How Women Looked After Their Hair In The 19th Century

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Braid to the waist: how women of the 19th century looked after their hair

Few wondered how women took care of their hair at a time when there was no running water in the cities, and the population had an elementary idea of cleanliness of the body. Unlike the Slavs, the Europeans were not familiar with bath procedures and had problems with hygiene. Often the length of the strands reached more than half a meter and required special attention.

How often did you wash your hair

In 19th century Europe, it was customary for wealthy families to wash their hair no more than once a month. To do this, they had to hire a hairdresser who was engaged not only in washing, but also in singing hair. Girls from poor areas washed them every three months and believed that this was enough.

How cleanliness was kept

But don't think that 200 years ago, everyone's hair was greasy and smelled bad: there were cleansers, but they were not at all like ours. Of course, washing thick curls with soap was dangerous - alkalis made the hair coarse and brittle. The girls risked being left with a washcloth on their heads instead of a beautiful head of hair.

Special conditioning oils were used, which were applied with a comb along the entire length of the curls. After a few hours, the natural oily layer removed all dirt and dust from the head, and the hair became well-groomed and smooth due to the oil coating.

Such tricks were available only to young ladies from wealthy families. Surprisingly, the women did not wash their hair themselves: the maids or the hairdresser did it for them, and it took at least several hours.

The secret of styling

Loose hair in the 19th century was a kind of taboo. A strict hairstyle or braid, which was braided tightly even at night, was considered mandatory. Wealthy women turned to the hairdresser for help: he came into the house and did the styling for a whole week.

A kind of secret to long-lasting styling was the fact that it was done on oily hair. The sebum and special lipstick for washing the hair acted like a fixing varnish. The hair became very manageable and soft and kept its shape perfectly for seven days.

Under this condition, just a few hairpins were enough to create a gorgeous and reliably fixed hairstyle. Now it is clear why in our time hairdressers are trying to style the hair that was washed yesterday - this way it will hold up much better.