The big hair of the 1770s

[Nini]

I came across this article (http://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.no/2014/07/the-truth-about-big-hair-of-1770s-part_24.html) on Facebook earlier today, and thought some of you might enjoy it:)

[metztlie]

POOF!!
Omg it's awesome.
I've got to try it for some festival or photoshoot.
I'm in love

[BonnieU]

So cool! It would appear to take great effort, but 10-15 minutes! Who knew.....

[Nini]

Well, with practice everything becomes routine:D

[RapunzelKat]

Wow, that is some amazing hair! :bluebiggr
Thanks for sharing, Nini, that was a fun read.
(:hmm: I need to make myself some hair rats...)

[StellaKatherine]

That is really cool!!1 Thank you for sharing! :flower:

[SkyChild]

Lovely article. I ADORE the Georgian style look and Marie Antoinette is my hair idol.
Who's going to try the mentioned pomatum?
Think I'll give it a go

[queenovnight]

Oo! Thanks for posting! A rather interesting read so far.

[lapushka]

Pomatum and powder. All fine and well when you have normal to dry hair, but I doubt that would be great for those of us with oily hair, or heaven forbid seborrheic dermatitis!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

That was fascinating - thank you for sharing!

[metztlie]

pssst could someone tell me what the pomatum thing is?
Google is not really helping out.

[Sparklylady82]

pssst could someone tell me what the pomatum thing is?
Google is not really helping out.

Me too! Great read, thankyou for sharing!

[AmyBeth]

That sure wss a fun read, but I'm thinking "ewww, dried animal bone?". No way, I'm vegan! And it all looks kind of damaging and I don't think my hair could take that. Couldn't I just use a wig? :)

[Nini]

pssst could someone tell me what the pomatum thing is?
Google is not really helping out.

I'm sure they must've mentioned it at some point in their blog. Or you can contact them directly. I've not read more than a couple of posts from that blog granted, but still...:)

[Tini'sNewHair]

Interesting read, would like to try their style sometime :)

[Nini]

I wonder if some of these styles might actually be easier with shorter hair,hmm?!?

[frejafjord]

I love how it actually sounds quite healthy? All of the other articles I've read about this sort of thing have sounded nauseating - primitive curling wands and back combing.

[mary*rose]

That sure wss a fun read, but I'm thinking "ewww, dried animal bone?". No way, I'm vegan! And it all looks kind of damaging and I don't think my hair could take that. Couldn't I just use a wig? :)

I was thinking the same thing...I'm not a vegan, but I don't think I would be ok with putting animal fat and bone powder in my hair :bigeyes: Dead things...in my hair...*shivers*

Haha but thank you Nini, that was really interesting!!

[lilin]

pssst could someone tell me what the pomatum thing is?
Google is not really helping out.

Another word for pomade, apparently made with animal fat and fragrance oils.

[Majorane]

Now I wanna try that. We should do a challenge for next weekend, sew some rolls this week and see what we come up with. Replace the pomade with piggyfat and bones for vegetable oils and corn starch! Would be fun.... no?

[RapunzelKat]

pssst could someone tell me what the pomatum thing is?
Google is not really helping out.

According to the article, "The pomatum could have been made at home or purchased, and consisted of animal fat plus fragrance. The powder would have included some sort of finely-ground starch, with ground sheep or beef bones and ground orris-root for a light floral scent." These ladies also made some of their own, and they said it smelled good. Don't think I'd be comfy putting animal fat in my hair though...

Anybody happen to know of any tutorials using the forms/rollers? The only ones I could find on YouTube used lots of teasing and fake hair, and I'd love to try this :D (I actually tried rolling my hair up with the socks from my sock bun rat... I had glorious giant hair for about 10 seconds, but had no idea how to get it to stay :p)

Actually... This would make a fun style of the month, maybe?? :cool:

[Majorane]

I think the oils, powder and pins keep it sort of glued together?

[metztlie]

I quess you could brush it over the roll thingy and pin it behind it. Probably with a lot of pins. And mask the pins with the hair you have left at the back.
But beyond waist you could probably use HUGE rolls.
(now I'm imagening the big big hair from the cartoons back then) :o

RapunzelKat Thank you. Can't believe I missed that.

[Shibe]

Will have to pick up some Dapper Dan http://z4.ifrm.com/30048/45/0/e5266281//e5266281.jpg

[Nadine <3]

Ohhh, how cool! I don't think I could bring myself to put animal fat in my hair though lol

[Entangled]

That was nice, especially after the usual fare. This blogger had a positive attitude towards long hair and unusual techniques. Also, it was nice to hear an article that wasn't super slanted by modern bias, i.e. every other time except for now throughout history was absolutely disgusting. Polish plaits aside, I think we would be surprised to see how hygienic people have been throughout history. ;)

[Cheyne]

Use Crisco instead of animal fat.

[jacqueline101]

I thought about trying a lanolin based product. I was going to put it on my scalp like monistat and see if it helps dandruff and now I hear about a fragrance product. I don't think I could go ground bones but a fragrance and lanolin to substitute animal fat with.

[kpzra]

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LitttleBits?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav

That store sells slightly altered period cosmetic products.

[Shibe]

Oh gosh my spending allowance is not big enough

[mary*rose]

Use Crisco instead of animal fat.

Huh...how clever is that. Do you think it would work the same?

[Ingrid]

I've used emu oil on my hair and scalp. It's technically "animal fat". It doesn't smell, and it made my hair feel soft, smooth and non-greasy. It also made scalp sores caused by sulphate shampoos completely disappear so I think it's been quite beneficial for my skin health. But I'm not sure I'm brave enough to put straight-up lard into my hair :P

[florenonite]

Pomatum and powder. All fine and well when you have normal to dry hair, but I doubt that would be great for those of us with oily hair, or heaven forbid seborrheic dermatitis!

That's what I was thinking. Dry shampoo (which is what the powder effectively is) allows day 3 hair to look like day 2, if I'm lucky. I'm glad I live in an age where shampoos are readily available.

That being said, I found this article fascinating; it's always interesting to read about historical haircare.

[Nini]

And here's a link to a book on wigs and hairstyles (http://www.amazon.com/18th-Century-Styling-Step---Step/dp/0692220437/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406577227&sr=8-1&keywords=kendra+van+cleave) from the same era ;)

[Neecola]

Really cool article; thanks for sharing! I bet clove and lemon would smell great together, think I'll try it as an EO blend.

... and I do have some really nice tallow in the freezer. I wonder if shea butter would work in place of the animal fats?

[lapushka]

That's what I was thinking. Dry shampoo (which is what the powder effectively is) allows day 3 hair to look like day 2, if I'm lucky. I'm glad I live in an age where shampoos are readily available.

That being said, I found this article fascinating; it's always interesting to read about historical haircare.

Very true, it is interesting. I have oily hair as well. Normally it needs to get washed 2 to 3 times weekly, but as by magic I've been able to stretch to a week. I can't go much further (because of seborrheic dermatitis), but it's an improvement at least over what it was like. I have a few days where I have "the greasies", but oh well...

[Paranda Belle]

That was great - apart from the animal fat bit! Wish they had done a full tutorial. I can't quite picture hiding that big cushion under hair!

[clairenewcastle]

I've always been fascinated by scalp hygiene throughout the centuries so thanks for posting this.

[Nini]

Another blogpost popped up on FB today about pomatum:

http://onlivinghistory.blogspot.no/2014/08/the-lard-that-binds-or-my-first-18th-c.html

[Catatafish]

That was very interesting, thanks! I wonder could you just use something like Nightbloomings panacea as pomatum. I'm sure there's nothing 'noxious' in that!

[Nini]

I'm pretty sure you can use just about anything that works with your hair:) We have after all access to a lot more these days than they did back then!