has become better recently. "The method is very convenient and cheap, and I simply mash a few of the pills into my shampoo," she said.

She said at least seven other girls in her class were using the same method, after a girl found it on the BBS post.

But Wang was worried about the dangers of using the "hair-growth recipe."

Doctors said that prophylactics can improve hair quality for a short period of time because it activates hair follicles and impulse their metabolism, but using the hormone directly on ones head may cause skin atrophy, causing serious tissue and cell damage.