Oh! For Sunny Silky hair!
by Nilma Dole
How many times do we look at our
hair as we glance past a mirror? Why are we so affected about the way we
look now? How come a bad hair day turns out to be a bad day after all?
If you are one of the millions of people in the world who wish you
just had awesome hair, then fret no more. The hair-raising topic has
been one of the hottest topics from the creation of mankind. It’s no
surprise that these days, men are more bothered about their hair than
women and there are unisex salons dedicated to making a man look
attractive. Everyone needs the best advice for their hair because it is
not just using a certain shampoo that makes your hair fall but little
things like getting angry and pulling your hair out and not eating a
balanced diet can impair your hair.
 If you take history, you will recognise civilisations from the mere
style of their hair. The Egyptians have a distinct style as with the
tribal Africans. It was used for everything from mating to even mourning
a loved one’s demise. Hair has been immensely popular around the world
that various court officials still wear special white wigs (inspired by
the English). It was really a distinguishing uniform. It was also for
‘mourning’ those who went against the law but it also denotes experience
(through size) while also meaning that they are ‘different’ from their
normal persona, putting their personal emotions aside and thinking about
justice. In the Arabic Gulf, the ‘Raqs Na’ashat’ or the Hair dance was a
women’s social dance often in groups.
This dance needs women with good long hair because it has plenty of
hair throwing, small shoulder shimmies, subtle hip work, simple arm and
hand movements and gliding footwork. Now even though majority of the
Muslims cover their hair for religious reasons, it has saved their hair
in the way that it doesn’t have split ends due to dry heat in the
Arabian sun. In the Egypt heat, noblemen and women attached their hair
close to their head but for ceremonial occasions, they donned heavy,
curly black wigs. In classical Greece, women’s hair was long and pulled
back into a chignon.
Many opted to dye their hair red with henna and sprinkle it with gold
powder and occasionally adorning it with fresh flowers or jewelled
tiaras. Men’s hair was short and even shaved on occasions. In Rome, the
tendency was to follow Greek styles but the upper classes would use
curling irons and favoured the gold powdered look of the Greeks.
Unmarried Chinese girls wore their hair long and braided whilst women
combed the hair back from the face and wound into a knot at the nape.
The Manchu regime of the time dictated that men shaved the front of the
head and wore the back hair long and braided, tied with black silk.
Males in Japan also shaved the front of the head but kept the back hair
pulled tightly into a short stiff ponytail.
In the 15th century known as a the Renaissance period, the ladies of
the upper classes really took ‘hair plucking’ to the extreme! If you
fret about tweezing the odd eyebrow and thought that was painful,
imagine plucking the entire front hairline of your scalp to give you the
appearance of a higher forehead! The remainder of the hair then is
tightly scraped back to reveal the elaborate headdresses of the day.
This was a common practice in Europe whereas the upper class ladies of
Italy preferred to cover the hairline with low caps and jewelled
turbans.
They did, however, envy the fairer hair of Northern Europeans and sat
for many hours in the heat of the sun in an attempt to bleach their
hair. The ‘bleach’ of the day was made using either saffron or onion
skins! How’s that for doing anything for your hair?! |
