HAIR BEAUTY CARE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29401, 31 December 1960, Page 2

HAIR BEAUTY CARE

Unusual Methods Once Popular A head of healthy, well-groomed hair is an asset that every woman has tried to achieve through the centuries. Hair colouring and fabulous stylings are as old as Cleopatra, who, by the way, is recorded as being the first authority on the art of beauty. Twentieth - century women, however, do not go to the same extremes as some of their forbears. In the seventeenth century, when the practice of piling the hair as high on the head as the woman could carry it was in vogue, some fatal accidents occurred. One woman met her death when her coiffure caught fire from a chandelier. Artificial colouring and the use of hair powder, although they did not have the same drastic effect, must also have been extremely detrimental to the health of the hair. Queen Elizabeth I invented a richly-scented hair pomade which was made from apples and the fat of a young dog. and with which she used to intrigue her many suitors. In the same era, hair powders reached their peak. Cheaper varieties were made from powdered starch, but strangely enough, the dearer types, such as white Cyprus powder, were harder on the hair. The most savage kind of all hair beautifiers were dyes. One of the first books to be printed in English on the subject, “The Art of Beauty,” gives this recipe for a blonde dye: “Boil up a quart of lye (prepared from the ashes of vine twigs), half an ounce each of brioney, celandine roots and turmeric, two ounces of saffron and lily roots, and an ounce each of flowers of mullein, yellow steches, broom and St. John’s wort. Strain off the liquor and wash the hair frequently in it to produce a blonde effect.” Another recipe for producing black tresses required the woman to smear a dye on her hair at night and wrap her head in a warm napkin. In the morning the substance had caked, and had to be broken up -with a sharp instrument before it was combed * through the hair. The recipe called for one pound of lime, four ounces of ceruse, and one ounce of “the foam of gold,” all powdered very finely together and mixed with warm water. In Tudor times, tinting the hair with saffron (the normal yellow dye.of the period) produced a golden effect. Other home hair-beauty aids were also used. One was a powder made from parsley seed which was said to prevent the hair from falling out. These days women who cannot afford a champagne rinse at the hairdressers, or even a weekly shampoo and set, look to their kitchen shelves for hair beautifiers, which are much safer and produce a much more natural look than those used by women in past ages. Lemon juice or beaten white of egg puts a glossy sheen on hair, and a glass of lager has the same effect A few drops of perfume or eau de cologne in the final rinsing water takes away the smell of the beer (or vinegar if this is used), and imparts a touch of luxury.