1890's Hair Article - I thought it was interesting.

[Lolino]

One of the pages I follow on facebook linked this article about haircare and styling in the 1890's, and I thought it might be interesting for people on here to read as well :D

http://www.vintagevictorian.com/costume_1890_hair.html

[Upside Down]

That was a fun read, thanks!!

[emilia1992]

Oh wow, shampooing hair once a month.............and I think I'm stretching washes when I go without shampoo for a day or two! I bet you their hair was in better condition than most peoples' today as well. Thanks for the link!

[pixldust]

I love reading about historical haircare, thanks for posting it! It's interesting to note that they recommended starting at the ends and working upwards when brushing your hair, rather than just ragging a brush through from scalp to ends like a lot of people do now.

[jackie_brown]

What an interesting article!
When i read that it was recommended to wash hair only once a month i was like :bigeyes:, in the meanwhile i found some advises that we follow in our haircare.
E.g., they suggest to cut off bad edges regularly after the shampoo (nowadays a sort of S&D :)), or the suggestion to begin detangling gently from the ends towards the roots.
I couldn't believe that in the 19th century a curling iron existed already :D.
I would like very much to see those hairstyles on somebody of you "Rapunzel" ladies (my hair is still too short as well as my whole mane is as thick as the lock pictured in the Figure #2 of the article :().

[chen bao jun]

Great article. I enjoyed reading the instructions to make shampoo. I guess they could do that with their soft water without an acid rinse.

It was interesting to see S & Ding described and I agree with them that it's better not to singe (something I've seen recommended in other old hair care instructions).

I have to say, though, it seems a waste to take such good care of the hair and then CRIMP it with those awful hot tongs when you couldn't even control the temperature. If you only wash once a month, I would think your hair would get horribly dry if you crimp it with heat with any regularity.

and it was amazing to see those horrid looking hair switches and rats. I guess we fantaize that everyone had beautiful long hair back them, but apparently a lot of people were faking, just like now.

and I was shocked that they said a lot of people bleached blond? I know this is something that has gone in and out of style, but I didn't think it was a big thing at the turn of the century. I thought dark hair was very stylish for edwardians. Personally, I grew up when bleaching was very, very rare, in the late sixties and early 70's and I can't get used to all the blond hair that you see nowadays, where I live bleaching is pretty much universal on white women over the age of about 15. I miss seeing the beautiful blonette and light chestnut hair that used to be so common when I was a girl and that was honestly, so much more flattering to most women, as the writer of the article says, few people have complexions that look good with very light blond hair, once they are adults. But of course people should do what they want and what they feel comfortable with. I'm always seeing washed out looking drab complexions though on people who actually have lovely skin, except that its meant to crowned with light brown hair, not blonde.

[LaBeq]

Oh, that was fun! I especially liked the bit at the end that recommended sitting while arraging your hair to "save one's strength and, possibly, one's patience as well."

[Entangled]

Chen, your your comments warmed my heart. Thank you. I've only heard negative things said about the light brown/dark blonde range. Where I am, it's rarer to see un-highlighted hair then natural.

The article was fascinating! Heat tools of all kinds are scary, though. I wonder how the hair withstood the heat + BBBing.

[Duchess Fuzzy Buns]

"The best way to dry the hair in Winter is to spread it in the heat of a grate fire or a coal or gas stove."
Eek! :shudder:
This was indeed a very interesting read though!

[SarahKim]

Thank you for sharing! That was very interesting. :D

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Fascinating! I love old articles like this!