What's your culture and beauty secret?

[Soniasonia]

What is your ethnicity and what do the women of your culture do for their hair? Share you're beauty secrets;) In Mexico we use fresh avocados for moisture and protein loss. Also rosemary tea as a hair rinse. But careful as it darkens hair:)

[GlassEyes]

I'm Irish-Scottish-English-(maybe Welsh)-Lithuanian and Dominican (basically, black).

My ethnicities beauty secrets range from traditional hair anointments to hair weaves! : D

But actually, I don't know any true traditional things. Olive oil is a big standby in the black community, I think, as are a number of other things. xD

[Soniasonia]

I'm Irish-Scottish-English-(maybe Welsh)-Lithuanian and Dominican (basically, black).

My ethnicities beauty secrets range from traditional hair anointments to hair weaves! : D

But actually, I don't know any true traditional things. Olive oil is a big standby in the black community, I think, as are a number of other things. xD
Wow what a beautiful mix you are! Olive oil is always a great one <3

[pariate]

I'm English. From what I can gather, people of my ethnicity generally place their trust in hair irons, peroxide and nylon extensions...

I am a pariah and proud of it :D

I love reading about cultural traditions when it comes to haircare and beauty, just wish I had some of my own to report!

[Soniasonia]

I'm English. From what I can gather, people of my ethnicity generally place their trust in hair irons, peroxide and nylon extensions...

I am a pariah and proud of it :D

I love reading about cultural traditions when it comes to haircare and beauty, just wish I had some of my own to report!
LOL! That was way cute:)

[GlassEyes]

I'm English. From what I can gather, people of my ethnicity generally place their trust in hair irons, peroxide and nylon extensions...


And chav ponytails. : D

But that happens over here too, with ANY ethnicity. D:

[bunnii]

I'm English. From what I can gather, people of my ethnicity generally place their trust in hair irons, peroxide and nylon extensions...

I am a pariah and proud of it :D

I love reading about cultural traditions when it comes to haircare and beauty, just wish I had some of my own to report!

:lol: don't forget BIG jewellery what make us look posh innit! from Lizzie Dukes haha

I think because in England we've been invaded so often we just picked up tips along the way, I think we used to use our vast clay collections as face masks, not too sure though, I just go the Olive Oil route. Everyones a winner :)

[pariate]

And chav ponytails. : D


AKA the Croydon facelift... :rollin: Ah me, there's nothing like national pride :D

[pariate]

I think because in England we've been invaded so often we just picked up tips along the way, I think we used to use our vast clay collections as face masks, not too sure though, I just go the Olive Oil route. Everyones a winner :)

And we UK LHCers can spread the word! I love the reactions I get when I tell people I use conditioner to wash my hair ;)

[ChloeDharma]

I'm trying to think what traditional English ones there are, trouble is i look into so much i muddle up whats from where!
Brushing used to be a traditional one....100 strokes a night before bed. And nettle rinses. Lemon juice rinses for shine and lightening and chamomile for golden highlights. Oh and washing with soap, and vinegar rinses for shine.

[mira-chan]

I'm Russian and there are plenty of herbs remedies, treatments and recipes for hair.

Burdock oil, couple of drops post wash on the length or pre wash length and scalp oilings.

Seabuckthorn oil for any skin and scalp problems.

Tea rinses with stinging nettles, burdock roots, sage.

Yogurt masks.

[Soniasonia]

Ooo those are all so lovely sounding.

[Soniasonia]

I'm Russian and there are plenty of herbs remedies, treatments and recipes for hair.

Burdock oil, couple of drops post wash on the length or pre wash length and scalp oilings.

Seabuckthorn oil for any skin and scalp problems.

Tea rinses with stinging nettles, burdock roots, sage.

Yogurt masks.
Homemade yogurt?

[JillieRose]

Irish-English-Scottish. 1/2 1/4, 1/4, I think.

Trying to think of traditional things...

Lavender? Rose water? Rosehip tea?

Less said about the Croydon facelifts, the better, methinks. :)

[savi]

I'm Finnish.
I can't remember many things that I would've been told of. I need to ask granny, but these I remember:

Beer rinses (around my granny's area)
Streching washes
Using lake or rain water to wash hair

[TammySue]

I'm Northern Italian/Slovenian. Olive oil, of course, for deep oil treatments.

Growing up, Mom always did a final hair rinse with water and apple cider vinegar. Since my hair is now predominantly silvers/dark blondes, I use white vinegar in my final rinse water.

[swanns]

I'm Finnish and... I really can't think of anything! Around the area where I lived the first 20 years of my life people used to make basically anything of tar and still do, I wouldn't be surprised if there's tar shampoo, at least I know for sure they make tar soap :)

Edit: Did a Google search and yes, there are plenty of different types of tar shampoo indeed. They're said to help itchy and flaky scalp, maybe I should give it a try.

[GlassEyes]

I wonder if the beer thing could be an Irish tradition too...

Nah. We wouldn't waste the stuff. xDDDD

Edit: Admittedly, it is odd to call myself irish, considering I have so little in me...though I'm not really 'Irish' just 'of Irish descent'.

[Kleis]

I'm a first generation American Pacific North Westerner. :lol: I eat lots and lots of salmon. (Hey, that counts.) It's high in Omega-3 essential fatty acids, which is great for your skin.

[Arctic]

Swanns and Savi already wrote some Finnish traditions... I second the rain- and lake water for washing, makes a really soft hair!

Fresh air for sure is one,
and also braiding.
Sauna is said to be the beauty secret of us Finns
Propably also birch and pine were used in several ways.

I'm dissapointed in myself for not knowing/ remembering more :(


ETA: peat packs :)

[EmmaRose]

I'm mostly Scots-Irish (which were Scots exiled to Ireland by some King of England or other, and then they moved to the American mountain ranges, such as the Smoky Mountains.) The ones I learned from my family are washing hair with lye soap and rain water (and only once or twice a month), using vinegar rinses every so often, and that lemon juice will lighten your hair, and nettles will darken it. Oh, and drinking pot likker will make your hair and nails shiny and strong. (Pot likker is the water left over after boiling greens or cabbage. It's full of vitamins and minerals.)

[Barca]

i'm black-cuban and mexican. when i was younger my grandmother used to but mashed up avocados in my hair and make me sit with it in my hair...and try to keep my fingers out of it lol. it always made my hair shiny! ;)

[mira-chan]

Homemade yogurt?

Sometimes homemade but unflavored store bought works too. Russian sour milk products are much, much better than the ones we've found in America. Most unflavored yogurt there is what here would be called "homemade" I guess.

[Soniasonia]

i'm black-cuban and mexican. when i was younger my grandmother used to but mashed up avocados in my hair and make me sit with it in my hair...and try to keep my fingers out of it lol. it always made my hair shiny! ;)
Yay you also do the avocado thing! <3

[rapunzhell13]

With the avocado treatment, is it just straight avocado or do you mix it with something to give it a creamier consistency? I'm thinking maybe something like coconut cream? :)

[goodenough]

I'm mostly German. I know my great grandmother never had a haircut. Growing up, I did rinse with vinegar some, not diluted!? My dad drank and bathed in vinegar too!!! He's mostly Jewish, though--so I don't know.

Avacados are so expensive, and I love them so much--I'd rather eat one than put it in my hair--yum. Although--another bad hair week and i might try it.

[Soniasonia]

You can add a little water to make it spreadable. I like to add that or a little organic milk.:)

[Soniasonia]

I'm mostly German. I know my great grandmother never had a haircut. Growing up, I did rinse with vinegar some, not diluted!? My dad drank and bathed in vinegar too!!! He's mostly Jewish, though--so I don't know.

Avacados are so expensive, and I love them so much--I'd rather eat one than put it in my hair--yum. Although--another bad hair week and i might try it.
Yea I hate them for being so expensive! But when you can afford it and your hair just seems like it needs it, try it:)

[Soniasonia]

Sometimes homemade but unflavored store bought works too. Russian sour milk products are much, much better than the ones we've found in America. Most unflavored yogurt there is what here would be called "homemade" I guess.
Yea thats why I asked cause American yogurt doesn't seem like it would have the nutrients that are needed, unless it would be homemade. I think? Im gonna have to learn how to make it. >_<

[Soniasonia]

I'm mostly Scots-Irish (which were Scots exiled to Ireland by some King of England or other, and then they moved to the American mountain ranges, such as the Smoky Mountains.) The ones I learned from my family are washing hair with lye soap and rain water (and only once or twice a month), using vinegar rinses every so often, and that lemon juice will lighten your hair, and nettles will darken it. Oh, and drinking pot likker will make your hair and nails shiny and strong. (Pot likker is the water left over after boiling greens or cabbage. It's full of vitamins and minerals.)
Lye soap and rain water sound so organic and fancy. I hope it will rain here soon cause it hasnt rained in ages. I want to try this. Thanks!

[goodenough]

Oh--we used to wash our hair in the river water, too. We used plain soap--boy did it ever get soft.

[Soniasonia]

Oh--we used to wash our hair in the river water, too. We used plain soap--boy did it ever get soft.
Man that makes me hold an extra grudge for the city I live in. Because it IS a city! I wanna wash my hair in a river:(

[Catladyintown]

Apache-Mexican. The only thing that I was told, was Yucca plant for shampoo and Aloe Vera plant for conditioner.

[Barca]

Yay you also do the avocado thing! <3


yep!!! i used to sit with it in my hair while he painted each others' nails <3 (she only let me paint hers clear though lol little kids aren't great with polish haha)

fun times..she was awesome :)

[Barca]

With the avocado treatment, is it just straight avocado or do you mix it with something to give it a creamier consistency? I'm thinking maybe something like coconut cream? :)

on the occasion i do it on my own now, i add olive oil. you can never go wrong with olive oil haha

[Soniasonia]

yep!!! i used to sit with it in my hair while he painted each others' nails <3 (she only let me paint hers clear though lol little kids aren't great with polish haha)

fun times..she was awesome :)
Soooo cute <3<3

[Soniasonia]

on the occasion i do it on my own now, i add olive oil. you can never go wrong with olive oil haha
Olive oil only adds to the benefits, great idea!

[rapunzhell13]

on the occasion i do it on my own now, i add olive oil. you can never go wrong with olive oil haha

I agree with Soniasonia, great idea! I'll try that. :)

[EbonyCurls]

West African--we use raw shea butter for everything; skin, hair, feet, nails.

[Barca]

i remember an aunt used to use coffee in her hair. she said it gave it better color. i don't know how true it is, and i don't know if it's specifically Mexican but her hair was always really nice lol

[Mitzy]

I am American (Pacific Northwest) and my mom and her mom are from the south. My granny had hair long enough to sit on. She made her own lye soap and shampoo. When she ran out she used diluted White Rain Shampoo. She rinsed with Apple Cider Vinegar diluted in well water. She used to tell us to "suck our lips and pinch our cheeks" instead of wearing makeup! She was funny. I miss her.

[Soniasonia]

Aw hun what a cute story <3

[Barca]

aww! your granny is right though-- pinched cheeks= instant blush lol

[sahiba]

I am an Indian. And for ages the only thing I can remember trusting blindly is oil (coconut , almond, amala) used for hair and keeping it there 24/7. Not an hour without oil. Lots of oil and then tight,but bearable ,braid or bun.
For skin raw milk, a pinch of tumeric powder and gram flour is greatly used.

[NebulaBelly]

I'm Argentinian.
I really dont know much about the secrets but I do know that my mom used to do oil treatments on my hair at a very young age when my hair wasn't acting up. ;)

[toodramatik]

I'm Iraqi. And it's basically henna, henna and more henna. :)

[winter_star]

I don't use these myself, but I know of a few traditional, Australian remedies.

Aboriginies would use Quandong, which is a vitamin-rich berry, that contains oils which are used to stimulate hair growth, add lustre to dry hair, and soothe a dry, itchy scalp. Emu oil has also been used in Aboriginal medicine for centuries. It has many healing properties and studies show it helps with hair loss. Eucalyptus oil is also used a lot in hair care and cosmetics.

[vampodrama]

estonian.

basically what the finns have said before me: sauna, beer and birches :D

beer is said to make all women very beautiful. now, how it works, I'm not sure - of course with the high b-vitamin content etc it works one way. however, if you're male and consume enough beer, all women will eventually look very beautiful at some point :D

seriously though... birch leaves. soaked in hot water, they are a wonderful remedy for hair loss.

chamomile rinses for light hair.
calamus rinses for dark hair.

rain/river/lake water or water from melting snow/ice - wonderful soft hair.

[epiphanee]

I have mixed origins, so.....

Arabian heritage - Don't cut it, cover it up to protect from the sun, use henna, braid it, perfume it.

Pakistani/Indian heritage - Don't cut it, oil it with fresh coconut oil, braid it when young, bun it after marriage, wash with shikakai or aritha, use henna.

Having lived the majority of my life in England I can tell you that people here don't know of or follow any traditional or ethnic practices when it comes to hair. The predominant practice for women is to cut it short after having kids or reaching 30 and to keep it that way thereafter. Lots of women of all ages colour their hair with artificial dyes and use hot irons and other damaging tools. This is supposed to be beautifying. Sad really, as I am sure that if left to it's own devices, we would have many magnificent heads of natural hair in England.

[Amoretti]

From Spain here; my mom tells me she and her female relatives used to use lye soap to wash with and water + vinegar to rinse it. She says her hair looked very shiny with this treatment.

Women also used almond oil for shine. If they wanted to "set" their hairdos they'd use beer instead of hairspray.

[poetryofacherry]

I'm originally from Iran and live Kenya....so basically oil (with almond, coconut, Olive), Colour (red henna), wash with neem soap, and after wash apply perfumed oily paste that acts as a leave in condish

[Gothic Lolita]

I'm German and we also do the 100 brushes thing and I've heard about using beer rinses. I can't remember anything more, unfortunately.


For the Finns: My best friend (a soon to be Finn, she moves there...) uses Terva shampoo and it's supposed to be good for an itchy scalp and dandruff (that's what I could read from the label, I don't speak Finnish, sadly).

[trixiebelle]

I'm indian, well half indian, from south africa. I'm not sure if they're traditional as such, but they're tradition amongst the women I know, or are related to, or who know my mum (which covers a large amount of women haha). Most the older indian women (and some younger ones) I know who live in the more farmy type areas and by the factories (where my family are) still wash their hair with bars of sunlight soap. No conditioner, no oiling, no henna nothing considered to be fussing. Just wash the hair, dry it in the sun, tie it up and done. Some did the same with the soap but put some coconut oil in before tying it up. Most of the younger girls in my family have taken to using products and I can honestly say their hair doesn't seem better, just the same.

My cousin also taught me this dry washing thing. When you're short of time but your hair is looking too oily then put dry gram flour in and sort of wash it with the flour like you would if it were wet. It actually works really well for me haha

[ilovelonghair]

I'm from Holland, there are no hair secrets I know of, exept from my grandmothers site, she came from Indonesia and they used to use coconut oil. When my mother was a kid, lots of people in Holland used to have coconut oil in their hair, especially the ones who had lived in Indonesis. My mother hated the smell of that coconut oil, says it reminds her of old aunties LOL. People used to have embroidered pieces of cloth on their couches and armchairs to protect the chairs from getting oily!

[spidermom]

I'm your basic American mutt. Father's side of the family is German/Scandinavian, and I look like them, so I relate most to that heritage. My mother's side of the family is Irish, English, Black Dutch, and ???. The only traditions I've been told both came from my mother's side of the family. An aunt from Ireland would always wipe her face with the wet diaper off her baby; she said it was excellent for the skin. What can I say except EWWWWWWWWWW, but she did have great-looking skin. My grandmother would only wash her hair with castile soap using rain water out at the rain barrel. If the weather was dry and there was no rain water in the barrel, she didn't wash her hair, likewise if it was too cold to be outside washing her hair. Why didn't she get a pitcher and bring some water in? I don't know. But she did have great hair, although I remember smelling her head at the dining table and being grossed out by it.

[Snowymoon]

From my husband's grandfather, his mother (hubby's great grandmother), who was pure Native American and had hair to her knees, made her own shampoo (from lye, he guessed--no, I do not have the recipe, and there is no way to get it), and she washed her hair in rain water only, collected from the rain barrel. He said she kept it in a braided bun during the day and a long braid for sleeping, combing and braiding it every morning and evening.

My grandmother was a firm believer in vinegar rinses, and she was Scottish-Irish mix with some Native American as well.

[coppercurls]

Man that makes me hold an extra grudge for the city I live in. Because it IS a city! I wanna wash my hair in a river:(

It is the best feeling hair ever!

[EmmaRose]

Lye soap and rain water sound so organic and fancy. I hope it will rain here soon cause it hasnt rained in ages. I want to try this. Thanks!

You don't have to wait for the rain water, you can use distilled water as well. They have about the same pH, and I'm sure it was the fact that rain water is slightly acidic that made this work so well.

[getoffmyskittle]

(Indian/Irish/German) American.

Indian
For hair:
coconut oil
amla
shikakai
other things that other people probably know more about than I do

For skin:
yogurt masks
sandalwood powder masks

Irish
No bloody clue.

German
See above.

American
Go and buy things. If your hair starts to break off, go to a salon and get it cut. If your skin starts to break out, go to a dermatologist.

[RoseRedDead]

Irish
No bloody clue.

German
See above.

American
Go and buy things. If your hair starts to break off, go to a salon and get it cut. If your skin starts to break out, go to a dermatologist.

Too hilarious, Skitts! Ain't that the truth?

Irish/Scottish/German/Dutch/Lithuanian/English here. I have no idea what our beauty secrets are... Rain water would be one, I should think.

[chotee]

(Indian/Irish/German) American.

Indian
For hair:
coconut oil
amla
shikakai
other things that other people probably know more about than I do

For skin:
yogurt masks
sandalwood powder masks

Irish
No bloody clue.

German
See above.

American
Go and buy things. If your hair starts to break off, go to a salon and get it cut. If your skin starts to break out, go to a dermatologist.

Very funny! I love it!

Indian here, traditionally, wash with shikakai herb and apply coconut oil, apply coconut oil and again apply coconut oil till is time to wash again with shikakai

I remember, sun was considered important when drying hair naturally in the backyard. Both my mom and grandmom did this and both had lovely hair. While my mom cut hers before reaching 40, my grand mom still has thick silver locks till her thighs.
chotee

[Soniasonia]

I'm loving how this thread is turning out! <3

[Soniasonia]

From Spain here; my mom tells me she and her female relatives used to use lye soap to wash with and water + vinegar to rinse it. She says her hair looked very shiny with this treatment.

Women also used almond oil for shine. If they wanted to "set" their hairdos they'd use beer instead of hairspray.
Does beer make the hair smell funny?

[RavennaNight]

Hungarian and Swedish here :). I can't say I know anything super-unusual from my cultures, but my Hungarian grandmother never brushes her hair. Wide tooth comb only, and always told me the brush will rip the hair. (hmmm... I should have listened to her all along) And she also said don't wash it every day, its bad for your hair.

[Growin' It]

When I tell my Grandma about coconut oiling, she reminds me that her mother always used olive oil in hers, and it never lost its colour. That'd be an English thing.

[CitznMag]

I consider myself a Newyorican (parents born/raised in Puerto Rico, I was born/raised in New York). We are quite a cultural and racial mix: Taino Indian, Spanish, African, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Cuban, Dominican, Lebanese...whew!!

I grew up with olive oil, mayonnaise, and coconut oil hair treatments for shine and moisture (individually or one or more mixed together). Once shampooed and rinsed, EL Doobie Doobie! This consisted of pinning the hair around the head to create smoothness. We brushed our hair cien veses (100 times) the get the gre&#241;as (those little frizzy curlies) to stay put (funny how now I encourage them--be free!).

[blue_nant]

Apache-Mexican. The only thing that I was told, was Yucca plant for shampoo and Aloe Vera plant for conditioner.

I had a fellow student from the American Southwest and her Navajo grandma used yucca root on her hair, too. She has beautiful long hair.

[blue_nant]

calamus rinses for dark hair.

Calamus??? I'd love to hear more about that, as I've planted it because it's native where I live. My cultural background is not native to where I live, but calamus is! I'm a native plant geek. What part is used, leaf? root?


I wanna wash my hair in a river

It is the best feeling hair ever!

The river here has a nickname of "Muddy" and I don't think all the pesticides draining off the farmland would be ... beneficial. Just the thought ... err. Although it would be fabulous to be *able* to wash in a river!

This is a fabulous thread, just fascinating.

I'm Welsh, but all those folks are long gone and some of the relatives didn't even know they are Welsh. That happened in only four generations. I'm also Polish, but that side claimed to be German (?), and didn't pass any hair tips on. The remainder (a leg and two arms) is (are) Irish and English, and some of those folks came over to the US so long ago ... 300 years ... well no side of the family passed on hair tips.

My mom (German and English, fourth generation) had long long hair til she was old enough to decide for herself, about 10 or 11 yrs old, then she never had long hair again.

[vindo]

I am half Caucasian (German-Spaniard-Czech)and Asian (Japanese), grew up in Germany.

I did not really get any beauty secrets passed on that I am using today. Maybe the advice from the asian side to avoid sun ^^.

I love using Japanese Camellia Oil on my hair though ;)

[shrimp]

English and (1/4) Scottish here.

I think most of us here are a generation too lat eto have picked up too many hair care hints, mothers of the shampoo and blowdry and grandmothers of the chop it off and keep it short generation :shrug:

But - the 'traditional' hair care things I remember hearign a lot are

lemon for lightening
ACV or just plain ole vinegar rinses
nettle rinses
beer rinses


Any Irish Henna heads want to justify it as traditional :wink: Joyce mentions henna red hair in Ulyssess.

[KiwiLiz]

Beer is said to make all women very beautiful. now, how it works, I'm not sure - of course with the high b-vitamin content etc it works one way. however, if you're male and consume enough beer, all women will eventually look very beautiful at some point :D

That's an interesting My BF is studying pharmacology, they studied the drug/chemical effects of alcohol last semester, he says that apparently beer blocks the production of testosterone in the body, so effectively it's feminizing. Maybe that's where the idea comes from?
But in practice, I don't think beer makes any one beautiful... In my first year of uni there was term that floated round a bit, "the fresher five", as in the five kilos you gain from drinking a lot in your first year, for most though it was bit more than 5 kilos. It happened to the guys too, my BF gained 10 kilos in his first year!

No cultural beauty tip from me, although there's lots of people from the pacific island living in New Zealand, I've met a few that use coconut oil for their hair, and they all had long beautiful hair :)

[Cinnamon.locks]

Scottish/German/French/Norwegian/Spanish here, basic memories i have are treating hair loss with red peppers, jalapenio and rosemary, beer rinses, bear oil, rose oil, Chamomille rinse, beet rinse, carrot rinse, cow patty on hair for hairloss ( yes cow eeeewww.) and a friend from Russia told me she uses vodka as a rinse for shine and hairloss. bananas for hair and skin, Mangoes mashed and mixed with oils for hair, Castille rose soap for hair shampoo, egg whites for shiny and strong hair, vinegar for shiny hair, natural mayo for conditioning.

I don't remember much else, but will search my family's (grandma's and mom's ) recipe notebooks as soon as i find them.

[getoffmyskittle]

Err, yeah, the 100 brush strokes thing. I forgot, my grandmother told me to do that. The not Indian one. I tried it and got a lot of split ends. :scared: That was pre-LHC, too, so I'd do it at night so that I could watch the static electricity in the brush. It glowed yellow! Kinda cool party trick; only works on coarse, dry hair; very damaging. Overall, not recommended. :lol:

[kakaa]

In Croatia, women used to wash their hair with eggs. They conditioned it with olive, walnut and thistleroot oil and treated hair loss with a hair tonic made of nettles.

[Eirinn]

Polish with a strong asian genes of Armenia

Polish: in this forsaken by God and people country we're specialists of face masks - we have 1000 for every skin problem:

oats&yoghurt - acne

cucamber - whitening

honey/almond - moisturizing

strawberry&yoghurt - rose&cream complexion (works!)

flax seed jelly - scars, acne

For hair (We are nation of long hair. Every fifth girl on the street has hip/tb length):

castor oil overnight - strenghtening

white vinegar/ beer rinse - shine

egg yolks wash - who knows? for smell?:>

gelatine condish - shine&strenght

chamomile rinse - lightening

and the most important - one dull braid for whole life!

Armenian:

Nie mam zielonego pojęcia! (I don't have an green idea:p)

[CiaBabi]

Jamaican:

Fresh aloe from the front yard for conditioning
Black castor oil for thickening and sheen and to make it soft

[CiaBabi]

Also keeping the hair in protective styles because of it's fragile nature (twists, braids, canerows)

[lora410]

I'm irish, french, lituanian and god knows what else my mutt blood has, but my mom used to love mayo hair mask. Stinky though.

[JessTheMess]

Irish -
beer rinse - shine
raw potatos - depuff eyes

Italian -
olive oil - hair, nails & skin
garlic - eat a raw clove a day to keep the doctor away
red wine - ?

Welsh -
using only a BBB and a wooden comb
oatmeal mask - soft skin

Native American -
I never met my great grandpop so no clue :(

[Tapioca]

I'm full Dutch (American born).

As far as I can tell from relatives, their secret seems to be keeping it short and perming it! I think I'm the only one of my relatives with hair past BSL. (Except for a sister-in-law, but she's married in.)

[RavenDream]

I'm Greek. My whole family swears by olive oil. Olive oil soaps, hair treatments, and as a body lotion. Being a true Greek, we make our own as it never feels the same as the store bought.

[vampodrama]

Calamus??? I'd love to hear more about that, as I've planted it because it's native where I live. My cultural background is not native to where I live, but calamus is! I'm a native plant geek. What part is used, leaf? root?

I have no idea. I wouldn't reckognise a calamus if it smacked me upside the head. I just know that it's used for rinsing hair and it's a flea deterrant.

but OK. teh mighty google told me that you would use calamus root, harvest it in spring or autumn and it needs to be fully dried before use. and apparently it is also used to fight plague and cholera. so if it doesn't work for your hair, use it against plague! :D

[Sally]

Polish: in this forsaken by God and people country ...

LOL. (I was born in Poland, so I can laugh with you.) ... Great thread!

[BlackfootHair]

This thread is awesome. Makes me want to go and ask my relatives about possible old habits that I don't know about. :) Oh, I do know from reading "The Ways Of My Grandmothers" that Blackfoot women would use bear grease. A part down the middle and a braid on each side was the preferred hairstyle. And if you wore your hair loose it was a sign you were in mourning. But other than that...I need to ask. :)

[Chromis]

Does a state count as culture?

Oregonian -

Caffeine to excite the hair follicles
Rainwater - Cleansing and a bit inevitable
Salmon for Omegas for most (not me, ew fish!)
Pine needles - For detangling (you are bound to detangle them out of your hair at least!)
Fresh air - for clear skin
More water - to keep well-hydrated
Mold/pollen/grass seed - to stimulate the immune system

[granitbaby]

I'm from Sweden and the only thing I can think of is beer rinses. I even found a reference where it was specified the exact kind of beer: Medium beer.
Yes, in Sweden everything is standardized in light, medium and strong (or fat). Beer as well as milk.:cool:

[Eryka]

Knowing Denmark . . .

Beer.

Honestly I just moved here 2 years ago so ancient hair secrets haven't been revealed to me. However I'm having HUGE success with Rapsoile (Rapeseed oil) on my hair. It's SUPER cheap, smells great on hair and is very light.

Honey as well, especially sunflower honey.

[vampodrama]

I'm kinda perplexed people would actually use beer on their hair (externally that is). it sounds like.... blasphemy. :D

now explain me this. I have had beer poured on my head unintentionally (in moshpits). the result is comparable with heavy duty hairspray plus some cement. how on earth does a beer rinse work?

[Eryka]

I read somewhere in an herbal cookbook that the key to a beer rinse is to first let the beer stand in the open air for a few hours so that the alcohol evaporates.

If I remember correctly it was used for dandruff and shine. Most people happen to not mention that the beer has to be aired out or "flat".

[catfish]

I'm Greek and German. I was born wanting to take over the world:D

I was raised on my Oma's (grandmothers) apple orchard in Germany, ACV and beer rinses were a staple. Beer rinses were made with flat beer, left in for 5 min to soak then rinsed with rainwater or snow water. I've also been known to sit with applesauce on my head:p

The Greek side uses olive oil, orange flower water, and the leftover water from steamed greens.

[epiphanee]

Yeah, it's definitely flat beer. If you don't like it on your hair, use it in little saucers to catch slugs in your garden. You can also cook beef in beer. Great stuff beer.

[Aisha25]

Our family secrets well....coconut oil,onion,hair packs,wash once a week,no heat,braid all the time,no chemicals,henna,henna,henna and heres the big one espesially from my dad NO cutting the hairs!!!!

I dont know about my other side of the family(the american side) I never wanted to know but from what skitts said yeah that sounds about right:lol:

[ravenreed]

The only thing I heard from my american grandmother was 100 brush strokes for the hair. I never had the patience. Ever.

[Longlocks3]

I'm a blend of very white people! My mother and I can kill vacuums with our hair though. We have zero, zip, nada, hair tricks/tips. Thankfully I found this site! Now if only they made hair proof vacuums, or I could sell my hair as high end rope material.

[Himesama]

Another half Caucasian half Asian (Japanese).

The Japanese side: My mom is a big fan of stretching washes as long as possible. Am pretty sure this is a personal preference, not a traditional Japanese thing.

The American side: er... We love to try new shampoos and wish that every brand came in tiny trial size so that we wouldn't have so many half-empty bottles cluttering up the shower. (Typical American mutt: all sorts of European and some (unidentified) Native American)

[Iliana]

Sweden...
We are sunworshipers, has to be a deep knowledge that we wouldnt survive without the sun. Be outside a lot, to keep up the vitamines, keep up the mood and thereby get prettier!
Lakewater and rainwater is known to give softer hair. I had a tradition about starting school after summer, had to go down to our lake and take a bath, to get real pretty till the school started...

[hennaphile]

Russian/ukranian/scottish/irish/german/jewish

get too drunk to care how you look!!:toast:

[Calanthe]

German with a bit of other stuff mixed in...

Ah, yes, the beer trick - had that from grandma (who was also a fine-hair), because the beer is said to give a bit more body to the hair. The smell is gross, though...:D

Anotherone from grandma: chamomile as a rinse for blond(ish) hair. She did this regularly when I had my natural hair colour.

Crushed strawberries as a face mask against tired skin.

Loads more but those aren't really cultural, it's more like family secrets: my great-great grandma was a very accomplished herbalist and as that family side was rather poor she had to make most things herself from what was available rather then buy something in a shop.

[magpielaura]

Russian/ukranian/scottish/irish/german/jewish

get too drunk to care how you look!!:toast:


Thats why beer is recommended for hair so much - I'm sure the putting on the hair bit is an ancient misunderstanding!

[free_hug]

Hungary - a very small amount of (light) beer for rinsing. Works for many people, unfortunately not for me. Good effects of vitamin B, plus the whole thing gives hair some extra hold. Works great on curls. Watch out though, dark beers tend to make your hair sticky!

[Pixna]

Thats why beer is recommended for hair so much - I'm sure the putting on the hair bit is an ancient misunderstanding!

Excellent point!!! :laugh:

[helen2806]

I'm English and the only hair tradition I can think of came from my grandma (who was blonde like me before going grey). When she was younger she would use chamomile tea as a rinse to brighten her hair, although I haven't tried it yet.

She also told me that one of her friends used to iron her hair with a clothes iron to try and straighten her curls - definitely no intention of ever trying that one!

[rhubarbarin]

I'm a WASP, of mostly British/Scotch extraction but my family has been in the US since the 1500 and 1600s.

Looking at my relatives and people of a similar background: we keep our hair short, wash it obsessively and rip through it with brushes, and enjoy frying it with bleached highlights, blowdryers and flatirons.:lol:

My mom and grandmother never had hair longer than shoulder and didn't have any hair wisdom or traditions to impart.

[FallenAngel]

I'm swedish, and what people do here is the chamomille rinse for blonder hair. Hmm... what else? Lemon juice in hair summertime - also for blonder hair.

I think that is what i know about, anyway. Most of the things here seems to aim at getting blonder hair, and since I'm a natural cendr&#233; (concidered brown/dark in Sweden) I've never payed it any attention.

[FallenAngel]

How could I forget? DRINK A LOT OF BEER for thicker and healthier hair. :D

I don't do that either, since I prefere wine.

[AlleyKitten]

I think my family traditions center around benign neglect, for the few people with long hair. I'm American, of mostly Scottish descent, and most of my relatives have short highlighted hair...sigh.

[UrsaMama]

I'm mostly German but don't know of any traditions. Not too much to add but this thread is hilarious!

[teela1978]

Grandma was into vinegar rinses... but I think that was more from living in Southern California with super hard water than from her French-Canadian heritage.

[Madame J]

This isn't cultural, really, but my mom told me a story about when my grandma tried to wash her hair with hot oil treatment instead of shampoo by mistake. She kept working handfuls of it into my mom's long hair trying to make it lather, but obviously it didn't. Mom said when she finally got all the excess oil out, she had really shiny hair for a while.

Since I have Hungarian ancestry, I'm thinking of making up a batch of Queen of Hungary water to use in my vinegar rinses.

[Fractalsofhair]

I'm Scottish/Jewish(Scottish Jews that were in hiding from when they got kicked out of England, married Scottish people there who were partially related to the Vikings. Quite an odd mix.), and we came here a long long time ago, so I'm not sure how traditionally Scottish they are.

I do know one of my male relatives in the 1800s, he apparently fried his hair a lot with irons and such(They used tongs back then to curl hair), and thus was unable to grow his hair past shoulder length. That seems to be the stance of many people in my family, to fry the hair till it almost dies. Somehow my half brother got his hair to his knees, but it was horrible looking, fried and wispy and just really dry looking. He used really harsh shampoos.

My grandfather advocates bathing in heavily salted water and washing his hair in it, he says it helps with his balding scalp(he's bald, but not totally, unlike his siblings.). My grandmother says lemon juice helps with everything related to hair, but she also has very short hair. The other side of my family says that tallow and fat drippings are good for shine. Everyone seems to agree about the 100 strokes thing with a boar bristle brush, and that seemed to help my hair when my dad did that for me when I was little. Of course, then I hadn't heat styled my hair or bleached it, and I used castile soap on it. My family is big on using all natural products.

Flaxseed gel is what my great grandmum used for fingerwaves, but I don't think that's cultural. Olive oil seems to be big as well, in the younger generations. Lemon oil for nails, and lavender for body washes. A lot of herbs are used on cuts and such in my family, but the herbs are American, like lambs ear(IDK if that's the real name, the fuzzy light green leaves), and mint. Mint for burns that is. Mint jelly I think, I'm not sure though. Aloe as well.

Eat lots of oatmeal for general good health, and you can use oatmeal on your skin as well. Never heard of it in hair though.

[Speckla]

Mostly Italian and olive oil as a topical agent to in food. It makes the skin glow and soft and food taste great.

[Tangles]

.

I do know one of my male relatives in the 1800s, he apparently fried his hair a lot with irons and such(They used tongs back then to curl hair), and thus was unable to grow his hair past shoulder length.

For some reason I'm picturing him in pantaloons and a waistcoat while frying his poor hair :p

[Magdalene]

I'm half Scottish and half German. I suppose beer rinses...

Whatever it was must have worked:

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=72&pictureid=38277

[feralnature]

I suppose you could call me an American mutt, but I prefer to name all my roots :)

My daddy is Scot/Irish/English and my mom is Wendish(Serb).

I just prefer to call myself "Texan".

I was taught to brush 100 strokes, rinse hair in beer, mayo is good for hair, trimming makes it longer, and momma's famous home perms (oh Lord!)

Oh, I grew up with Prell Shampoo in the house. Then Breck or somebody "invented" Creme Rinse. Life altering for us oldsters. Finally something to get tangles out besides hours of crying and screaming.

[Fractalsofhair]

XD Tangles! I'm not quite sure how he dressed normally, we have a wedding photo of him and his wife since one of their friends was experimenting with photography in the early era. He was dressed formally for the era, and his hair looked kinda poofy. Not so much damaged as just very odd looking. It was harder to destroy hair then since baths were rarer and people used more gentle soaps. He wasn't wealthy, but he was middle class and went to college through his parents saving for his whole life and was an engineer, and he was very frugal in his old age, so I can presume he was in life. The guys in my family need hair care lessons! They all decide to have long hair, and just have no idea what to do with it. I mean, most of us females try to help it when it looks fried or frizzy, but a lot of guys don't have a clue. Some do, and if they do, it's amazing. Oh well, some things never change.

[Anlbe]

What a fun thread, I've really enjoyed reading everyones posts.

There are two main cultural traditions in my family -

English/Scottish/Irish/Irish American
Chamomile vinegar or chamomile lemon rinses to brighten blonde hair.
Soft water for hair, face, silk and lace.
Rose water and glycerin for the complexion.
Buttermilk for eczema.
Sulphur for acne and spots, it stank but it seemed to help.
Strawberries for whitening teeth.
Brush hair 100 times every evening with natural bristle brush and plait, rag or put in a bun to sleep (the brushing is actually a disaster with me, double disaster if I slept with it loose, but ragging works really well)
Woolite for shampoo - if it's safe for cashmere, it's safe for your hair!
Egg for a conditioner, duck eggs if you can get them, works for my mothers thin soft hair but not for me! this might be a Russian tradition as well as English but I'm not sure

Russian/Baltic German
Rosmary infusions to rinse.
Mink oil for hair and skin.
Wear your hair up - my grandmother used to say that after eighteen a woman's hair shouldn't touch her shoulders in public, obviously I ignore this quite regularly.
Use a hair piece, again I don't do this.
Use pieces of raw silk to dry the hair after washing and wash as rarely as possible.
Don't frown or grimace otherwise you get 'ugly' wrinkles.

There are also lots of other beauty traditions, but these come from all over as a result our roving lifestyle over the centuries rather than our county's of origins (belgium, india, australia, france, italy, south africa, zimbabwe....) and include things like alot of lavender, lip and cheek stain, tinted oil for nails and lots of other oil.

[Shufro]

Im middle eastern (assyrian) and in tradition we use henna :p

[3azza]

Lebanese culture and beauty secrets:
Castile soap and bay leaf soap ( my granma uses those, i find them drying)
Olive oil, castor oil (those trees grow everywhere from scratch), almond oil
herbal tea :cammomile, thyme, rosemary, mint,sage, lemon grass and other (i dont know the names in english)
Eucalyptus brew
organic honey
Henna imported from Saudia arabia and yemen

[ladylibra]

What an interesting thread! :D
Well honestly, the more I go digging into my family tree, the more pops up. So my family is also a classic American mutt family. :laugh: But obviously, we identify as Black as our African heritage is definitely the most prominent.

The only beauty secrets I can think of right off-hand from my Granny are: shea butter is great for the skin and oils are great for the hair. Although she was a big fan of keeping her hair short... she HATED having to do a lot to her hair.

[Gingevere]

The only family beauty secret that I've heard about was passed down by my Tyrolean great-grandmother. My mom says that she would rail on about the wonderful things that goat yogurt does for your hair and nails. She ate it every single day until she immigrated at age 16. I eat yogurt (not from goats) on a regular basis as well, and I start to feel a little weird if I go for very long without it.

[Neddy]

I'm mostly Greek, so olive oil is the big one. Eat it, rub it on skin, in your hair, it will make you glow inside and out!

[HappyHair87]

Well in my culture (i'm Black) we do a lot of relaxers or we also have naturals who have no chemicals in their hair and they prefer to wear it curly.

It's sad because even within our community alot of black ppl look down on our natural texture and think that straight hair is the law.

I have my hair relaxed bc of personal preference...its easier to deal with...however this year i'm texlaxing so that as my hair grows...i'm gently relaxing the curl pattern to wear my hair will wave up when it gets wet....which it does already and i love it!!

Alot of black women get weaves too....especially here in Florida they rock almost every color imaginable!!

[Bene]

my parents are ecuadorian, and i wish i had some great beauty secrets to add, but i can't think of any.

my mom used to wash my hair with ivory soap until she discovered shampoo :shrug:


the only thing i notice though is that (except for the ivory soap) i'm going back to certain hair practices she's taught us (via osmosis). hair up in a towel after a wash, comb it out, and put it away. in her case it was a long braid.


as for skin, i suppose oil of olay is the only thing she used. everything else is anecdotal, like putting your first morning's pee on your face to help with acne (fortunately, i never had acne so i never had to try this)

[BrianaFineHair]

I'm French, Irish, English, but my mom would swear by olive oil (not a stitch of Mediterranean in the family, but maybe a friend was and gave my mom the hint?).

Other than that, I grew up being told Redkin was gold and little trims every six months kept split end from creeping up the hair shaft. (mom was a hair stylist for 15 years, but back then she was called a "beautician". Funny how names have changed.)

[JKRBeloved]

WASP, raised in Chicago. Mom shampooed us once a week: Saturday night with green Prell. She loved discovering Tame rinse conditioner, and used that on us as well. Then she set our hair with plastic snap curlers (Pink and brown) while we watched "Gunsmoke" and we wore the curlers to bed. Had permanents about twice a year.

[Katurday]

Eh, southern Croatia = mediterranain.
Which means OLIVE OIL.
LOTS OF OLIVE OIL.

Also, Chamomille, and drinking plenty of wine.

[ericthegreat]

I am full blooded Chinese. I was born in Hong Kong but my parents immigrated to this country by the time I was a toddler, I remember starting Pre-K here and we've been lifelong NYorkers ever since. In her youth, my grandmother back in mainland China grew her hair past her knees and never once trimmed it. They didn't have harsh shampoo back then, and the water they used to rinse their hair and body wasn't laced with fluoride either so they really must have had really healthy shiny hair, skin, body everything! Also, everything they ate was grown organically of course and they traditionally would grow rice and a whole assortment of vegetables. They would had eggs and fish recipes to compliment the rice so I can only imagine how strong and even more beautiful their hair must have been.

I myself eat more according to my traditional heritage, which includes dishes like fried rice with broccoli, beef/and or chicken over scrambled eggs, noodles over beef or pork soup, and lots of white fish. I can't help with the pollution and smog of NYC or course, but my hair is still very strong and shiny and I attribute it to my traditional diet.

As for actual hair care routines, my grandmother to this day only washes her hair once a week and uses a classic wooden brush. Her locks are no longer knee length of course, its a bob to her shoulders but it is a shiny silver. My grandma also taught me how to braid, and before China came in contact with modern western culture both men and women in China grew their hair to terminal. The men would secure it in a single braid in the back while the women fashioned theirs in all kinds of fantastic buns, chignons, and braided updos. Back in China my grandma would again only rinse her hair in pristine water once a week, and when she wanted to make her hair really sleek and shiny she would smooth almond oil all the way down the length. I only wish they have color pics and video back then, she definitely had to have had lush, shiny thick locks!

[asantegold]

I'm from Ghana:

We used shea butter for moisturizing and styling hair.

We also wrapped thread around 4-20 chunks of hair to minimize tangles and stretch it to show off lenght. Braids served a similar function but didn't smooth the hair as much as thread.

[Dreamernz]

I am amazed at the number of people with some mixed lithuanian heritage, considering my home country's population is only about a third of the population of London, the English capital where I now live.(Moved to sunny ol' England at the age of four).
Cos I'm .....lithuanian.....yeah just lithuanian.....hehe (though I think my mum's paternal grandfather was Belarussian) :D:D:D
Ummm my mum said stuff that seems universal in Europe, beer and egg for the hair, washing it in rainwater and her own invention, sugar spray (which was cheaper than hairspray at the time :D)

p.s. really cool thread by the way! :D

[lundmir]

I'm Mexican, and I have to say, rosemary rinses and avocados are amazing. I've used cactus and walnuts, and guava tree leaves for my black hair. I did use a tomato treatment for growth, bbut my hair grows a lot anyway and I can't say if it really worked.
There are tons of herbs I've used, but I don't remember right now which of them worked. I'll ask my mom about that...
My mom's panamenian, and I don't know if it is cultural, but she always has recommended olive oil.

[may1em]

I'm American and white. Traditionally, I know of vinegar rinses and 100 brushstrokes every night. And using "That's the night I wash my hair" to get out of things you don't want to do.

Nowadays? As far as I can tell, layers, highlights, and heat styling.

This is why I get my hair advice here instead.

[Laylah]

I'm part Chinese/Scottish/german. I don't know what any of them do for hair but my mom (although she's Chinese) grew up in Vietnam and a lot of people used coconut oil for their hair there. She also lived in India for a while and I'm pretty sure they use oils/herbs.

[SimplyViki]

I'm American and white. Traditionally, I know of vinegar rinses and 100 brushstrokes every night. And using "That's the night I wash my hair" to get out of things you don't want to do.

Nowadays? As far as I can tell, layers, highlights, and heat styling.

This is why I get my hair advice here instead.
Ditto! That's actually what I came here to post. :D

[Coriander]

As far as I know, I have Cherokee, Irish, English and maybe Scottish blood. However, I was adopted by a Dad who has Irish and Italian blood and a Mom with Polish and Austrian blood. All of that adds up to mutt. :D I'm an American, though.

My secret? This site :D

I've been interested in looking into Cherokee hair stuff, though.

[SimplyViki]

*snip*
I've been interested in looking into Cherokee hair stuff, though.
Ooh! Post whatever you find out, will you? I've got a bit of Cherokee in me, too. :D

[Nyghtingale]

I'm American and white. Traditionally, I know of vinegar rinses and 100 brushstrokes every night.

Agree, that's why I'm here, lol

[Renbirde]

I'm German/ Norwegian stock. Not sure, but I seem to recall something about eggs. And cheese.
(And sauerkraut and potato salad, but those are for eating, mot putting in the hair. ;))


No problems here with finding rainwater to wash with-- all the water in my house is from a roof entrapment system. :) Yay for living in a rainforest.

[Chanterelle]

I'm Russian and traditional beauty secrets include herbal rinses and egg washes.

[Monsterkitti]

Im English/welsh and Sicilian living in England.

Nothing much from the English or Welsh side really except my mum saying to use lemon juice to lighten hair.

Sicilian side is all about olive oil unsuprisingly :) That and eating healthy to make skin and hair healthier.

[Idun]

Pretty much undiluted Norwegian descent here.

Grandmothers tips: For shine: washing hair with rainwater and final rinsing should be cold. Beer-, birch-leaves- or juniper-rinses. Egg treatment. And most importantly eating a tablespoon of tran (= fish-oil) every day. I seem to remember her talking about eating yeast too, - for vitamin B.

[swanns]

I'm of Finnish decent only, guess our traditional beauty secrets would have something to do with birch leaves and pine tar, don't know what exactly, though. I've heard of the 100 brush strokes a day too.

These days it really is mostly hair dye, heat styling and styling products, though :rolleyes:

[earthdancer]

My mother's family is Czech, and she told me they used to use sugar water before hair spray was invented.

It would make the hair stiff, but I would also think it would attract bees!shudder:

[Nera]

I'm from the Netherlands, but people here don't care about their hair. Most people like to keep it short (above shoulder length), and just dye it and wash it regularly.
So no beauty secrets over here! Too bad(:

[Eireann]

I don't know if it's traditional or not, but I remember my mother saying you could use leftover Champagne to rinse your hair. The trouble is, I never have leftover Champagne. :)

[AddiesMom13]

I'm French and Polish. I can tell you that french braids and twists aren't really from France :)
My mom is Polish and she likes to make lots of rinses with herbs she grows, especially rosemary. I know that rosemary is a traditional herb in Poland, and they use it in lots of special ceremonies (Ie, a bride wears a rosemary wreath around her head). I used to use them when I lived with her, but now that I have a family of my own I don't have time..but maybe someday I'll pick it up again :)

[cowgirltresses]

I'm mostly German and Irish. On the Irish side I found that they were most likely the inventors of hair gel, like a couple thousand years ago! New to me! Also they use Irish Moss in all sorts of mixes and treatments. It's supposed to make your hair SO soft and shiny. Much of the German has been mentioned but I'll second the 100 strokes a day and stretching washes out.

[Vermelha]

I am of Black American/Gullah, English, Black Seminole Indian, and Cherokee Indian descent.

The beauty secrets most people in our community know of are Aloe Vera (originally as a antimicrobial to heal scars, but also for the hair), Sulfur (for hair growth and healing acne marks), and the older ladies here talk a lot about Castor Oil for hair growth. They all have daughters with very long, black hair. I've used it for a long time.

Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter are staples for the whole body. Beeswax is too, as it was used to press hair straight every Saturday night before church. Lots of Marcel Waxes have Beeswax in the ingredients. We used lots of Vaseline in our family though, for the hair and skin, as well as Cocoa and Shea Butter. But our skin has stayed very elastic and not a person in our family has a single wrinkle.

[cheshire90]

lebanese, mascara and arabic eyeliner

[gazelle]

I'm between Middle East and Europe so women have lots of recipes. But the leading is henna

[Desideira]

I am form Poland. traditional hair beauty recipie is:

egg yolks and castrol oil with leomen or withaut it.

for blonde hair that is getting dull its recomended to use cammomile rinses and soaks after washing hair regularry. It gives beutifull higliths and its good for scalp too.

for nice complexion and hair, nails its recomended to drink nettle tea.

:magic:

[Leoneska]

German/Polish:
I know about 100 brush strokes (this seems to exist everywhere in the world?), camomille washes/rinses to boost blonde and beer rinses as a natural strengthener which is supposed to add volume. The beer must not be rinsed, and opposed to what one might think the hair does not smell like a pub afterwards ;)
Then, there is nettle rinses/tinctures to fight shedding, birch hair lotion for flakey, greasy scalps and fennel rinses for ultimate shine.
I must admit that I've never tried the beer rinse!

[CC-Bale]

I am Full Blooded Native Canadian. Honestly, as I mentioned in the other Native thread was that our culture and traditions are passed down orally. So you won't find too too much online. I am curious for myself and I think I'm going to ask my Grandfather. So far I only know some skin secrets.

[kouran]

From Spain here; my mom tells me she and her female relatives used to use lye soap to wash with and water + vinegar to rinse it. She says her hair looked very shiny with this treatment.

Women also used almond oil for shine. If they wanted to "set" their hairdos they'd use beer instead of hairspray.

I have heard all of this from my grandmother, but never about the beer thing. Since in Portugal the olive tree is like the national tree, olive oil was more frequently used than almond, though our EVOO is different from the one bought for hair, it's quite thick and hard to rinse.

[woolyleprechaun]

Im English, and regretfully our beauty heritage is poorly preserved:(. Most women my age are the third or fourth generation of chemical colouring and heat styling and such. However, Im fortunate to have inherited many old books with beauty instructions in them. Does that count....?:confused:

[wvgemini]

Mostly German and Norwegian here. With a heavy dash of Scottish for good measure :D As far as traditional hair care I don't have a clue outside of knowiing that beer baths and beer rinses are very good for the skin and hair. :hmm: I guess I'll have to do a bit of research.

[archel]

I'm Scotts/Irish on my dad's side with English and Austrian on my mom's side. My mother's side of the family in the older generations had very interesting hair traditions. The women in the old regular baptist church grow their hair long as it is their "crowning glory" (it's not required, just a tradition that most embrace). My grandmother and aunt would get their hair shampooed once a week at the salon and then put up in a fancy coif they would wear all week, with a scarf at night to protect their do. So, I guess benign neglect was the way for them!

I can remember my mother doing all sorts of funny stuff in the 70's - beer rinses, eggs, mayo! Unfortunately the 80s happened and I was in high school and we all got into bad habits like home perms and box dyes and curling irons and tons of hair spray. yikes.

I guess I'm reverting to my family's old ways of growing it and leaving it the heck alone.

Anyway - the Oregonian comment cracked me right the heck up! I lived in Seattle and the "rainwater treatments" were a way of life for a good 9 months out of the year! LOL

[Sagi1982]

I'm German (mostly), and I think it's rinsing with beer (I never do that because of coarse hair) and the popular ACV rinses.

My mum, who was born in 1942 told me of natron washes in her childhood.

And: wash your hair when its dirty. ;-)

[Ermine]

I'm American, english and swedish descent. I inherited the stereotypical fine blonde hair, but no hair tips. Just the typical American tips: dye it, straighten it to make it look shiny, and go to the salon if you still don't like it. Repeat the vicious cycle.

[MyKing'sQueen]

I'm ukrainian. When I was little my mom did chamomile, burdock root, nettle rinses on my hair, I used to wash it once a week and kept it up most of the time. One other thing that I remember is when my mom tried to wash my hair with an egg and used hot water to wash it out it cooked in my hair:nono: She never tried it again:lol:

[Niwa]

I'm of a couple of African ethnicities. Africa is basically known for all sorts of butters, oils, and intricate protective styles, and that reputation is accurate in my experience. Africans run into trouble hair-wise only when we stray from methods perfected for our hair over thousands of years and try to style our hair in what we think are Western ways (read: straightened with chemicals, shampooed to death, and dyed :laugh:).

Shea butter
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Kukui nut oil
Wooden combs
Intricately braided styles

[Isidith]

I'm Irish Canadian, and the only beauty secrets I can remember was my mother telling me that my Nana swears by taking Evening primrose oil for her youthful- almost wrinkle-free skin and soft hair it also helps with PMS I've heard.

I took it for awhile and my skin did seem softer etc, but then my budget got tigher and so I chose oils for my hair over extra vitamins while I still have youth on my side :P

I also was always told for stronger, faster growing hair to take vitamin e capsules and put some in your conditioner. I do use it in my conditioner and I love putting it on my lips. However, I don't take it internally. I found it made my menstrual cycle very heavy and later I found out that vitamin e can block out vitamin K absorption and that's why you get the heavier cycles. Not fun.

Other then that, it was the basic, eat well, wash your face before bed, always condition your hair after you shampoo and wait until its dry to brush it, and drink lots of water.

I learned about oiling hair when I met my best friend who is Indian when I was 18. She did it for me the first time and told me it would be better and more comfortable then me sleeping with conditioner over night and dealing with an itchy scalp just for nice hair. So that is the best beauty secret I've learned and have had nicer, less frizzy hair since!

[Megz]

My mother's English, German, Welsh, Swiss, and some other odds and ends. They keep adding, I've lost track and can only assume they were a promiscuous lot ha. Those are the main ones. My father's of African and Blackfoot (Native American) descent.

No one knew what to do with my hair as a kid, since the texture was so different. I got a lot of "I don't know what to do with this!" Including from most hair dressers. :wink: So, I didn't really do much with it, other than bun it or try to hide it up until recently.

I've been trying to embrace techniques from different cultures and doing whatever works best for me. Lately, I'm into the oiling mostly, particularly with coconut oil. Also getting into amla and other Indian tricks, which seems to work great for my hair. I love using natural ingredients and experimenting to see what works.

[Susana]

Cuban here! We also use avocados for moisture. I hear we also use beer, and of course the wrap to straighten and paper curls :) Mostly, we don't do anuthing to it as it is really hot and humid and hair straighteners and products are hard to come by ;)

[EbonyCurls]

West African - I don't use it on my hair but women use shea-butter. They also plait hair and keep it wrapped in the sun.

[misspurdy06]

I'm french, dutch and native american. Mostly it's keep it simple and natural. Drink lots of water, when you wash your hair rinse with cold water.

Don't use detergents like shampoo or soap they dry you out. Moisture keeps you young.

[misspurdy06]

I'm blackfoot too!

[angelfell]

I am adopted so I don't really know what I am. Mostly caucasian ethnicities I assume, although my mom (who knows my birth parents) has confirmed I'm at least 1/4 native American. Admittedly, I have no clue what they do with their dark, pretty long hair :p. I'll look it up and post, maybe try them!

[gthlvrmx]

My parents are from mexico, and my mother who is from Durango says that they used beer, mayo, some oils, lemon for those days they had flyaways, avocado, egg rarely.

[mom2fourgirls]

I am 100% Armenian :) and we color our hair with Henna and sometimes wash it with Chamomile Tea :)

[gatodelasenora]

I'm Black and White (my Mom's black and my Dad's white). Learning from my mom (she says I have "good hair") Cholesterol deep treatments (put it on, put a shower cap on, sit under a dryer for up to an hour) when hair is super dry. Olive oil massaged into the scalp, then combed through for daily styling (to make hair grow), wrap hair up in a silk or satin scarf (or use a satin pillow) to prevent breakage when you sleep... wear hair up in bun's or braids to protect and keep from getting dirty and tangled.
my hair is curly (like if a white girld would pay to get a perm). My mom's hair is kinky and she gets braids to grow her hair out, then she'll get it relaxed. I've never seen her wear weave. I tried a pony tail weave once (you pin it into your own bun for length). Kinda fun, but a big hassel.
I've also heard of "pressing" hair instead of relaxing it to keep it soft and from breaking (its like an old fashioned flat orin, but funny looking)...
Guess that's all. :)

[gatodelasenora]

OMG! I also forgot the Mane and Tail Shampoo (for horses, but they sell it it stores). My mom swears that stuff makes your hair thick and longer. I just think if you stop frying it with chemicals, and heat abuse, then your hair will grow and be healthy.

I also have Choctaw Native American on my mom's side (my great great grandmother). It's so far back in my family, I don't try to claim myself as it! lol. She had super long (to her butt) black hair that she kept in a bun almost all the time). I wish someone would have passed down her hair care routine! :)

[sally_neuf]

Here in Venezuela everyone swears by sheep placenta.... yuck!
Haven't tried myself :run:

Oh, just to clarify, not to eat sheep placenta but to put on your hair a product called like that. I don't know what it contains, it's a secret formula with sheep placenta !

[wendy51]

I'm Peulh from Conakry-guinea and what works best is, shea butter
Argan oil is really good too while doing braids =)

[purple dust]

Well, let me share this secret with you: My mom is Mexican (I'm Latin-American, but look foreign because I have light skin and very black hair and eyes), and she did a Mexican trick when I was little.

I was 4-5 and had almost no hair (I was almost bald, just fine strands a la Homer Simpson) and she shaved the little strands I had and immediately put slices of grilled tomatoes on top of my head. I've had full, black, coarse hair since then! I have to watch out for moisture, but I never care about hair falling.

[mallorykay13]

I'm Greek and German. I was born wanting to take over the world:D

I was raised on my Oma's (grandmothers) apple orchard in Germany, ACV and beer rinses were a staple. Beer rinses were made with flat beer, left in for 5 min to soak then rinsed with rainwater or snow water. I've also been known to sit with applesauce on my head:p

The Greek side uses olive oil, orange flower water, and the leftover water from steamed greens.

Its very comforting to hear you call your grandma "Oma". I am half german and have an Oma too. As for traditions I am american born and therefor have/know none.

[Kyaatje]

Belgian here and apart from beer, egg, chamomile infusions, j
the 100 brush strokes I have not much extra to add. In my family everybody has short or shortish hair. My sis used to have tailbone lenght hair but she cut it when she was 17 or 18. My hair was thought of as too difficult to maintain long lol
What seems to be running with the older members is not touching it yourself and going to the hairdressers once every week or even every 2 weeks to have it washed and styled.
The comment heared very often when talking hair or beauty is : don't be vain just act normally
So not to much secrets to be had there !

[oktobergoud]

Its very comforting to hear you call your grandma "Oma". I am half german and have an Oma too. As for traditions I am american born and therefor have/know none.

we dutchies have oma's as well :D and opa's :P

[JulietCapulet]

Hispanic/Russian

Avocados

[Capybara]

I'm Canadian (East Coast, baby!), and I guess that my country is so culturally diverse that I can't really think of any traditional Canadian beauty secrets :o They always seem to be borrowed from different cultures.

As for my ethnicity, I'm Scottish and English, but so watered down through years in North America (my ancestorscame over on the Mayflower) that I don't think that has much bearing on it, culturally.

The beauty secrets that my family uses, however, are as follows:

* Sea water for hair, sand for skin - salt water, for some reason, makes my hair feel great, and the sand is marvelous for exfoliating. Only try this in the summer though ;)

* Aloe vera - Being Canadian, we burn. Sometimes badly. Aloe is great for sunburns, but also daily moisturization.

* Smiling - My grandmother always said, "A bit of powder, a bit of paint, makes a woman what she ain't," then follows to say that a smile is better than any cosmetic. She has no problem with makeup, but it is true that you can have the best makeup in the world yet if you have a grumpy sourpuss look on your face, it won't be as nice.

Very interesting thread!

[Tealpuffin]

I am English so there are not many but my nan and grandma both always said I had to brush my hair 100 times before I went to bed. Guessing it comes from the victorians (but probably because I refused to brush it :P )

It did make me laugh when some mentioned the scraped up chavy pony tails. A friend and I always had our hair like this (whenever my hair wasn't cut into a bob by my mum :mad: )

[YepLilly]

From Spain here; my mom tells me she and her female relatives used to use lye soap to wash with and water + vinegar to rinse it. She says her hair looked very shiny with this treatment.

My grandma is from Spain and a firm believer in vinegar rinses. She always told me to do them when I was little :) Funny how I'm now starting to do them again after so many years.

[Megz]

I may have to steal Oma. My mother is getting on that I-want-to-be-a-grandmother kick, I think, even if she's in age denial and I'm not in the situation for a kid yet (my brother is a lost cause, so she's relying on me *gulp*). She's already making it known that she doesn't want to be called gran, nan, nana, or grandma. I suggested the Ancient One, but that didn't fly either for some reason.

[Dizzy_zzz]

Pure English on my mom's side, and Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French and Mik'maq on my dad's = Canadian for all intents and purposes. :p From my mom's side, ignore it until it starts to bother you, then cut it. Must have worked, because my mom had past classic length hair when she was young.
On my dad's: Eat gelatin for healthy nails, lemon juice, use dishsoap on your hair every one in a while to clarify, bathe as little as possible (so as not to rake up the water bill :D ), eat lots of fish (they're all Newfies), brush it, and keep it short because of the weird awful wiry texture.

[Lianna]

Sweet almond oil. ~from Brazil :blossom:

[Maktub]

Here, walnut leaf decoction used as a rinse to make brown hair really shiny and strong !
Make the leaves boil in water for 15 minutes (2-3g for 100 ml) before applying to hair. Good for skin too.

Or make a thinck paste with 200g of leaves, 1 spoon of honney and warm water. Apply to dry hair and leave 1h before rinsing.

[OrchidRain]

I'm Polynesian. Samoan ;)

Coconut oil is used on hair and skin.

My mom always talked about loving the way her hair felt after washing it in a waterfall when she was young. I loved doing that when I lived in Samoa, lightly oiling the scalp and length with coconut oil afterwards and letting it air dry. The water from the falls was pure and freezing cold but once it dried, my hair was baby soft and shiny.

Eating lots of fish and fresh fruit & veggies seem to be what many of the older people say for healthy body, skin and hair.

[Deliciosa]

Half German half Austrian...

Dont laugh but beer...and eggs...wash your hair with beer or/and eggs....honey is a big thing too. Chamomile....hm lets think

Well my other half is indian, but so far I havent spoken with his aunties or grandma about haircare...I think that would be weird as I am trying well I am pretty much there so no more trying...well I am washing with indian herbs...

[raishalini11]

I am an Indian..and the beauty secret is well known to world :)

Still average working class Indian women are far away from natural remedies when it comes to hair due to lack of time and other responsibility.. except hair oil. hair oil is big thing in India and can be seen in every house hold ..mustard, coconut, olive depending on the choice.

I have spent long time at country side before moving to city and can say we have plenty of option at former for hair growth. You will see Bringraj growing in bushes, amla and reetha trees..henna hedges..hibiscus and rose gardens as well as pure mustard and castor oil to name few and if anyone is interested in nurturing and growing hair then plenty of options are there.

I remember as a teenager got bitten by long hair bug (including my sister)and was after my grand mother to tell us the names of easily available herbs to apply and thus our knowledge grew abt bringraj or bhangaraiya, amla, henna etc and I remeber by high school my hair was of hip length :cool:.

Then after moving to city priorities changed with style and one day I was left with shoulder length hair ..just to be in the rat race of new fashion..I still repent :(

Anyways ..I'm back on track now and hoping to grow my hair again..I guess its never too late:D

[Deliciosa]

I am an Indian..and the beauty secret is well known to world :)

Still average working class Indian women are far away from natural remedies when it comes to hair due to lack of time and other responsibility.. except hair oil. hair oil is big thing in India and can be seen in every house hold ..mustard, coconut, olive depending on the choice.

I have spent long time at country side before moving to city and can say we have plenty of option at former for hair growth. You will see Bringraj growing in bushes, amla and reetha trees..henna hedges..hibiscus and rose gardens as well as pure mustard and castor oil to name few and if anyone is interested in nurturing and growing hair then plenty of options are there.

I remember as a teenager got bitten by long hair bug (including my sister)and was after my grand mother to tell us the names of easily available herbs to apply and thus our knowledge grew abt bringraj or bhangaraiya, amla, henna etc and I remeber by high school my hair was of hip length :cool:.

Then after moving to city priorities changed with style and one day I was left with shoulder length hair ..just to be in the rat race of new fashion..I still repent :(

Anyways ..I'm back on track now and hoping to grow my hair again..I guess its never too late:D

HIHI Rashalini I think you are everyone's new best friend now ;)

Its funny when I asked my hun's older sister she was like "WHAT washing with herbs" it seems to be a forgotten trade.
I hope I can bond with my hun's grandma over hair and herbs...maybe she likes my approach and therefore forgets about the religion...sigh

[kanaka]

I am Indian tooo :) and the beauty secret is always oil here.

Most people use coconut oil, ayurvedic oils(made from herbs), washing with Indian herbs and may be some natural stuff like eggs, curd, honey etc occasionally.....

I use coconut oil and Evoo.... 2 years back i used ayurvedic oil which was good but i am back to coconut oil again..i oil my hair a lot because i don't use conditioner. for my hair its oil and nothing more

Recently(two months back) got my hair cut to hip with front layers which i liked first and then got so irritated of those layers. so trying to grow out. hip length is my short hair length ever. i always had TB length hair and classic in teens. i miss my hair so need to get it back :)

[raishalini11]

HIHI Rashalini I think you are everyone's new best friend now ;)

Its funny when I asked my hun's older sister she was like "WHAT washing with herbs" it seems to be a forgotten trade.
I hope I can bond with my hun's grandma over hair and herbs...maybe she likes my approach and therefore forgets about the religion...sigh

Thanks Deliciosa,

Unfortunately I lost my grand mom last year but her memories are still fresh in my mind :) and also her suggestion about hair care. The thing which I miss so much now is the nonavailability of amla and reetha dried at home (now I purchase it :() She use to get the fruits from amla and reetha trees picked and dried for our use and of course the homemade mustard oil..

Seems further you move from your roots more you lose touch with originality..

[MasCat]

Another Pole here :)

Soo. 100 brushtokes is well and alive in Poland.

The Slavic Gods reccomend also:
- beer rinses
- camomile for blonde hair
- walnut peels for dark hair
- grandma used to say about washing with grey soap and rainwater.

Unfortunately the females on my mum's side of the family kept their hair short. My father's mum had gorgeous, thick dark hair, I saw pictures of her around APL/BSL. She used to colour her hair so the grays wouldnt be visible, but then she stopped and had a wonderful silver bun, a bit thin, but still I found it gorgeous...

[Deliciosa]

Thanks Deliciosa,

Unfortunately I lost my grand mom last year but her memories are still fresh in my mind :) and also her suggestion about hair care. The thing which I miss so much now is the nonavailability of amla and reetha dried at home (now I purchase it :() She use to get the fruits from amla and reetha trees picked and dried for our use and of course the homemade mustard oil..

Seems further you move from your roots more you lose touch with originality..

I am so sorry to hair, I hope she will be OK where she is now. But I think she'd be proud that her granddaughter continues the tradition...

I would loooove loooooove loooooooooooooooooooooooove to go to india to study ayurveda - I know weird for a Muslimah...LOL

[Buffy]

Well, i'm from Greece, so of course our "traditional" hair treatment is Greek extra virgin olive oil! :)

And you know, here , almost everyone has a relative/uncle/grandfather/friend , who has a field of olive trees and produces his own olive oil. Tell me about 100&#37; virgin hahaha :D

Plus chamomile(which is plenty here) in the hair and lye under the sun for natural highlights. It doesn't do miracles, but it works!

Ow, and vinegar rinses!

[Sookie]

Aw awesome thread!

Hey i am from greece too! :D

[raishalini11]

I am so sorry to hair, I hope she will be OK where she is now. But I think she'd be proud that her granddaughter continues the tradition...

I would loooove loooooove loooooooooooooooooooooooove to go to india to study ayurveda - I know weird for a Muslimah...LOL

Hey not at all, there is no religious differences as such except when few in power want to take advantage of it but thankfully Indians are much educated now in terms of respecting religious beliefs.

In my whole life at least I haven't seen any such differences:) so you are most welcome any time. Who knows tomorrow you may turn out to be beauty GURU on LHC (Mind+Body+Soul) :D

[Deliciosa]

Shokeria Raishalini

Naw I am just a herbal freak thats all...hehe. Currently I am doing a little cure with Manjista (Blood detox), Brahmi and Gotu Kola for my upstair health.

Funny is since I started going all herbal everything has improved....I am so bright in the morning and everything...unbelievable.

My better half and I are planning to go to Goa over Christmas, that will be fun but I have to cover quite literally because I burn easily as I am strawberry blond...Gori-allert ggg

If we do, I so will try to visit a local market or so...maybe trying fresh amla or something like this...as my hun is getting salt and peppery on his head I want to convince him that I can massage his scalp with Mahabringraj before washing hair...he loves the massage but not the theel head ggg lets see...

[Buffy]

Aw awesome thread!

Hey i am from greece too! :D


Hey girl!!! :cheer::cheer::cheer: Den perimena na vrw ki allh Ellinida :)

Plus, your nickname is Sookie andmine is Buffy....weird hahahaha!:D (if you know Buffy the vampire slayer...)

[raishalini11]

Shokeria Raishalini

Naw I am just a herbal freak thats all...hehe. Currently I am doing a little cure with Manjista (Blood detox), Brahmi and Gotu Kola for my upstair health.

Funny is since I started going all herbal everything has improved....I am so bright in the morning and everything...unbelievable.

My better half and I are planning to go to Goa over Christmas, that will be fun but I have to cover quite literally because I burn easily as I am strawberry blond...Gori-allert ggg

If we do, I so will try to visit a local market or so...maybe trying fresh amla or something like this...as my hun is getting salt and peppery on his head I want to convince him that I can massage his scalp with Mahabringraj before washing hair...he loves the massage but not the theel head ggg lets see...

Deliciosa, welcome to Goa..and I hope you enjoy your trip :)

[Aimskylove]

Im Dominican. We also use avocados :)

[Maktub]

I would loooove loooooove loooooooooooooooooooooooove to go to india to study ayurveda - I know weird for a Muslimah...LOL

Hey, how funny, I'd love it too ! And to me, it's not weird at all for a muslimah :p

You should have been in my medical anthropology class on Islam and health ! Lot's of interesting links between prophetic islamic medicine and ayurveda and other important medical traditions of the world :p

[Swan 92]

I'm Romani. Most of the women just leave their hair up in a ponytail or bun. I'm not sure what our beauty secrets are since we're pretty americanized here in the US. :confused:

Looking at some stuff on google I've found this though.


Romani women are some of the most beautiful women in the world. How do they get that way? Are they born beautiful? Many are, yes, but not all. And for those who are not, there are some closely kept beauty secrets: * To wash one's face with dew every morning is believed to keep the complection clear. Rain water also has been used, but these days of acid rain give one pause for thought. *If you have very dry hair, warm some olive oil and apply it to the hair, using cotton balls. Work slowly over the head, working the oil in and being careful to cover the ends of the hair with the oil. Then dip a towel in hot water, wring it out, and wrap it around your hair. When the towl has cooled, reheat it and wrap it around again, Do this for a total of an hour, then thoroughly shampoo the hair. *

And...
* A tea made from sage is not only a good hair wash, but will also bring back the hair's natural color when it is starting to grey. *Some Romani women take a lock of hair and bury it at the foot of a willow tree. This is said to promote luxuriant growth, making the hair glossy and attractive. Enjoy these Romani Beauty Secrets and let your inner beauty shine through!!

[tigereye]

I'm Scottish. It's hard to remember what is tradition and what I have learned here. I'm pretty sure nettle rinses were a thing. We used to make fabric and soup from them too, so it makes sense.
Apparently Scottish men regularly wore their hair in braids to keep it out of the way in readiness for battle, but it died down when men started wearing their hair short.
Other than that I dont know.

[kanaka]

Hey, how funny, I'd love it too ! And to me, it's not weird at all for a muslimah :p

You should have been in my medical anthropology class on Islam and health ! Lot's of interesting links between prophetic islamic medicine and ayurveda and other important medical traditions of the world :p

Yes Maktub. Its not at all weird for a Muslim thinking of coming to India, for me, that's cool :cool: No one sees differently because so many Muslims are present here and we make good friends too :D

[C.H.]

I may have to steal Oma. My mother is getting on that I-want-to-be-a-grandmother kick, I think, even if she's in age denial and I'm not in the situation for a kid yet (my brother is a lost cause, so she's relying on me *gulp*). She's already making it known that she doesn't want to be called gran, nan, nana, or grandma. I suggested the Ancient One, but that didn't fly either for some reason.


LOL. Hey you might as well go with something creative.

[paintedhorse]

oh these are great!

[Of the Fae]

I'm from Holland. I can't recall any typical Dutch standard for taking care of hair, however what a lot of people do for the skin here is use vaseline and uiercreme on any dry spots, like lips in the winter when they tend to burst, and it works very well! I've never seen uiercreme abroad, so maybe that's a Dutch thing..


Ohyeah.. on every holiday we dance around in a big tank of cheese and ride cows in the full moon with our clogs on and tulips on our hairs
hahaha



just kidding :)

[HintOfMint]

Reviving this thread!

My mother and grandmother were big on coconut oil scalp massages as a pre-wash oiling. It was a big ritual to massage each others' scalps with coconut oil and comb it through thoroughly. It was heaven, and perfect mother-daughter bonding time.
They also used Henna to strengthen their hair.
My mother would also do an almond and milk paste of some sort for a facemask. I remember always wanting to eat it :)

[SnowWhite]

Half Mexican, half Dutch, living in Holland.

In Mexico people like avocado's for face/hair treatments.
I also know a Mexican 'cream' called Pomada de la Campana, which is a greasy, very basic cream, smelling like Vaseline but with another texture. It smells like a pharmacy. My grandma rubbed small amounds of it on her hands and her neck.

My Dutch grandma puts used teabags (nettle or green tea) on her eyes before sleeping, just to refresh the sensitive skin. Quite funny, but why not use them instead of cucumbers? ;)

[Tota]

I'm Slavic. My ancestors were mostly very hard workers (farmers) so the main idea was to just keep the hair away from the face. Young girls wore long (TBL) braids until they were married - then they could do what they want with their hair and most of them cut it short - because it was practical and because they weren't allowed to do so before. It was also unacceptable to be vain or to show off any of your attributes. And they just didn't have time. My grandparents still don't approve my long hair - because it gets in the way (and I'm a translator, not a farmer lol).
The other part of my family (these people are now dead or at least 70 years old) were women who didn't want to work so they left home. They went abroad and married men who were prepared to provide for them (here this wasn't the case - everyone had to work). These women (as I remember from my early childhood) then came back to visit us to brag with their wealth, cars, clothes and jewellry. Their hair was bleached, teased, permed and just plain ugly. When my former socialist country became democratic and we also could get shiny cars and nice clothes and look "european" they didn't come anymore because they didn't feel "bigger" than us anymore.

[Othala]

I'm Slavic. My ancestors were mostly very hard workers (farmers) so the main idea was to just keep the hair away from the face. Young girls wore long (TBL) braids until they were married - then they could do what they want with their hair and most of them cut it short - because it was practical and because they weren't allowed to do so before. It was also unacceptable to be vain or to show off any of your attributes. And they just didn't have time. My grandparents still don't approve my long hair - because it gets in the way (and I'm a translator, not a farmer lol).
The other part of my family (these people are now dead or at least 70 years old) were women who didn't want to work so they left home. They went abroad and married men who were prepared to provide for them (here this wasn't the case - everyone had to work). These women (as I remember from my early childhood) then came back to visit us to brag with their wealth, cars, clothes and jewellry. Their hair was bleached, teased, permed and just plain ugly. When my former socialist country became democratic and we also could get shiny cars and nice clothes and look "european" they didn't come anymore because they didn't feel "bigger" than us anymore.

I really enjoyed reading this, Tota, especially the last paragraph. It reminded me of some people I know, LOL.

[sarelis]

I'm English Basque, most of my hair tips come from my Basque Granny, she used coconut & olive oil, washed infrequently, detangled with a wide tooth comb. She had beautiful long, dark wavy hair right into her old age :)

[Tota]

I really enjoyed reading this, Tota, especially the last paragraph. It reminded me of some people I know, LOL.

I got a bit carried away because these memories ... ugh :) Their hair was a status symbol - they thought they were ladies and cosmopolitan but to me (a small village girl) they looked like half-plucked chicken. Sadly a lot of women here still thinks like them.

[littlestarface]

bump! i love this thread.

[Sharysa]

I'm Filipino(-American) and my mother said to use coconut oil for our hair. Ironically enough, it doesn't work for my hair AT ALL. My hair tends to dry out easily, and coconut oil just dries it out even more for some reason. However, Mom also said to rub lemon juice on my face sometimes, which makes my skin very smooth.

For my hair I use sweetgrass essential oil mixed with Dr. Bronner's as a shampoo (Native American secret). Then I condition it with Tressemme Naturals conditioner, and after my shower I use almond oil on my scalp and more sweetgrass essential oil on the length after my shower.

Almond oil is also nice for my skin.

[kme81]

The cultural practices that I identify with most is my German Mennonite side of the family. As far as the haircare side of things go, the ideals/ideas have more or less disappeared over the last couple generations, but I feel like I'm harkening back to traditional practices by growing my hair long! Mennonites are a distant cousin sect of the Amish, but less along the lines of plain dress and a few other pieces of doctrine. :)

[ghost]

I'm American, and half Mexican on my mom's side, half white on my dad's side: French/German (grandfather) and Scots-Irish/English (grandmother). According to my great grandmother we have some Welsh blood too but it's probably like...a drop xD

My dad never had any hair tips to hand out other than personal preference: women shouldn't dye their hair because it will get fried and ugly. I never paid much attention to that one. My mom didn't give me many hair tips apart from telling me about her abuelita, who had super long thick hair that she always wore in a braid, usually tied with wildflowers or with wildflowers stuck in it. She also told me if I had dry hair I should condition it with mayonnaise, but that might have been a by-product of growing up in America in the 60's. My Mexican mom also gave me an English beauty tip: she said women in England have the most beautiful skin because they drink so much tea and get a lot of hydration plus the trace minerals from the tea plant. So there you go, an English beauty secret from a Mexican-American lady, told to you by her American mutt daughter (who is married to a Japanese-American man, but I don't have any hair secrets from his family, either :( )

[jacqueline101]

My mom used to wash her hair with rain water years ago.

[leilasahhar]

Ohh I don't know if I should share this..but I tried it and my youth of my hair has returned and is blooming so beautifully because of it. Please, I hope you aren't about to be turned off by this but during my experimentation phase and trying out Everything to make my hair grow long and beautiful..I came across the sheep placenta. I can't find sheep placenta anywhere so I thought...GET READY FOR IT....what If I used my menstral cups and saved some of the "flow" in a dropper kept in the fridge, and use it as a treatment on my scalp? Well I did it and I swear by this that it does amazing miracles for my hair. I leave it in for an hour or longer if Im not going anywhere then wash it out normal. I know, I know it does seem gross but I am sharing this with you because it works. I don't know why but, for me, the oils and such just didn't do it for me. Im really scared but at the same time interested to hear what you all think of this vampirish monster I came up with ;) I think it makes it grow because it makes my hair feel like its being fed, its drinking in gross stuff that it needs? idk but when I tried this with oils and such it just felt too "clean" or something I needed a mix of something gooey and gross for my hair to respond to it. :))))))!!!!!!!!!

[Naiadryade]

Ohh I don't know if I should share this..but I tried it and my youth of my hair has returned and is blooming so beautifully because of it. Please, I hope you aren't about to be turned off by this but during my experimentation phase and trying out Everything to make my hair grow long and beautiful..I came across the sheep placenta. I can't find sheep placenta anywhere so I thought...GET READY FOR IT....what If I used my menstral cups and saved some of the "flow" in a dropper kept in the fridge, and use it as a treatment on my scalp? Well I did it and I swear by this that it does amazing miracles for my hair. I leave it in for an hour or longer if Im not going anywhere then wash it out normal. I know, I know it does seem gross but I am sharing this with you because it works. I don't know why but, for me, the oils and such just didn't do it for me. Im really scared but at the same time interested to hear what you all think of this vampirish monster I came up with ;) I think it makes it grow because it makes my hair feel like its being fed, its drinking in gross stuff that it needs? idk but when I tried this with oils and such it just felt too "clean" or something I needed a mix of something gooey and gross for my hair to respond to it. :))))))!!!!!!!!!

I don't think it's that gross. I feed my menstrual blood to plants and they love it--it's full of minerals and nutrients. So, it's not that much of a stretch to think that it would be good for hair. It's full of protein, too. I wouldn't want to, like, buy a product with it... but if it's your own blood, what's the harm? From your body onto your body. Do you use it just on your scalp, or on your length too? Maybe I will try this sometime and see what happens!

[leilasahhar]

Yes! Thanks :) I use it on my scalp only..I don't really have enough to use on my length but I wonder if it would help it, with shine or strength?

[Vrindi]

I'm Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English. As anglo as you can get. My secrets— avoid sunburns at all costs!

I did live in India for a while, and follow a Vedic spiritual path. I learned about oiling your hair in India. Also, the benefits of turmeric for your skin. In the past I've used chamomile tea rinses for my hair.

[Nellon]

Swedish: Beer rinses, rainwater rinses, and eating raw egg to make hair shiny! :) Don't know if it works though, was too grossed out by the thought to try it!

[NoRush]

I'm italian with a bit of austrian (and likey slovenian and turkish) thrown in, basically an all mediterranian girl with the butt to prove it :p as far as I know for "beauty secrets" it depend on who you ask, for hair: beer and eggs (inherited from my austrian greatgran) and acv rinses. All else that comes to mind is not flattering to the common sense of my culture:run: so I'll leave it out ;)

[ImDeeba]

Am I the only Pakistani in here? That's strange because Pakistani women have pretty long hair :confused:
Anyway our secret is in the herbs and genes lol
Apart from that head massages' protein and hot oil treatments' regular split end removals help a lot in maintaining the hair in good shape.
The beautiful hair accessories like paranday' flower headbands (usually for weddings) and tikay help beautify the hair and makes them stand out; this does replace the need of heat styling tool quite a lot of times :cool:

[CousinItt]

My German grandfather used burdock root hair oil every day of his life, and brushed with a boar bristle brush. The burdock root oil is supposed to help with hair fall. He had thick hair until the day he died. Whether the hair oil did what it was supposed to is questionable, since thick hair runs on that side of the family. I did NOT inherit that thick hair :(

[ExpectoPatronum]

I'm mostly Sicilian...so olive oil for me haha. I always forget the wonders it works for my hair until I actually use it.

I'm also German and Native American, but I don't know anything from those sides as most of my family is Sicilian.

[humble_knight]

My ethnicity is Bangladeshi and nationality is English. There were quite a few women on both sides of my family who had floorlength locks. Benign neglect seemed to be the 'secret,' plus obviously genetics. I never heard of any of them going to a salon for trims. Their go-to was a bun and every day they would use coconut oil. If I ever have children, I hope to have girls so the hair genes may be passed on.

[kitemera15]

I'm Filipino on my mothers side. Filipino hair secrets are coconut milk for shine, conditioning moisture and detangling (not processed, but manually extracted by shredding... or, if your not easily grossed out, by chewing and spitting directly onto hair)
Coconut water for shine, moisture and softening/hair repair.
Aloe vera for scalp treatment, and hair treatment, and to help with hair loss
Coconut oil, and sesame seed oil to improve hair quality, and encourage growth.

Homemade gugo water (soak or boil the root or bark, then squeeze the water out of the bark/root or rub bark on scalp) to wash hair, and for a hair and scalp treatment to strengthen hair, reduce hair loss, prevent/reduce dandruff

Coconut milk and coconut water are also used in place of shampoo as well as conditioner.

[Mizumi]

I'm Polish. Here the most popular treatment is egg + castor oil + olive oil + honey. I haven't tried it yet. In my grandma young times there was popular using a chamomile rinses to expose blond and oak bark rinses to get nice brown. Also it's quite popular to drink horsetail + nettle tea for better hair growth and health

[Dhenianne]

Im spanish. I think our beauty secret is our diet, you know, mediterranean diet, plenty of veggies and fruits, fish and meat, poor on fats, great wine... a balanced diet! and we have an amazing olive oil (our gastronomy revolves around it!). I use EVOO in my hair some hours before wash and is really nice! (I want to try coconut right now).

[Tail Feathers]

Im English, and regretfully our beauty heritage is poorly preserved:(. Most women my age are the third or fourth generation of chemical colouring and heat styling and such. However, Im fortunate to have inherited many old books with beauty instructions in them. Does that count....?:confused:

Yes! i would love to know some of the English secrets in your books... somehow, in my mind, British women have such beautiful,
long-flowing locks !!
Tell about the books, please ??!

[Majormiles]

How interesting this is! My grandmother was northern Italian and they would make their soap and shampoo from animal fat and ashes from the fire. She also used to say that her mother washed her hair once a month and kept it bunned the rest of the time!!

[chen bao jun]

I have been combining some of the above for about a year. I use olive oil in SMTs (my hair seems to like EVOO a lot and coconut oil not so much) and I use a burdock/nettle oil combined with jamaican black castor oil for scalp massage (with some peppermint essential oil). don't know if its working or not...my hair is certainly growing but that could just from the more careful handling. I do think these things help my hair to feel good though.
I do not have Pakistani hair genes, unfortunately. I agree that this seems to help with growing not only amazingly long but stunningly thick hair. There are plenty of desi ladies on LHC--there's some threads actually devoted just to Indian hair, although not much activity lately.

[velorutionista]

American by nationality, Irish and slavic (mixed bag) ethnicity here...I remember my grandmother swore by ACV rinses, stout rinses, and raw egg yolks, but not sure where she came up with those...I know the egg yolk thing was a big deal b/c she raised chickens to sell eggs, so snitching a few yolks for hair was cutting into her bottom line!

[rcblinn]

This is such an awesome thread :) my maternal grandfather was German / Cherokee who was raised as a Mennonite. Not too many secrets except that his sister, my great aunt, always wore her long hair up and that was the common practice. My Irish / Welsh grandmother also swore by keeping the hair contained at night through braiding to minimize tangles. Finally, although I am not Spanish, I lived for a time in Andalucia and my host mom swore by olive oil and the benefits of honey taken internally and externally. In addition to that, daily walks were important as well as fresh fruits, veggies and water. She had such thick, curly, uninhibited hairt that I envied! I use a lot of olive oil now for the tips of my hair and also use honey as a face wash - works wonderfully!

[sakuraemily]

Indian here and I think my predecessors and the threads on Indian hair care on LHC have already revealed all the secrets there are.
I will mention mustard oil though. There are quite a few people who swear by it. Sesame oil too.

[sakuraemily]

Am I the only Pakistani in here? That's strange because Pakistani women have pretty long hair :confused:
Anyway our secret is in the herbs and genes lol
Apart from that head massages' protein and hot oil treatments' regular split end removals help a lot in maintaining the hair in good shape.
The beautiful hair accessories like paranday' flower headbands (usually for weddings) and tikay help beautify the hair and makes them stand out; this does replace the need of heat styling tool quite a lot of times :cool:

I'm sure you're not alone but its nearly the same as Indian hair care so I guess no one mentions it separately.

[Federica]

I'm nothern Italian, and almost all the women in my family had long hair in their youth.
My mother was the first to teach me about olive oil on hair, henna, when to cut according to the moon phases and those ancient techniques.
When I was at middle school I was feeling like a weird hair-hippy but it actually worked :)

[ositarosita]

I'm from Holland, there are no hair secrets I know of, exept from my grandmothers site, she came from Indonesia and they used to use coconut oil. When my mother was a kid, lots of people in Holland used to have coconut oil in their hair, especially the ones who had lived in Indonesis. My mother hated the smell of that coconut oil, says it reminds her of old aunties LOL. People used to have embroidered pieces of cloth on their couches and armchairs to protect the chairs from getting oily!

My father is Friesian and my mother is from Rotterdam .. First generation Canadian and I have to agree with you. No beauty secrets for hair, my Grandmother would just put it up so I'm guessing benign neglect is our secret. I was always told that food is for eating, you don't wash your hair everyday because that wastes water. Everything was about saving money (my Grandmother had 12 brothers and sisters) so you don't cut it, don't really wash it, don't put anything in it, just put it up and leave it alone so you can work.

[YamaMaya]

I have italian and german heritage. Italians just have great hair genes in general (though this can be as much a curse as a blessing, particularly where shaving is concerned). As for german I guess they have some great updo ideas, but other than that I have no idea. My mother commits every hair sin in the book and her once extremely thick hair is now whispy and thin. Sorry not much to contribute but I'd love to hear from others :D

[HintOfMint]

I have italian and german heritage. Italians just have great hair genes in general (though this can be as much a curse as a blessing, particularly where shaving is concerned). As for german I guess they have some great updo ideas, but other than that I have no idea. My mother commits every hair sin in the book and her once extremely thick hair is now whispy and thin. Sorry not much to contribute but I'd love to hear from others :D

Bolded mine.

Yeah, I feel ya on the body hair and shaving part. I'm Indian and hairiness in general is an ordeal for us. It's something I have in common with my Middle Eastern and Mediterranean friends.

[chen bao jun]

I'm black but mixed race. People of African descent generally do not have a body hair problem. We're usually almost as hairless as East Asians. My mother has never had to shave any part of her body. My husband has no chest hair and not much other body hair. However, my dad's family (the mixed race part of the family, my dad actually very little African ancestry) is hairy. His mother had the classic length hair, his sisters all had long hair and they have to shave. I myself am past menopause now and instead of like the usual, where you have to start plucking the beard but can stop shaving the legs, now have BOTH problems. Got shave my legs every 3 days or so or I look like an ape. And I'm keeping 3 pairs of tweezers handy now (one in the car--why is it that you can see those random chin hairs so much better in the car mirror--passenger seat, of course).We also have giant thick eyebrows.
I notice that, that the East Asian people grow long long hair and have little body hair.
Is it maybe hair thickness rather than length?

[chen bao jun]

Where I am from, in the Caribbean, in the old days (of racial prejudice, sadly), a lot of ladies did not shave their legs and the reason was, it was considered 'superior' to have at least some European ancestry and the hairy legs were proof that they were part white rather than unmixed black or native American, Europeans being so much hairier than either of the other groups.

[Marbid]

I'm cuban. My pa is cuban, my ma is cuban, my grandparents are cuban.... My great grandparents are cuban.. My great grandparents I don't know... I'm guessing they hail from spain?

Being a poor country as it is... Without any top of the line conditioner or Irons... It is choc full of home made remedies for hair.

The ones I know of are eggs in your hair. Vinager rinses.... Mayonaise in your hair...... Home made herbal concoction (differs by family) Rain water hair wash (kinda unavoidable as there is never running water or electricity there to begin with (from what I remember, my house collected the rain water in a giant concrete tank to use as our average every day bathin/drinking water) Pig oil in your hair (lard). Have never seen olive oil in cuba. Oh can't forget the mud masks. I'm sure there are a bit more remedies for beauty, the differ by family/location. Oh definitely coconut oil, it is an island full of coconut trees after all. The oil is home made thou. Also used in every day cooking. There are coconuts every wear.

Thats all I know for now... :) Not to shabby.

[starlights]

AKA the Croydon facelift... :rollin: Ah me, there's nothing like national pride :D

lol thats my home town! lucky me :P
My culture background is Indian, Arab.... so henna, hair oils, braiding hair is natural to me :P Although I combine it with the old fashioned English way of hair care (classy hats, bobby pins, traditional buns and deep conditioning treatments,) ALL seems to work;)
btw I dont have this hairy problem... for some reason I have very little hair on my legs, arms, etc My mum and grandma were same and both were Indian. I count myself lucky unlike some of my poor indian friends who have alot of hairs it is an ordeal for them they go to have laser treatment!

[MultiCultiCurly]

This is such a great thread! As you can tell by my moniker, I'm multicultural/multiracial. My mom is a mixed race African-American (with some anonymous European heritage along with Blackfoot and Cherokee) and my father is a Puerto Rican mutt (of mostly Spanish, French, and Italian heritage, spiced with a little of the indigenous Taino). My hair was different to both sides of the family, except for two curly cousins on my Puerto Rican side (one of them happened to be a towhead as a kid, and I've never seen another Puerto Rican towhead!). My mom's side didn't have anyone with long hair, even my mom's was only ever really shoulder length, though I've heard rumors of my great-grandma's long black straight hair in her youth. They pretty much all use relaxers and/or hair weaves, so there's not much in the way of beauty secrets there (though lots of Hoodoo lore). They did make this mixture of rubbing alcohol and vaseline and grease my scalp with it--suprisingly I always had hair APL and longer in childhood. So it was that, Mane n Tail, and sulphur products (like Sulphur 8) on this side.
My dad's side the ladies have naturally lush, thick, usually straight to wavey locks, and everyone except for grandma has hair at least shoulder length. One of my aunt's on that side was the ONLY one in my whole family who knew how to do my hair in a relatively healthy way. She would leave a little conditioner in my hair and gently finger comb it while wet and then leave it alone to set my curls, sometimes adding some oil (have no idea what kind). As for Puerto Rican women from the island, they tend to see the sun and pristine caribbean seawater (esp. to rinse hair and body) as a beauty secret, and Puerto Rican women are certainly beautiful! I can't wait to try that seawater thing myself when I go :-). Other than that, the island women use avocados, aloe vera, coconuts (milk and oil), olive oil, and pretty much all island fare has been utilized, from Yucca to plantains to mangoes and coconuts--this stuff grows all over that place! However, most are modernized Americans, and as such use plenty of the usual products and treatments that aren't so great for hair but are popular. I identify most with my Puerto Rican side, and so does my beauty regimen as I use coconut oil, olive oil, and natural herbal rinses and butters in addition to conditioners. Sorry to be so long-winded....

[MultiCultiCurly]

^^^that smiley was supposed to be an "8", lol

[wildkratt]

I’m a Pakistani American, and my culture is extremely similar to that of Indians. Coconut oil is very popular in Pakistan/India/Bangladesh, and a lot of people do daily scalp massages and oilings; this might be a reason why their hair grows so thick and so fast. But some people go way overboard and avoid washing their hair until it’s unbearably greasy, which is gross. I used to use coconut oil biweekly when I was younger, but now I just use this olive oil hair cream thing once a week and I wash once or twice a week (since my hair’s super dry).

A lot of people in Pakistan, including my parents, are obsessed with mustard oil to make the hair grow faster, shinier, and stronger. But I personally don’t like this because it smells really weird, and it’s hard to wash out the aroma and oil itself. I’ll just stick to my nice-smelling drugstore conditioners. :p

In many parts of South Asia, it’s considered inappropriate and vain to let hair out loose, especially if it’s super long. So many women in these areas keep their hair in braids, which keeps the hair intact. They also think that braids make it healthier and longer. And a lot of women also wear a long scarf over the head, which is good for protection against the sun and weather damage.

But in the US, everyone just likes to heat style and chemically dye the hair to no avail. No special secrets here.

[Selchie]

I have italian and german heritage. Italians just have great hair genes in general (though this can be as much a curse as a blessing, particularly where shaving is concerned)

Same here! (and I'm laughing so hard).