THE LADIES

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 233, 28 February 1885, Page 8

THE LADIES

TREATMENT OF THE HAIR

(WRITTEN FOR THE LADIES.)

The quantity and quality of the hair varies with the temperament, the health, the hereditary constitution and predisposition, and the accidental circumstances of the individual. Persons of nervous and lymphatic temperaments have usually less abundant hair than those of a sanguine or bilious temperament. Again, mental trouble and anxiety cause the hair to fall prematurely, as also does ill-health, especially disorders of the circulation and of the nervons system. A disposition to fret and worry, over study, and sitting up late at night will weaken the hair and thin it rapidly. Among accidental and easily avoided causes of injury to the hair, the most common and baneful is the use of pads, heavy artificial plaits, fringes and head-dresses, tight-fitting bonnets or hats impervious to the hair, and the wearing of night-caps. I cannot too strongly caution you against fixing cushions or padding to the scalp as a "foundation" over which to pile up a mass of curls or "twists." Not only do such things injure the hair directly, by -overheating and drying the cuticle, but they are likely to cause congestion and headache, and thus indirectly destroy the vitality of the germinal matrix whence the hair grows. Neither must you tie up your hair too tightly, or maltreat it with hard brushes and steel combs. Use a soft brush with long bustles, preferably an electric one • only mind that it is really electric — that is to say, that a battery is attached to it. No brush can really be electric unless an electric current be supplied through it by means of a generator, and this current must be umnistakeably felt and heard. It is better not to use any kind of grease or pomatum to the hair. If you are well, and keep the skin of your head in a healthy state, nature will supply all the lubricant that is necessary by means of the secreting oily glands attached to the hair roots. If, however, your health is not good, and your hair should become dry and rough, with a tendency to snap easily and to split at the ends, you may now and then make use of a little simple nut or olive oil, which should be well rubbed in with the fingers upon the scalp, aud not merely brushed over the surface of tlie hair. At all events, never use lard or animal fats of any kind for this purpose, nor, indeed, for any purpose at all in whicli the skin is concerned. They quickly become rancid, putrify, and irritate the cuticle, besides being far more apt than auy vegetable oil to collect dirt and cause the formation of dandruff. In order to keep the hair and scalp in a healthy state, it is, of course necessary that they should be scrupulously clean. But beware of using irrigations of cold water with the intention of thereby cleansing or strengthening the hair. Nothing causes the hair so soon to thin and become grey and scanty as the frequent use of shower-baths of cold water. The best wash for cleansing the hair and scalp that I can recommend is made by | putting into a quart of hot rain-water a piece of lump ammonia about the size of a Brazil nut, and two tablespoonfuls of solution of soft soap. By the time the ammonia has dissolvtd, the w.tt3r will probably be cool enough for use. If you prefer t carbonate of soda instead of the soft-soap solution, a piece about the same size as the lump of ammonia will suffice. Dry your hair well after washing with a rough towel — not "Turkish,' 1 however, else you will get your hair filled with cotton "fluff," than which nothing is more troublesome to extricate. It knots and rolls iv the meshes of the hair, and can only be forcibly dragged out with a comb. The wash j ust mentioned is particularly suitable for fair hair, because both ammonia and soda tend to produce and preserve an auburn or golden hue. Dark-haired persons should use the yolk of an egg beaten up with a little bicarbonate of potash or borax and warm rain-water. Some bmnes use red wine — the ordinary yin rouge of Continental countries — mixed with an egg and a very small quantity of soda. Red wine owes its colouring to the skin of the black grapes from which it is made, and it contains therefore a large amount of tannin, which is an excellent tonic for the skin and hair roots. If hair is scanty from hereditary tendency, or is becoming* thin through constitutional ill-health, I advise the use, three or four times a week, of the following mixture : Bicarbonate of soda, half a drachm to one drachm. Distilled, or filtered rain- water, twelve tablespoonfuls. Rub some of this preparation into the scalp at the roots of the hair with the fingers, taking care not to scratch the cuticle. Rub for five minutes at a time, using a gentle, even friction, and making sure that you get well at the skin. Alternately with this lotion, on the intermediate days, you may use a little simple oil applied in the same manner and with the same prolonged friction. Persevere with these systematic rubbings during half-a-year, and then gradually lessen their number. In bad cases it may be necessary to continue the treatment for twelve months or more. Another formula, equally good, is thus composed : —

Liquor of ammonia, two drachms. Oil of sweet almonds, two drachms. Spirits of rosemary, one ounce. Otto of mace, one drachm. Rose-water, two-and-a-half ounces. This last formula is more elaborate than the first, and enjoys a wider reputation, although T do not know that it is really more efficacious. The restorer must be applied by means of frictions on the scalp. As for cutting the hair, two or three operations with the scissors in the course of the year should amply suffice, unless the ends have a great tendency to split. I do not think that frequent clipping usually thickens or strengthens the hair. A lady who is a qualified medical practitioner, and may, therefore, be presumably exonerated from the charge of superstition, tells me that she has reasou to believe in the influence of the moon upon the growth of the hair and the proper periods for cutting it. Thus, she saj's that the hair, if cut when the moon is young, grows with its increase and lengthens without thickening ; if cut when the moon is waning, the growth in length ceases, but the hair increases in thickness.