To impart some degree of curliness or waviness to the hair when it is naturally straight, and to render it more retentive of the curl imparted to it by papers or by other modes of dressing it, various methods are often adopted and different cosmetics employed. The first object appears to be promoted by keeping the hair for a time in a state intermediate between perfect dryness and humidity, from which different parts of its structure, being unequally affected in this respect, will acquire different degrees of relaxation and rigidity, and thus have a tendency to assume a wavy or slightly curly form, provided the hair be left loose enough to allow it.
For this purpose nothing is better than washing the hair with soap and water, to which a few grains of salt of tartar (carbonate of potash) have been added; or it may be slightly moistened with any of the hair washes mentioned in the last paragraph, in each half-pint of which a few grains of the carbonate (say ten or twelve), or a teaspoonful of glycerine, has been dissolved. The moistened hair, after the application of the brush, should be finally loosely adjusted as desired with the dressing-comb. The effect occurs as the hair dries. When oils are preferable to hair washes, those strongly scented with the oil of rosemary, to which a few drops of oil of thyme or origanum may be added, appear to be the most useful.
To cause the hair to retain the position given to it in dressing it, various methods and cosmetics are commonly employed. When the arrangement is a natural one and the hair healthy and tractable, the free use of the hairbrush will usually be sufficient for the purpose. When this is insufficient, the application of a few drops of oil, or, better still, moistening the hair with a little simple water, will effect the object satisfactorily. In very elaborate and unnatural styles of dressing the hair, and to cause it to remain in curl or to retain its position during dancing, or violent exercise, bandoline and cosmetique or hard pomatum are the articles commonly employed in fashionable life. Mild ale or porter has a similar effect, and is often substituted for the preceding expensive cosmetics.
The frequent use of any of these articles is objectionable, as they clog up the pores of the skin and shield both it and the hair from the genial action of the atmosphere, which is essential to their healthy vigor. They should, hence, be subsequently removed by carefully washing the head with a little soap and tepid water. Their use may be tolerated in dressing for the ballroom, but on no other occasion. Simple water skillfully employed, as noticed elsewhere, is the best and safest mixture, and under ordinary circumstances is amply sufficient for the purpose.
The practice of artificially changing the color of the hair, and particularly of dyeing it, has descended to us from remote antiquity, and though not so common in Western Europe as formerly, is still far from infrequent at the present day. This might be inferred from the multitude of nostrums for the purpose continually advertised in the newspapers, and from the number of persons who announce themselves as practicing the art, even though the keen and experienced eye did not frequently detect instances of it, as it now does, in the hair and beards of those we see around us. The recent rage after light auburn or reddish hair in fashionable life has, unfortunately, greatly multiplied these instances. The consideration of the subject, however, in its ethical relations does not come within the province of the present work, and I shall confine myself to pointing out how the color of the hair may be changed in the safest and most satisfactory manner.
To change the color of the hair various methods and preparations are employed. The principal of these are intended to darken it, but sometimes the contrary is aimed at. Whichever object is desired, it is necessary that the article or preparation employed to carry it out be not of a caustic or irritant nature, capable of injuriously affecting the delicate skin to which it is applied, or that it may be liable to come in contact with, as is the case with many of the nostrums vended for the purpose. Some of the substances that necessarily enter into the composition of hair strains and hair dyes, or that are used in connection with them, possess these objectionable properties in a high degree, and can, therefore, only be safely employed in a state of proper dilution and combination.
If any doubt exists respecting such an article, it is a wise precaution to regard it with suspicion and to test its qualities before applying it for the first time. This may be done by placing some of it on the soft skin of the inner side of the wrist or fore-arm, and allowing it to remain there as long, and under the same conditions, as it is ordered to be left in contact with the hair or skin of the head or face. In this way the injury or loss of the hair, sores, and other serious consequences that too often follow the use of advertised and ill-prepared hair dyes may be generally avoided.
For this purpose nothing is better than washing the hair with soap and water, to which a few grains of salt of tartar (carbonate of potash) have been added; or it may be slightly moistened with any of the hair washes mentioned in the last paragraph, in each half-pint of which a few grains of the carbonate (say ten or twelve), or a teaspoonful of glycerine, has been dissolved. The moistened hair, after the application of the brush, should be finally loosely adjusted as desired with the dressing-comb. The effect occurs as the hair dries. When oils are preferable to hair washes, those strongly scented with the oil of rosemary, to which a few drops of oil of thyme or origanum may be added, appear to be the most useful.
To cause the hair to retain the position given to it in dressing it, various methods and cosmetics are commonly employed. When the arrangement is a natural one and the hair healthy and tractable, the free use of the hairbrush will usually be sufficient for the purpose. When this is insufficient, the application of a few drops of oil, or, better still, moistening the hair with a little simple water, will effect the object satisfactorily. In very elaborate and unnatural styles of dressing the hair, and to cause it to remain in curl or to retain its position during dancing, or violent exercise, bandoline and cosmetique or hard pomatum are the articles commonly employed in fashionable life. Mild ale or porter has a similar effect, and is often substituted for the preceding expensive cosmetics.
The frequent use of any of these articles is objectionable, as they clog up the pores of the skin and shield both it and the hair from the genial action of the atmosphere, which is essential to their healthy vigor. They should, hence, be subsequently removed by carefully washing the head with a little soap and tepid water. Their use may be tolerated in dressing for the ballroom, but on no other occasion. Simple water skillfully employed, as noticed elsewhere, is the best and safest mixture, and under ordinary circumstances is amply sufficient for the purpose.
The practice of artificially changing the color of the hair, and particularly of dyeing it, has descended to us from remote antiquity, and though not so common in Western Europe as formerly, is still far from infrequent at the present day. This might be inferred from the multitude of nostrums for the purpose continually advertised in the newspapers, and from the number of persons who announce themselves as practicing the art, even though the keen and experienced eye did not frequently detect instances of it, as it now does, in the hair and beards of those we see around us. The recent rage after light auburn or reddish hair in fashionable life has, unfortunately, greatly multiplied these instances. The consideration of the subject, however, in its ethical relations does not come within the province of the present work, and I shall confine myself to pointing out how the color of the hair may be changed in the safest and most satisfactory manner.
To change the color of the hair various methods and preparations are employed. The principal of these are intended to darken it, but sometimes the contrary is aimed at. Whichever object is desired, it is necessary that the article or preparation employed to carry it out be not of a caustic or irritant nature, capable of injuriously affecting the delicate skin to which it is applied, or that it may be liable to come in contact with, as is the case with many of the nostrums vended for the purpose. Some of the substances that necessarily enter into the composition of hair strains and hair dyes, or that are used in connection with them, possess these objectionable properties in a high degree, and can, therefore, only be safely employed in a state of proper dilution and combination.
If any doubt exists respecting such an article, it is a wise precaution to regard it with suspicion and to test its qualities before applying it for the first time. This may be done by placing some of it on the soft skin of the inner side of the wrist or fore-arm, and allowing it to remain there as long, and under the same conditions, as it is ordered to be left in contact with the hair or skin of the head or face. In this way the injury or loss of the hair, sores, and other serious consequences that too often follow the use of advertised and ill-prepared hair dyes may be generally avoided.
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