Hunger Games hair care

[Hollyfire3]

Alright, I MAY be nuts, but hey I'm among friends right? So, since the people in The Hunger Games basically live near-poverty or with not many luxaries even in the middle class (merchants and such), how do you think they washed their hair? I am more specifically concerned with how people in the Seam, like Katniss washed her hair and if it was able to be replicated just to see what it was like? I know castile soap is bad for your hair so what else was used? it also never mentions conditioner. Any help is apprecited. Also, I am going to go look for that "you may be a LHCer if..." thread because I'm SURE this qualifies.;)

[lmfbs]

I'm actually reading the Mockingjay for the 2nd time right now, and I wondered a similar thing. I imagine WO or soap, no conditioner. Although, I wonder if they used some plants as conditioning agents.

EDIT - just as I pushed post, I realised that the Hunger Games is make believe. I thought about doing research, then remembered it's *not a real place*. /facepalm

[Hollyfire3]

I'm actually reading the Mockingjay for the 2nd time right now, and I wondered a similar thing. I imagine WO or soap, no conditioner. Although, I wonder if they used some plants as conditioning agents.

EDIT - just as I pushed post, I realised that the Hunger Games is make believe. I thought about doing research, then remembered it's *not a real place*. /facepalm

LOL! I would STILL reasearch it and or be intrested in any research you did, it would probably be based off of pre-industrial America, mixed with some herbal care but seriously, I am SO intrested in doing a Hunger Games hair care recipes experiment! Wait, the Hunger Games isn't a real place?! Well, I don't know WHERE I've been living for months then lol....I'm going to reread the rest of the books, but I have been taking my tim rereading the first one, they are ALL so good! (Peeta or Gale?) (runs and hides)

[lmfbs]

LOL! I would STILL reasearch it and or be intrested in any research you did, it would probably be based off of pre-industrial America, mixed with some herbal care but seriously, I am SO intrested in doing a Hunger Games hair care recipes experiment! Wait, the Hunger Games isn't a real place?! Well, I don't know WHERE I've been living for months then lol....I'm going to reread the rest of the books, but I have been taking my tim rereading the first one, they are ALL so good! (Peeta or Gale?) (runs and hides)

Gale for me - Peeta is too....not my type. Too nice!

[Hollyfire3]

Gale for me - Peeta is too....not my type. Too nice!

Oh see, that's what MAKES him my type, I LOVE nice, sweet, adorable, guys especially blonde, blue eyed (or blue-green) eyed, ones lol. Gale to me...he's sorta cold and calculating IMO.

[GlennaGirl]

I too think they'd WO since they were so poor; or else, since she knew a little bit about plants, perhaps some sort of veggie washing?

[Amber_Maiden]

EDIT - just as I pushed post, I realised that the Hunger Games is make believe. I thought about doing research, then remembered it's *not a real place*. /facepalm

Lol! :D :p

[Hollyfire3]

I too think they'd WO since they were so poor; or else, since she knew a little bit about plants, perhaps some sort of veggie washing?

What sort of herbs wash hair? So want to try this now!

[Wavelength]

What sort of herbs wash hair? So want to try this now!

I've heard soapwort does, as it produces a lather when it's mixed with water. I've never tried it myself, but I know what the plant looks like and it does grow wild in some places in North America.

I just kind of assumed they made their own soap from animal fat and wood-ash lye, like the pioneers. They'd probably use the same soap on their hair that they used for any other cleaning.

[Hollyfire3]

I've heard soapwort does, as it produces a lather when it's mixed with water. I've never tried it myself, but I know what the plant looks like and it does grow wild in some places in North America.

I just kind of assumed they made their own soap from animal fat and wood-ash lye, like the pioneers. They'd probably use the same soap on their hair that they used for any other cleaning.

Oh good point there, I mean they live in a coal mining town and always complain about the layer of ash that covers everything, so the ask lye soap makes sense (they also burn fires with wood in their houses, so wood ash is produced there too.)

[earthnut]

People in the past (and in developing countries today) generally used soap to wash their hair and oil/grease to condition their hair. And infrequent washing, since soap is kinda harsh for hair.

[Firefly]

I agree with others-- probably either some kind of basic lye soap or plant (soapwort and yucca could both be used). I imagine they wouldn't have much in the way of conditioner, or even oils to apply. It would be a hair nightmare! LOL

[kitekats]

Oh, Hunger games is one ugly piece of NWO elite created ****, please don't watch that brainwashing

[healormor]

Too late Im afraid.

[DarkCurls]

I quite liked the books... oh well. That's beside the point, really.

I've been re-reading Catching Fire and near the beginning, Katniss talks about a lake in the woods outside District 12. She tells of how she used to go there with her father and swim, and when she came back her mother would pretend not to recognise her because she was "so clean." Which indicates that washing was obviously not a priority (also, coal sticks to everything in District 12, so what's the point?). I'd say WO, definitely; maybe a few flowers for scent or something.
Just my two cents.

[Hollyfire3]

Oh, Hunger games is one ugly piece of NWO elite created ****, please don't watch that brainwashing

I'm sorry you feel this way. I don't like the movie as much as the books but overall it is an amazing series IMO.

[Hollyfire3]

I quite liked the books... oh well. That's beside the point, really.

I've been re-reading Catching Fire and near the beginning, Katniss talks about a lake in the woods outside District 12. She tells of how she used to go there with her father and swim, and when she came back her mother would pretend not to recognise her because she was "so clean." Which indicates that washing was obviously not a priority (also, coal sticks to everything in District 12, so what's the point?). I'd say WO, definitely; maybe a few flowers for scent or something.
Just my two cents.

Oh I remeber that part! I think also because she keeps her hair braided all the time (except when she has to have it loose) WO would be enough to hide the dirtyness. It also baffles me how suddenly she goes from WO to using shampoo and tons of conditioner and products while at the capitol on occasions then switches bad to WO (unless she gets shampoo in the Victors Village) wouldn't there be ALOT of transitioning...alright now I'm just obsessing please excuse me....

[TiaKitty]

I live very near where the film was shot, in coal-mining country. My ancestors have homesteaded this place, and I can count back 5 or 6 generations.

When my mom was coming up, she used lvory soap. When Mamaw was being raised, they did make their own lye soap with wood ash. And she did vinegar rinses, too.

I can only assume the conditions would have been very similar.

My great-grandmother had a long white braid, down to her knees, which she wound round and round her head, according to my great-uncle...

[Hollyfire3]

I live very near where the film was shot, in coal-mining country. My ancestors have homesteaded this place, and I can count back 5 or 6 generations.

When my mom was coming up, she used lvory soap. When Mamaw was being raised, they did make their own lye soap with wood ash. And she did vinegar rinses, too.

I can only assume the conditions would have been very similar.

My great-grandmother had a long white braid, down to her knees, which she wound round and round her head, according to my great-uncle...

Oh wow! Our very own District 12 resident!:D That's really cool! I am thinking it would be a simple hair care routine like you said, possibly with vinegar rinses. Does any one know what it is liek to wash your hair with soap?

[Dorothy]

Oh, Hunger games is one ugly piece of NWO elite created ****, please don't watch that brainwashing
Well, that's an interesting perspective. You come from a different part of the world than I do, but from where I sit, the books (haven't seen the movie) seem to be criticizing the oppression of workers by the wealthy. I'm not sure anyone's paying too much attention to that theme, with all the excitement about the woman-in-love-with-two-men and the archery and the game show.. Not to mention the HAIR!!!.... But that's what I read. I was sort of excited by it.
Interestingly if you watch 1990's Total Recall with an eye to politics, it seems to be about the importance of workers owning the means of production (of air) despite the fact that Arnold Schwartzenager (main actor in the movie, most recent but not current Governor of California) is a crazed American Capitalist Republican who was a member of Ronald Reagan's inner circle, and the movie industry in the US does not seem that excited about redistributing wealth in any direction but upwards.
Often, in the US, it seems the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, we have movies that seem to be deeply criticizing our economic system while no one, certainly not the makers of the movie, notices that critique. Our movies seem to deconstruct themselves....and then reconstruct themselves... Oh well, back to hair.

[Wavelength]

Oh, Hunger games is one ugly piece of NWO elite created ****, please don't watch that brainwashing

Err, that's the point. It's a dystopian novel. You're not supposed to WANT society to be like that. :confused:

[ratgirldjh]

I wash my hair with soap all the time. The same kind of soap that was made back in the day with lard and lye.

I love it!

I do a vinegar rinse after and then rinse with cold water.

Occasionally I will use bentonite clay for a while or in case I have build up and then go back to my soap.

I either make it or buy it - but either way - my favorite is the old fashioned lye soap - made with 100% lard. :D

[Firefly]

I wash my hair with soap all the time. The same kind of soap that was made back in the day with lard and lye.

I love it!

I do a vinegar rinse after and then rinse with cold water.

Occasionally I will use bentonite clay for a while or in case I have build up and then go back to my soap.

I either make it or buy it - but either way - my favorite is the old fashioned lye soap - made with 100% lard. :D

Cool. I've always wanted to try to make soap like that. I know you can make lye from woodstove ash, but where does the lard come in? And does it act like a moisturizer?

[Tia2010]

My guess would be a homemade basic lye soap and since she was also knowledgeable of plants and the forest, I would assume she would maybe use flowers and plants for scents and to create some good rinses.

ETA: About washing hair with soap... My great-gran never washed with commercial shampoo, ever. She used homemade soaps and used herbs (I'm not sure what kind). She was Cherokee and at 95yo had long, silver white hair down her back. I will have to ask my mother what she used. I would think Hunger games hair care would be pretty close to the same thing.

[Wavelength]

I get the impression that Katniss would be highly practical and somewhat impatient with anything resembling a beauty treatment, or in this case, shiny pretty hair. She probably just wants it decent enough to tie back in a braid, and as long as it's not attracting bugs and it stays out of her face, that's good enough. ;)

She's got more important things to worry about, like feeding her family and trying not to die in the Hunger Games. In those conditions I think hair care would take a backseat to, y'know, survival.

Also, I never really got the impression that she was "in love" with either guy, especially in the first two books. Gale was her good friend and she wanted to keep it that way. Peeta was kind to her, and she felt like she owed him, but that's about as far as it went. Anything else was too complicated. She didn't have the security or the luxury to be in love with anyone.

Any attraction was from the guys toward her, and not so much the other way around. At least that's how I read it.

[Amygirl8]

I have no clue. Probably WO, or with soap and some vinegar/lemon juice rinse/herbs etc.

I'm personally more interested by that shower machine in the capitol. A wave through the hair and it's dry, shiny, soft and untangled?
*want want want*

[Hollyfire3]

I have no clue. Probably WO, or with soap and some vinegar/lemon juice rinse/herbs etc.

I'm personally more interested by that shower machine in the capitol. A wave through the hair and it's dry, shiny, soft and untangled?
*want want want*

I know right! I want that too! And Peeta with the lemon soap! Lol, actually, I'll just take Peeta....lol For my Hunger Games experiment, I shall try washing with regular bar soap (from a hotel with sage and citrus scent or just basic white soap...anyone know where to get basic ivory soap?) and just not using conditioner or any products (maybe some mousse cause I'm addicted, but probably not) and see how it goes.