Care of the Hair,

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 23, 9 June 1906, Page 60

Care of the Hair,

HINTS TAKEN FROM THE LETTERS OF A LADY IN-WAITING AT THE COURT OF QUEEN MARIE ANTI >1 N ETTE

IBv Estelle De la Terre.)

The secret of beautiful hair may be expressed, as in the case of a good complexion. in one word. Cleanliness, absolute and systematic, is essential for the girl who wishes her “crowning

glory" to receive its full complement of praise. But here again the word “cleanliness*' must embrace a larger atea than the space to which we at present confine it.

The average girl shampoos her head once a month—in some eases, alas, once a week, and washes her brushes when she considers that they require it. She brushes her hair night after night for a few seconds, plasters it with grease at odd intervals, or leaves it severely alone, and cries out because she has such ugly tresses, so lank and dull, and unlike her best friend who rejoices in curls and waves. The best friend has been blessed by nature with healthy hair, but unless she understands the method of retaining the beauty of her locks she also one day will add her moan to the general cry, “1 have such ugly hair.”

Beautiful hair is within the reach of evervone.

The hair has two great enemies that combine for its destruction. One is the present-day method of shampooing, the other is dust. Thousands of girls, night after night, gather the dust of the day on their brush, and the next morning brush the dust back on their hair again. In this way it is no difficult matter to keep a brush clean for a week or longer at the expense of the hair, which is gradually becoming not only’ a dust but a germ trap. FIRST VITAL STEP. The first, and the most vitally important, step in the cultivation of beautiful hair is to wash the brushes every night. It does not entail much expenditure of time. After brushing the hair at night pour some boiling water in the basin. Add a piece of soda or a teaspoonful of liquid ammonia. Dab the brushes up and down in this for two minutes. Stand them in cold water for five minutes. Shake well and put in a warm place to be dry by the morning. Once a week add a* teaspoonful of alum to the rinsing water, which tightens and stiffens the bristles. It is quite useless on one night to forget or be “too tired” to wash your brushes. The next morning an accumulation of dust will undo six days of patient labour. Perseverance in this method will result in such an enormous improvement in the texture of the hair that in a week’s time you will be astonished. To lay’ down hard and fast rules for the nightly treatment of the hair is more difficult. The girl who can spare ten minutes every- night for brushing her hair will soon realise the wisdom of her self-denial. But ten minutes seem ten hours to many who are hard at work all day. The “hundred system” will prove useful in these cases, as the hair can be brushed one hundred times in three minutes. The following extract is taken from one of my old letters:— My maid has received instructions to rub the skin of my head with her fingertips, until the scalp is aglow, for 15 minutes nightly. I can recommend this course to thee, my friend, as the blood is in this way brought to the root of the hair, which draws its nourishment from this source. BEST METHOD. I recommend the following method for nightly treatment in the cultivation of beautiful hair: If posible, use two brushes. Losoen the hair. Gently comb out all tangles, and with the tips of the fingers massage the whole scalp for a few minutes. If the hair be dry, which

can be recognised by its harshness when tomched and its lack of colour, dip the fingers in the oil of sweet jasmine, and massage as directed; but avoid smearing the oil on the hair itself. If the hair be greasy or sticky, the result of excessive perspiration from a relaxed condition of the scalp, sprinkle the head with lotion of bergamot. You will soon learn to recognise whether your head requires food or tonic. Brush the hair thoroughly, gathering up small strands and allowing the bristles to pass right through them. Do not plait the hair. Night is the time to induce a free circulation of air. Spread the hair out on your pillow when you are in bed. If it be necessary to use curling pins, procuie the softest pattern, and avoid screwing them tightly against the head. Never use hot irons. To those whose hair has a tendency’ to curl naturally, which has been frustrated by the use of artificial means, the above system will result in time in the curling pins being banished from the dressing-table. TOO MUCH SHAMPOOING. The vexed question of shampooing must be approached with caution. The girl who is asked to wash her hair as seldom as possible will be horrified, and consider that all the principles of hygiene are being set at naught. And yet hundreds of eases in which the hair is thin, weak, and “coming out in handfuls,” may be traced back to the cause of excessive shampooing. It will be found if the brushes are washed every day the hair will not reqpire to be washed more often than once in six weeks. When washing the hair use, if possible, rain water. If not, the water may be softened by a little borax. Avoid soda and ammonia, the effects of which are too drying. Beat up the white of an egg to a snow. Add a tablespoonful of soap powder. Whisk all together. After rinsing the hair thoroughly, rub the egg mixture into the scalp. Rinse in several lots of warm water, and lastly apply a cold douche. Do not wring the hair. Gently press out the moisture. Dry’ with hot towels, but do not go near a fire. If it be summer, go out in the garden. The sun is the finest possible hair restorer. When dry, brush the hair for five minutes. Pour three drops of oil of sweet jasmine on the palm of the hand. Dip the brush in this and gently’ stroke the hair. This will induce a beautiful gloss without appearing too greasy. To make a good soap powder, collect all the scraps of soap. Dry them until they are brittle. Put them in a cloth and crush with a flat iron to a powder. After the hair is dressed, always smooth it with one of the Japanese silk squares.