To gradually darken the shade of the hair on these principles, provided its normal sulphur be still secreted by the hair-bulbs and be still present in its structure, it will, therefore, generally be sufficient to occasionally employ a weak solution of any of the milder salts of iron as a hair wash. The menstruum may be water, to which a little spirits and a few drops of oil of rosemary to increase its stimulating qualities have been added. In applying it, the head being first washed clean, care should be taken to thoroughly moisten the whole surface of the hair and the skin of the head with the wash; and its absorption and action should be promoted by the free use of a clean hairbrush. Wine is the favorite solvent for the iron; ale and beer are also sometimes so employed. Most of the fashionable ferruginous hair washes also contain a few grains of acetate of copper or distilled verdigris, the objections to which have been already pointed out.
The daily use of oil or pomatum, with which a few grains of carbonate of lead, lead plaster, or trisnitrate of bismuth, have been blended by heat and careful trituration, has generally a like effect on the hair to ferruginous solutions; so also has a leaden comb, but its action is very uncertain. None of these last are, however, safe for long-continued use. Atrophy of the scalp, baldness, and even local paralysis, have sometimes, though rarely, been caused by them.
When the normal sulphur of the hair is absent, or deficient, the preceding substances fail to darken the hair. In this case the desired effect may often be produced by also moistening the head, say twice a week, with water, to which a little sulphuret of potassium or hydrosulphuret of ammonia has been added.
When it is desired to dye or darken the hair more rapidly, as in a few hours, or even a few minutes, plumbite of lime, plumbite of potassa, or nitrate or ammonia—nitrate of silver—is usually employed. The first is commonly produced by the admixture of quicklime with oxide of lead (litharge), carbonate of lead, or acetate of lead. These ingredients should be in appropriate proportions, but very generally the reverse is the case in those of the shops.
It may be laid down as a rule that when the lime is in greater proportion than about two to one of the oxide, and to the corresponding equivalents of the other substances mentioned, or when the lime has not been prepared in a proper manner, the compound is not safe, and very likely to prove injurious to the skin and hair-bulbs, and perhaps to act as a depilatory. The effects of these lead dyes arise partly in the way previously described and partly by direct chemical action between the sulphur of the hair and the lead which they contain, sulphuret of lead being formed in the surfacial portion of the hair. It is on the last that their more immediate effect depends.
If there be no sulphur in the hair, they will not darken it. After the necessary period of contact, they should be gently but thoroughly removed from the hair and skin by rubbing them off with the fingers, and by the use of the hairbrush, the head being then washed clean with tepid water. Should the tint imparted by them not be deep enough, or be too fiery, it may be darkened and turned on the brown or black by moistening the hair the next day with a very weak solution of sulphuret of potassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia.
None of the compounds of lead stain the skin, an advantage which has led to a preference being given to them by many persons who are clumsy manipulators, and to the more extensive use of them than of other hair dyes.
The salts of silver above referred to are more rapid in their action as hair dyes than those containing lead.
It is only necessary to wash the hair quite clean and free from grease, then to moisten it with a weak solution of one of them, and, lastly, to expose it to the light, to effect the object in view. Sunlight will fully darken it in a few minutes, but in diffused daylight it will take two or three hours, or longer, to acquire the deepest shade. To avoid this delay and inconvenience, the common practice is, a few minutes after applying the silver solution, to moisten or wet the hair with a solution of sulphuret of potassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia. The effect is immediate, and the full depth of shade which a silver solution of the strength employed is capable of imparting is at once produced.
A few minutes later and the hair and skin may be rinsed with tepid water, gently wiped dry, and the hair finally adjusted with the comb. The effect of its application, its rapid action, and the satisfactory nature of the effect produced, all tend to render a solution of nitrate of silver the favorite hair dye of those who have sufficient skill and steadiness of hand to use it properly.
The daily use of oil or pomatum, with which a few grains of carbonate of lead, lead plaster, or trisnitrate of bismuth, have been blended by heat and careful trituration, has generally a like effect on the hair to ferruginous solutions; so also has a leaden comb, but its action is very uncertain. None of these last are, however, safe for long-continued use. Atrophy of the scalp, baldness, and even local paralysis, have sometimes, though rarely, been caused by them.
When the normal sulphur of the hair is absent, or deficient, the preceding substances fail to darken the hair. In this case the desired effect may often be produced by also moistening the head, say twice a week, with water, to which a little sulphuret of potassium or hydrosulphuret of ammonia has been added.
When it is desired to dye or darken the hair more rapidly, as in a few hours, or even a few minutes, plumbite of lime, plumbite of potassa, or nitrate or ammonia—nitrate of silver—is usually employed. The first is commonly produced by the admixture of quicklime with oxide of lead (litharge), carbonate of lead, or acetate of lead. These ingredients should be in appropriate proportions, but very generally the reverse is the case in those of the shops.
It may be laid down as a rule that when the lime is in greater proportion than about two to one of the oxide, and to the corresponding equivalents of the other substances mentioned, or when the lime has not been prepared in a proper manner, the compound is not safe, and very likely to prove injurious to the skin and hair-bulbs, and perhaps to act as a depilatory. The effects of these lead dyes arise partly in the way previously described and partly by direct chemical action between the sulphur of the hair and the lead which they contain, sulphuret of lead being formed in the surfacial portion of the hair. It is on the last that their more immediate effect depends.
If there be no sulphur in the hair, they will not darken it. After the necessary period of contact, they should be gently but thoroughly removed from the hair and skin by rubbing them off with the fingers, and by the use of the hairbrush, the head being then washed clean with tepid water. Should the tint imparted by them not be deep enough, or be too fiery, it may be darkened and turned on the brown or black by moistening the hair the next day with a very weak solution of sulphuret of potassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia.
None of the compounds of lead stain the skin, an advantage which has led to a preference being given to them by many persons who are clumsy manipulators, and to the more extensive use of them than of other hair dyes.
The salts of silver above referred to are more rapid in their action as hair dyes than those containing lead.
It is only necessary to wash the hair quite clean and free from grease, then to moisten it with a weak solution of one of them, and, lastly, to expose it to the light, to effect the object in view. Sunlight will fully darken it in a few minutes, but in diffused daylight it will take two or three hours, or longer, to acquire the deepest shade. To avoid this delay and inconvenience, the common practice is, a few minutes after applying the silver solution, to moisten or wet the hair with a solution of sulphuret of potassium, or of hydrosulphuret of ammonia. The effect is immediate, and the full depth of shade which a silver solution of the strength employed is capable of imparting is at once produced.
A few minutes later and the hair and skin may be rinsed with tepid water, gently wiped dry, and the hair finally adjusted with the comb. The effect of its application, its rapid action, and the satisfactory nature of the effect produced, all tend to render a solution of nitrate of silver the favorite hair dye of those who have sufficient skill and steadiness of hand to use it properly.
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