The
Hair (part II)
IF POETS and prose writers and painters and
everyday men had not from the beginning of the world
sung and written and painted and praised golden-haired
beauties, there would be no occasion for these
humiliating remarks of mine. If we had not had
golden-haired sirens flung at us from babyhood, we
never would have been the streaky-headed frights we
are at this moment--some of us.
But I want to ask seriously the women who are
slaves to the peroxide bottle: "Does it pay? Is
it worth the price? Does it pay in the first place to
enter into any kind of bondage voluntarily?" For
artificially acquired and maintained golden hair is a
bondage compared to which Egyptian servitude appears,
by all accounts, to have been lightsome and diverting.
To begin with, as every "peroxidian"
knows to her cost, bleached hair never remains the
same shade, and never by any happy chance looks like
the natural golden locks. It will deceive many
men,--which is something,--but never another woman.
If once made yellow, it should stay so, one thinks,
but it never does. On the contrary, as though it
really were possessed of an independent spirit, the
original color of the hair is forever unexpectedly
asserting itself--just when it should not. It has a
truly maddening way of showing up, despite all the
skill of the peroxide experts on the face of the
earth. Those awful telltale, dark roots, those
lustreless tow-colored ends--the bleached woman is
always conscious of both. For though you religiously
abstain from touching any part but the roots of the
hair with the colorless liquid, the roots never say
dye, nor yet bleach.
The cause of this failure to bleach the roots is
easy to understand. The hair pigment is more copious
at the roots and the continuous growth--of
necessity--makes the dark line at about half an inch
from the scalp. The contrary is the case with the hair
from about three inches from the roots, which becomes
lighter and more of a telltale at each application.
At the very best, a bleached blonde is never easy
in her mind for a moment. Either she has just applied
the peroxide and feels sure that it is unevenly done,
and glaringly metallic in color, or she is conscious
that she needs touching up about the temples and at
the back of the head--one or the other of the telltale
spots. She is tied down to a bottle of peroxide of
hydrogen for the rest of her life, and if, as is
devoutly to be hoped for all women, she is some man's
idol, ten to one she has deceived him as to her lovely
golden hair, and her slavery is more unbearable from
the awful fear of discovery. Wherever she goes she
must take her peroxide. Just so often she must apply
it. It takes about one day to do this satisfactorily.
But the self-consciousness of presuming to be
something one is not, the anxiety concerning the awful
telltale spots at the roots, the time and trouble
required for the ever-recurring treatments are only a
very minor part of the price a bleached blonde pays
for her locks of gold.
Just as soon as a woman bleaches her
hair,--professional women always excepted,--she
invites most unpleasant criticism from both men and
women, strangers and acquaintances. When a woman by
design makes herself conspicuous, she must accept the
consequences. The consequences usually are that she is
regarded lightly, and although she may be, and often
is, a girl or woman of unblemished character, her
appearance belies her, and she suffers the truly awful
humiliation of failing to evoke immediate respect
wherever she may happen to be.
At this cost, I find the price paid for the most
lovely golden locks ever produced artificially much
too high.
But to those of my sex who insist on yellow hair
and who desire a harmless bleach, I give directions
for the process:--
PEROXIDE OF HYDROGEN
Get a bottle of chemically pure peroxide of
hydrogen. Before making the application, the hair
should be thoroughly washed and dried. Pour a little
of the peroxide into a saucer, and apply to the roots
of the hair with a tooth brush. You must regulate the
color by your own observation. One application will
produce a most noticeable change.
Never use ammonia in connection with peroxide of
hydrogen. Hair dressers have a fashion of
"preparing" the hair, as they term it, by
bleaching, and in order to hasten the bleaching
process, they use ammonia.
Peroxide of hydrogen will not injure the hair, if
carefully used, but in connection with ammonia it
will, in the course of time, destroy the constitution
of the hair.
The effect of peroxide is always to make the ends
of the hair very much lighter; the color has been
literally taken out of the hair and there is no way of
restoring the bleached ends. You will have to have the
hair dyed or stained. I do not think any one can
personally keep the hair an even shade by the aid of a
bleach, and there is really no other process that is
not injurious. The hair can be kept slightly
brightened by the use of diluted peroxide, but the
roots of the hair will always be the original color as
the hair grows out.
In order to keep your hair a uniform color when you
are using an artificial preparation, you should have
the services of some one who understands the matter
thoroughly. Nothing can prevent the hair from growing
out its original color, and there is always a
difference for about a half inch from the root. Only a
person very skillful in the art can touch up the roots
successfully.
To turn bleached blond hair back to its original
color, have it dyed or let it grow out its natural
color. After it has grown out, if you choose to bleach
it again, you can do so without injury, but it would
not do to rebleach or attempt to rebleach the dyed
hair.
Peroxide of hydrogen is also a bleach for the
eyebrows. It would first lighten the color and finally
would turn them a golden shade.
I do not think the peroxide treatment adapted to
the eyebrows.
Peroxide of hydrogen diluted half and half with
water will turn dark brown hair an auburn shade.
When muddy brown hair is at its best it is not
beautiful. When it loses its lustre it is extremely
unbecoming and robs a woman of color and style. It can
be brightened by washing it, after a thorough shampoo,
with a tea-spoonful of chemically pure peroxide of
hydrogen, diluted in a teacupful of water. Wet the
hair thoroughly with it and fan it until dry.
GRAY HAIR
Prematurely gray hair is usually an inheritance
from father to daughter or from mother to son, or it
may come from a generation or two back. Many people
ask me for something which will change black hair to
silver white, and do away with the yellow shade. There
is no harmless preparation which will effect this
desirable result. I have not seen a homemade dye which
was not plainly perceptible; and though I give recipes
for them, I do not advise their use when a first-class
proprietary article can be obtained.
I give a formula for a hair dye, but I want to say
candidly that I think homemade hair dyes are rarely,
if ever, successful. In order to make a thoroughly
good hair dye, the services of a skillful chemist are
required.
HAIR DYE
Pyrogalic acid, one-quarter of an ounce; distilled
water (hot), one and one-half ounces. Dissolve. When
the solution is cool add one-half ounce of alcohol.
Pyrogalic acid is extracted from Chinese nutgalls. The
hair should always be thoroughly washed before
applying the dye.
I repeat that while this is an excellent hair dye,
I do not think it is successful as usually made by an
amateur.
To stain the hair slightly the above dye may be
diluted with two or three times its weight of soft
water and a little more alcohol.
A ONCE-FAMOUS HAIR DYE
Precipitated sulphur 1 drachm.
Acetate of lead 1 drachm.
Rose water 4 ounces.
This dye was famous during the Mexican War, and its
inventor made a fortune out of it. I do not myself
believe in lead hair dyes.
THE TURKISH METHOD OF APPLYING HENNA LEAVES TO THE
HAIR
In Turkey the women very much affect the Titian-red
tresses which are to-day so much in vogue in America.
The reddish tint is produced by henna leaves as in
America, but the Oriental method of applying the color
is different.
The Turkish women grind the henna leaves to an
impalpable powder. They make a paste of this powder by
mixing enough boiling water to it to produce a thin
paste. While yet warm the mixture is applied to the
hair and allowed to remain on the head from a quarter
of an hour to two hours, according to the shade of red
desired. The henna is removed by rinsing in several
clear waters.
My own opinion, as I have announced it previously
on the subject, is that the best results are obtained
by patronizing one of the well-known manufacturers or
hair dressers who make a specialty of coloring the
hair any shade the customer desires.
Continue
to Hair (part III)
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