Hair Care

We offered you, Madam, in a previous talk from this corner devoted to your beauty, a word about the complexion and how to keep it soft and clear. In today's talk we shall take your hair as our subject, and reveal to you certain facts by persevering in which you can keep hair that is beautiful, healthy, and brimming with freshness.

We must point out first that the beauty of health in general has a direct bearing on the beauty of the hair — and on every aspect of beauty — so tend your health before all else.

Among the laws of hair beauty is its cleanliness; yet we should not undertake to wash it more than once a week, for too much washing dries it out and robs it of its freshness. As for what to wash the hair with: we hear that the hairdressers wash hair only with the "shampoo" prepared in the West, but this practice is no more than a commercial habit, and the best thing with which to wash our hair is good native soap made of pure olive oil — and beware, Madam, of cheap scented soap, for it harms your hair and gives it a rough feel.

For the care of the hair's beauty, rub the scalp well, an hour before the bath, with a little pure olive oil, letting your fingertips reach every lock of your hair; and treating it with a stiff brush helps the oil seep down to the roots of the follicles. You will find, as a result of this operation, that your hair after the bath becomes softer and more lustrous.

There is a second method of nourishing the hair and caring for its beauty: substitute raw egg for the olive oil, working it through the hair half an hour before the bath. This operation helps its sheen and helps rid it of the dandruff that disfigures the hair and robs it of much of its luster.

The best means of getting rid of this dandruff is to complete the first operation by rinsing the hair after the bath with half a glass of vinegar if your hair is black or dark, or of lemon juice if your hair is fair. For the vinegar or lemon will destroy every trace of the soap, which is the first cause of dandruff.

For the care of the hair and the preservation of its natural color, it must be treated by rubbing, or "massage," so as to rouse the hair follicles and urge them to work and to secrete — and the most effective means to that end is the stiff brush, which reaches down to the roots of the hair and distributes their secretion evenly over all the hairs, giving the hair a natural color and freshness. In the old days, ladies with long hair took care that their hair should receive, every night before sleep, a hundred strokes reaching to the ends of the flowing braids. Now the task of caring for the hair is no longer so laborious, given how short it is worn, and so we no longer have any excuse for neglecting it, or for being too lazy to go over it every night for a few minutes with the brush and the fingertips, to rouse it to work and to that continuous secretion which keeps the follicles from aging, drying up, and breaking down...

We must point out, finally, that alcohol has a bad effect on the hair and leaves it dry and unruly; so remember this, and do not be lavish with perfumed scents scattered generously over your hair. If you are one of those who adore perfumes, take care to apply them with a light touch behind your ears, on your neck, and at other spots on your arms; but as for your hair itself, keep all these preparations away from it — especially the chemical ones.