BAD TO GOOD HAIR DAYS, EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY, AND SLEEP CAPS

YouTube feeds can be useful!

A week ago, a video came up in my YouTube feed about how to grow long and healthy hair. I was intrigued, because I already have long hair (to hip length) and am hoping to grow it longer. However, as I approach 70 years of age, it is definitely thinner than previously. I have undergone both chemotherapy and radiotherapy in recent years, and a had long history of colouring my hair, and also learning that Covid can cause hair loss, and the timing seemed right to look into this and see if I could reverse the trend.

I managed, with great difficulty, to take a photo of part of my scalp and I was alarmed to see how thin my hair actually was.

Katherine, the lady who did the video, specialises in making period costume as accurately as possible, and following contemporary patterns and guidelines. She is very knowledgeable about how people lived in previous centuries, and has done research into their personal hygiene habits.

It is a common belief that before the 20th century advent of deodorants, shampoo and regular bathing, our ancestors must have been smelly, dirty and repellant, but this appears not to have been the case. We take so much for granted with all our modern conveniences, but in generations past, it would be a real effort to pump water from the well and heat it up and have a bath. Soap was expensive and for poorer people, pretty much unobtainable. Their only recourse would have been to wash in the local river or the public bath-house, and with no modern sanitation, there was no guarantee that you would come out cleaner than you went in!

Other methods were therefore called for.

Katherine discovered many astonishing photographs of women in Victorian and Edwardian times with incredibly long hair – down to their knees and beyond – which was thick, luscious and healthy-looking.

She discovered that they washed it only infrequently, and mostly used frequent and thorough brushing to cleanse it. This is where the “brush 100 times” idea came from. It stimulates the scalp which encourages hair growth, cleans out any dirt and debris, and carries the natural sebum from the scalp to the hair ends.

Experimental archaeology

This is a very interesting study. People research the techniques and practices of bygone ages, and attempt to recreate them, often using the same materials and equipment that were available to those of the time. A great deal of information can be learned from this practice, way beyond what you can read in books. There’s nothing like hands-on experience!

Katherine, and many others besides, have explored in a very practical way, what happens when you stop treating your hair with harsh commercial hair products full of synthetic chemicals which strip your hair of its natural sebum, and return to older and more natural materials and methods, and infrequent washing. The results are surprising. People’s hair is growing longer than they have ever been able to achieve before (mostly because of breakage) and it is much better moisturised, and one’s scalp becomes healthy, promoting new hair growth where thinness, and even bald patches, had been.

I became very keen to try this. I have watched numerous videos this week and read many comments from people who have done it, and have been encouraged in thinking that perhaps it is not too late to turn back the clcock with my hair and undo much of the damage I have been unwittingly causing over many years.

Much useful information, hints and tips, have also been gleaned from the black community, who have more problems with hair care than Caucasians, given the nature of their hair. They tend to use a lot of product to make it manageable, and this can cause a great deal of damage. Many of them are keen to “go natural” and have devised numerous methods for keeping their hair healthy and manageable, many of which are equally applicable to the white community.

Preventing breakage

Everyone has a natural limit to how long they can grow their hair and this is largely determined by genetics. People who have tried natural hair care methods have frequently found that this limit is not where they believed it to be, and have managed to grow their hair much longer. A reason for this is that they have taken measures to prevent hair breakage.

Some tips – whatever length your hair is:

1. Never detangle your hair when it is wet. The chemical structure is altered and the hair becomes a lot weaker and more prone to breaking.

2. Finger-detangle only. This way you can gently remove the tangles, and you can feel where they are and untangle them without breaking the hair. Much harder to do this when using a brush or comb which is one step removed from direct sensation.

3. Never use heat on your hair. It is very damaging. Hair driers, curling tongs, heated rollers, hair straighteners etc.

4. Protective styling. Much damage is caused by pulling the hair too tightly into buns and ponytails etc., and using tight elastics and other hair ornaments to hold it in place. I know I have had a lot of breakage through using slides with metal gripping clasps. Ripping the ponytail elastics out rather than untwisting them can also cause breakage. Having long loose hair can be hazardous – not just for your hair but for your health in general! I was reading a thread on the Long Hair Community Forum the other day where people described all the different things they had got their hair caught in, and they varied between the horrific and the hilarious! Obviously this can cause damage. Tying the hair up in a protective bun or braid is good. The ends are particularly vulnerable to damage and drying, and protective styling tends to keep these tucked away safely. Here is one of my “protective” buns:

I tied it up in a ponytail with a loose elastic, and braided it, and fixed the end with another loose elastic. I gently removed the top one and coiled the hair around, pinning it with hairpins. I removed the elastic from the end just before tucking it in and securing it with another pin. It stayed up all day, and was very comfortable.

5. Preventing friction and rubbing. I have been plagued on and off on YouTube with adverts for silk pillowcases, which I thought were a rip-off (very expensive) and probably a passing fad, but I have since discovered that turning in bed in your sleep causes quite a bit of wear and tear on the hair through friction against a cotton or polycotton pillowcase. Silk is much gentler. I have had a rummage in the studio through my silk box and found a piece that I can lay on top of my pillow which is a good substitute. I haven’t got enough to make any pillowcases, though. I also tried tying a silk scarf around my head but it always slips off during the night, however tightly I secure it! It is interesting that in previous centuries, most people would sleep with nightcaps or bonnets, probably for warmth more than anything else, but these would undoubtedly have protected their hair as well.

6. You can buy sleep caps, and I had a look at these, and eventually found a video with instructions how to make them. I dug out two old white T-shirts and over the past couple of days I have made four sleep caps.

I adapted her pattern slightly. I had dreadful problems with my sewing machine as it did NOT like sewing this fine jersey! I tried with a ball-point needle and it was even worse. I found the only way to avoid slipped stitches was to sew extremely slowly!

Here is a detail of the band. It is just a hem sewn on the outside, and a bigger tuck. This came about by accident as the first cap was much too tall and I needed to get rid of the excess! The result is quite pleasing, and it adds strength to the edge of the cap.

The elastic sewn into the seam. To do this, you just stretch the elastic as you sew, and the fabric bunches up beyond the sewing machine foot.

All four caps ready for use. Nice to have spares for the wash, and also for another purpose – see below later.

Yours truly (not quite) ready for bed!

(I tried to take these photos so that the back view would show in the mirror.)

In these photos you can see that the cap easily accommodates my bun pinned on the top of my head.

I wore the first one last night and it stayed put all night, and was very comfortable! I had a single braid which I coiled and pinned on the back of my head and put the cap over it and it stayed secure. Being fine cotton jersey, these caps are very soft, and with the elasticated seam up the back, they allow for expansion if your hair grows longer.

Researching these, I found myself led into the wonderful world of the tichel. This is the Jewish headcovering, worn by married observant Jewish women who do not show their hair in public. The tichel is very popular in Israel and many styles and colours are used, and they are most attractive. They are usually a large square scarf folded into a triangle and wrapped in creative ways around the head. This Pinterest page from an Israeli company called Wrapunzel (great name!!) gives lots of examples.

The tichel is normally worn over an undercap which often has padding in it to augment the wearer’s hair.

Here, I am wearing one of my caps with a long rectangular scarf tied around my head, allowing the front of the cap to show.

A large square tied in a triangle, also allowing the front of the cap to show.

With the cap completely hidden:

and the back view.

Nothing fancy about my ties…

The undercap is often fitted with a velvet headband with the pile of the velvet facing towards the front, or a separate velvet headband is used. This prevents the tichel from sliding off the head backwards.

I used to wear scarves a lot at one time, but rather got out of the habit of it lately. Definitely something to revive. They are attractive when matching one’s clothing, and you can add ornaments to them. Many people unfortunate enough to have lost their hair through cancer now wear beautiful scarves rather than wigs which can be uncomfortable, and a soft undercap is just the thing for sensitive skin.

The head covering not only protects the hair from damage from pollution, dust and other dirt, but it also protects the scalp from the sun.

So far this has been an interesting journey of discovery.

Hair care products

Katherine linked to another video where a black lady shared her recipe for scalp oil which promotes hair growth, and her instructions on how to use it. Katherine has been using this for some considerable time and has noticed a marked difference in her hair quality and growth. All the ingredients (even if they sound a bit strange!) are readily available on Ebay, and I have some on order. I am already using a couple of treatments and I will cover all this in a future blog post.

Brushes

Boar bristle brushes are recommended. They are firm but gentle, and being natural, are anti-static, and distribute the oils evenly through the hair after finger-detangling. I have been using a brutal-looking pronged plastic brush designed for detangling (causing loads of breakages – you can hear them as you brush!!) and I shall definitely not be using this any longer!

Amongst my mum’s things was a beautiful ivory-backed natural bristle brush which had belonged to my great grandmother. It is in exellent condition (been well cared for) and has her monogrammed initials and the family crest engraved on the back. I am finding this a huge pleasure to use – the sensation of the bristles gliding through my hair as I brush my 100 times is indescribably lovely, and I love to think of this lady using this very same brush and probably experiencing the same pleasure. (The back of this brush is much shinier in real life.)

The lady herself (on the right in the locket). Nice luxuriant hair!!

More to follow on this subject as my products begin to arrive and I can start using them all.

As you can see from this introduction, the care of long hair takes time and effort, but it is worth it. If you are health/beauty conscious, you are already spending time feeding your body with good nutritious food and possibly exercising, and spending time looking after your skin. Why should your hair be any different? For too many years, I thought growing long healthy hair meant washing it and brushing it and doing it in different styles with things that may or may not break my hair, and just letting it grow and do its own thing, and every now and then trimming off the split ends. I have discovered that there is far more to it than that. I am taking more care from now on, and eagerly anticipate good results.

Off to bed now, for a comfortable night in my new sleep cap.