How To Make Your Hair Grow – Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

Doesn’t everybody want beautiful hair? How to make your hair grow … in the Victorian and Edwardian era!

How To Make Your Hair Grow - Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

Victorian and Edwardian women prided themselves on their long, luxuriant hair. But not all women (and men) had beautiful hair. Read on to find out what was recommended in the Edwardian era to make your hair grow!

Related: 200+ Historical DIY Natural Beauty Products

 

 

 

How To Make Your Hair Grow – Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

‘As a general thing, the reason for the falling out of hair is due to lack of proper circulation in the minute blood vessels of the scalp. Soon the scalp loses its vitality. It becomes tense and shiny, and the hair follicles, from which the hair grows, are actually strangled out of existence.

It has been asserted that baldness is due to the presence of a microbe. The microbe of baldness, if such there be, could not exist if the hair roots were properly nourished by a sufficient supply of blood.

Hair tonics may be good to banish the impurities which clog the hair follicles and to destroy the microbes, and it is in this that their usefulness probably exists.

Related: Homemade Hair Tonics – Victorian And Edwardian Recipes

Almost every hair tonic contains alcohol in some form, and this is an excellent disinfectant; quinine is added to stimulate the growth of the hair and to prevent its falling out. If the hair is dry, oil should be added to the mixture. All tonics and applications should be rubbed into the roots of the hair, for if the long hairs are wet with any preparation of the sort, it makes them sticky, and the effect is unpleasant.

In most cases in which the hair falls, there exists a dryness of the scalp due to the innactivity of the hair follicles. It is well then to use the crude yellow vaseline. It sometimes has a better effect if mixed with an equal quantity of lanoline. This should be rubbed thoroughly into the roots of the hair. None of these things will avail unless used diligently and for a long time. […]

Related: Victorian Night-Time Hair Routine

Brushing has often been recommended to stimulate the healthy growth of the hair. An expert ladies’ maid is taught first of all, to brush hair, in order to give the hundred strokes with the brush at night as her mistress is retiring.

In the first place, if one is devoted to the brush, it should be seen that it is perfectly clean, for it gathers impurities much faster than a comb. […]

Related: How To Clean Your Hair Brush

If a brush is used wrongly it may become an instrument for raking out a number of hairs. It should be held so that all, or nearly all, the bristles of the brush are planted firmly on the scalp before the sweep is made to bring it down through the length of the hair. When this sweep is made, the brush should pass over as much of the scalp as possible, for it is at this point that all the good which comes from brushing is done. The stimulation that comes from the bristles acts in the same way as a massage.’ (The Fountain Of Youth, 1905)

Related: About Brushing The Hair – Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

‘A writer in one of our journals advances a new idea with reference to the way in which thin hair should be “groomed,” as they say in Paris, to induce the growth and thickening. It is merely brushing the hair the wrong way and is done as described below. It is said to be more beneficial than a tonic.

Carefully divide the hair into many small parts and then, with a huge and stiff brush begin the work. Holding the extreme end of the strand to be brushed in the left hand, start at the bottom of it and brush upward toward the head. After each strand has gone through this process smooth each hair back into its original position. Follow this up and brush the hair in this manner each night and morning. It serves as a stimulant to the sickly hair.’ (The Ideal Cook Book, 1902)

 

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How To Make Your Hair Grow - Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

12 thoughts on “How To Make Your Hair Grow – Victorian And Edwardian Hair Care

  1. Love this historical perspective! I used to teach high school history and had a section on Egyptian hair care- I think I short changed my students by not covering the Victorian age;) Thank you fit the blog hop share!

  2. These are really some great haircare tips. However, My secret is natural haircare with coconut oil and herbs like Amla, Reetha, Bhringraj they are really effective

  3. This was great to know and it wasn’t taught in history or English classes. Thank you again.
    Miss Danette A.Jones

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