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Seções: Índice Geral Seção Atual: Índice Obra: Índice Anterior: 8. Sobre o Cabelo – I Seguinte: 10. Sobre o Cabelo – III
(p. 65) 9. SOBRE O CABELO – II
MY DEAR LAURA, – It may very likely have occurred to you to wonder why the colour, texture, and characteristics of the hair differ so greatly in various individuals. Why, for instance, should my hair be fair and wavy and yours dark and straight? Or why, again, should Kate’s hair curl so tightly and persistently, no matter what measures she takes to “smooth” it? And Isabel’s be so soft and pliant that it refuses to retain for more than an hour or two the “set” given to it by the crimping-pin?
These individualities of the hair are partly of chemical and partly of mechanical origin. First, as to colour, it has been scientifically demonstrated that, in association with the natural oily substance contained in hair-tubes, there is always present, in the pigment of the cells, a certain quantity of mineral ingredient. The nature of the mineral varies in various races and individuals, and it is on this variation that the colour of the hair depends. Very fair hair contains magnesia; chestnut and brown hair is rich in sulphur, with but a small amount of iron; in black and dark hair, iron predominates. Grey and white hair contain only traces of sulphur, and no iron. The supply of iron pigment usually fails before that of the sulphur; therefore, black or dark hair is wont to turn grey earlier than fair hair, and blondes frequently (p. 66) retain the pristine colour of their tresses, even in advanced age.
Acting on the inference drawn from these facts, it has been attempted to restore the natural hue of the hair, when faded in consequence of illness or senility, by rubbing into the scalp a thin pomatum or a wash containing sulphur or iron in a form capable of absorption by the hair-bulbs, and of reproduction in the tubes of the hair itself. Such is, in fact, the rationale of hair “restorers” or “darkeners,” as contrasted with dyes. Both iron and sulphur may be harmlessly, even if not effectively, used in this manner; but a word of caution must be uttered against the substitution for these ingredients of lead, copper, or bismuth, none of which exist in the natural colouring pigment of the hair, and if absorbed into the system are liable to cause grave mischief, possibly ending in atrophy of the hair follicles or paralysis. Sometimes, with a view to the restoration of colour to prematurely whitened hair, iron or sulphur are administered internally with success. I can give you no recipe here for such medicines, because the condition and circumstances of the patient must in cases of this kind determine the form and manner of the treatment, and special medical advice would be requisite.
Next, the habit which the hair naturally assumes of being crisp and curly on some heads, and lax and straight on others, is due to the shape and character of the hair-follicle. You remember that I told you how every hair has its follicle or cuticular sac, out of which it springs, and within which it is moulded. Now, in some races and individuals, these follicles have a curved or spiral form, and hairs arising from such moulds naturally take a curly appearance, more or less crisp according to the (p. 67) texture of their substance and the curve of the glandular canal. Hairs are not continuous tubes, but are formed by a succession of inverted cones, which, seen under a microscope, present a serrated or jagged aspect. The “curl” is caused by the volutions of these cones upon each other.
The texture of the hair, again, depends on the amount of gelatinous material contained in it. Moist, lax hair, flexible, lank, and inapt to retain “curl,” is very gelatinous, and in order to dress it conveniently it is often found useful to employ a drying wash. In contrast to hair of this nature is seen the “fuzzy” lambent hair with which mediaeval angels, and fairies of the “modern antique” school, are generally credited, containing a comparatively small quantity of gelatine, and being, as a rule, coarse to the eye and rough to the touch. It is a great mistake to apply grease to hair of the kind last described, or, indeed, I may add, to any hair, rough or otherwise. Grease, especially when solid and of animal origin, clogs the pores of the skin, prevents the free access of air to the hair roots, and suppresses the action of the natural secreting glands embedded in the scalp. A little – very little – olive or almond oil in a liquid state, is the only artificial grease that can be safely used. Vegetable fluent pomades, composed of some such oil mingled with some fragrant essence, should always be preferred to preparations of animal fat, all of which are extremely apt to become rancid.
For greasy, moist hair the following is an excellent drying lotion. If used daily it tends to produce a crispy condition and an auburn shade:
Powdered bicarbonate of soda ............................ ¼ oz. Diborate of soda (also powdered) ........................ ¼ oz. Eau do Cologne ....................................... 1 fluid ounce. (p. 68) Rectified spirit ........................................ 2 fluid ounces. Tincture of cochineal .............................. ½ fluid ounce. Distilled water ...................................................... 16 oz.
Mix and agitate until solution is complete.
For dark hair, and in cases where it is not wished to produce an auburn tint, a good wash for drying purposes is thus compounded: –
Essential oil of almonds ........................ 1 fluid drachm. Oil of cassia ......................................... ½ fluid drachm. Essence of musk ................................. ½ fluid drachm. Rectified spirit .................................................... 2 ½ oz.
Mix, and add gradually, with brisk agitation: –
Distilled water ...................................................... 16 oz. Dissolved gum arabic ............................................ 1 oz.
When long-continued ill-health or any other cause has rendered the hair incoercibly stubborn and dry, the best means of treating it is by a glycerine lotion diluted with some perfumed distilled water, such as orange-flower or rose-water.
Another emollient hair-dressing, with an excellent reputation, is the following, the occasional use of which will entirely obviate the necessity of using pomatum, even in those cases which seem most to require the application of grease:
Price’s glycerine .................................................... 1 oz. Eau de Cologne .................................................. ¼ pint. Liquid ammonia ............................................ 1 drachm. Oil of origanum ............................................ ½ drachm. Oil of rosemary ............................................ ½ drachm. Tincture of cantharides .......................................... 1 oz.
Briskly agitate for ten minutes, then add: –
Camphor julep .................................................... ½ pint.
and again well mix and stir. A few drops of essence of musk or other perfume can be added.
(p. 69) Dr. Erasmus Wilson’s recipe for a similar wash, more active than the preceding, is as follows:
Eau de Cologne ..................................................... 8 oz. Tincture of cantharides .......................................... 1 oz. Oil of English lavender ................................ ½ drachm. Oil of rosemary ............................................ ½ drachm.
You can make your choice among these formulas. Cocoa-butter is often used for the hair, as well as for the hands, eyebrows, and lips. In a future letter I may have occasion to mention it, so it may be omitted from present consideration. You will observe that none of the formulas I have given you contain any lard or other solid fat. My reason fur excluding these has been already stated.
After severe sickness or in cases of prolonged ill-health, when the hair “comes out in handfuls,” and thins with great rapidity, it is advisable to have it cut quite short, and to keep it so for a year or two, treating the scalp regularly meanwhile with some tonic lotion, adding, if convenient, the occasional application of the stimulus of electricity by the means already described.
But it is not generally understood that hair-cutting, if intended to be really a regenerative process, must be conducted on scientific principles. The weakest and most sparse hair-growth on debilitated scalps is always along the central parting and about the crown of the head. Here, therefore, the hair should be cut more assiduously and attentively than elsewhere, care being taken that the hairs on the top of the head should be kept shorter, or at least as short as the lower and usually more robust growth at the sides and back. As a rule, however, the scissors are freely applied to the lateral and occipital hair, which is often cropped very short, while the hair on the crown and around the parting is left unduly long. Now, (p. 70) it is precisely the upper hair which always needs most cutting, and which requires to be kept shortest in order to strengthen its growth and encourage that of the downy under-crop, liable in this region to be particularly fine and feeble.
The effect of keeping the hair short is to cause the hair-bulbs to expend on the short hairs and on the formation of new growth the stimulation and nutrition which would otherwise be appropriated by the excess of length. Moreover, the air and light reach and penetrate short hair much more freely and thoroughly than hair that is twisted up, compressed and pinned down closely on the scalp, thus excluding ventilation and its stimulating effects. Nothing is so beneficial to growth, whether vegetable or animal, as the free access of oxygen and of light. Again, friction is more easily administered to the scalp when the hair is short, and the value of daily and regular excitation of this mechanical kind is very great in cases such as that we are considering. The hair falls and thins for want of vigour and tone in the bulbs, and friction conduces greatly to the restoration of these qualities. Rubbing with grease should, however, be avoided, for grease will clog the pores of the skin and hinder rather than help the growth of new hair. Strong rosemary tea, or a weak solution of the essential oils of thyme or rosemary, may be advantageously used to facilitate friction. Oil of thyme is sometimes called oil of origanum. These essential oils excite the natural secretions, and promote the action of the glands without blocking them as solid grease does. If a little good rum or spirit of wine be added to the solution of thyme or rosemary oil, a still better and more stimulant lotion is produced. Ammonia may be used with the same object.
(p. 71) The presence of loose “scurf” or scales of light skin on the scalp is a great annoyance in some cases, especially after fevers and illness due to debility. This dandriff may be removed by the occasional application of a “shampoo” wash thus composed: –
Yolk of one egg, One pint of rain-water, One ounce of rosemary spirit.
Beat the mixture thoroughly up and use it warm, rubbing it well into the skin of the head.
This dressing is suitable not only as a cure for dandriff, but as a cleansing wash under all circumstances. It does not have the drying effect of a soda and ammonia ablution, but, on the contrary, it softens the scalp, and renders the hair very silky and smooth. Cases of persistent “scurfiness” can be successfully treated by the use of the following: –
Sesquicarbonate of ammonia .............................. ½ oz. Spirit of rosemary ............................................... ¼ pint. Rose-water ......................................................... ¾ pint.
Mix by shaking, and apply to the partings before brushing.
Now and then, even in youth and among abundant locks, grey and white hairs make their appearance. These colourless hairs, denoting insufficiency of pigmentary secretion, are due either to general debility of health, or to the want of local nutrition and vitality. Iron taken internally, under medical advice, and the use of red wine (claret) as a tonic head lotion, constitute the best treatment I can suggest. If the natural colour of the hair be dark, sulphate of iron can be advantageously added to the wine, in the proportion of seven grammes of the iron to 360 of the wine. Boil the two together for ten minutes. The iron sulphate can be dissolved in rain-water before adding it to the wine.
(p. 72) I shall say nothing here about baldness, for this is a complaint that very rarely afflicts our sex, unless under exceptional circumstances in which special medical treatment is requisite, or in extreme old age, when it would be idle to attempt to restore the hair.
No doubt you will expect me to say something about “curling fluids.” Well, almost all these nostrums are injurious. In some the active ingredient is mercury and aquafortis, in others, salt of tartar. This last is not mischievous, so here is the recipe: –
Dry salt of tartar (carbonate of potash) ........ 1 drachm. Cochineal (powdered) ................................. ½ drachm. Liquor of ammonia ...................................... 1 drachma. Essence of rose .......................................... 1 drachma. Glycerine ........................................................ ¼ ounce. Rectified spirit ............................................. 1 ½ ounce. Distilled water .............................................. 18 ounces.
Let this mixture digest with frequent stirring for a week, and then filter. Moisten the hair with the lotion when dressing. The effect will occur as the hair dries. I give this recipe rather to satisfy any cravings you may have on the subject of “curling fluids” than as a useful addendum to your toilette formulae. For practical purposes, especially if the hair is to be curled or waved daily, a simpler preparation is advisable. This may be obtained by mixing ten or twelve grains of carbonate of potash with a pint or more of warm water and soap, preferably Pears’. Froth the water by brisk agitation, and moisten the hair with it, dipping the brush into the solution and distributing it thus throughout the hair until every part is damped. Then curl up the hair while still humid on kid and wire rollers, sold for the purpose by all hairdressers at 6d. or 1s. the packet. Of course this operation must be performed at night, on going to bed. In the morning, on removing the rollers, the hair will be (p. 73) found crisply curled, and will retain its crispness much better than it would have done without the use of the potash solution. Heated irons should never be applied to the hair, either to curl or to crimp it. Their use will infallibly injure the hair-tubes, causing them to wither, snap, and perish.
Seções: Índice Geral Seção Atual: Índice Obra: Índice Anterior: 8. Sobre o Cabelo – I Seguinte: 10. Sobre o Cabelo – III
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