#(looks at that bernadette banner video where she uses the victorian method for hair)

[valnyte]

I'm pretty sure his hairwashing will take an entire day (including drying it) as well as having half the castle's team of servants just for pouring the water over his head 😭

[marzipanandminutiae]

Hi! I don't know if you've ever answered something like this before, but do you know how people used to wash their hair in times before there was shampoo? Because I've tried to look it up, and found several different answers. Like not washing at all but brushing a lot, or using lye soap that ruins your hair and having to wear wigs. Since you know a lot about fashion history, do you know what happened?

Disclaimer: I am a white woman with relatively straight hair. Most of the primary sources I’ve read assume their default audience is women with relatively straight hair. Women with curly and/or Afro-textured hair absolutely lived in Europe and the United States during these periods, but I regret to say that I’m less knowledgeable about what they did. Please take that into account when reading this.

Hello!

I in fact did an experiment wherein I used Victorian haircare methods for two weeks, washing weekly as was often recommended (or biweekly, depending on the source, but I went with once a week). But I didn’t tag it consistently, like an idiot, so unfortunately I can’t point you to it.

Luckily, lye soap was not commonly used on one’s hair. Castile soap was, and while that’s somewhat better, it also totally borks the pH balance because it’s so basic. You can kind of counteract this by following with a vinegar rinse, which had been A Thing “for shine” since before using soap was even common, but the damage will still catch up with you eventually.

(Very few women wore full-on wigs at pretty much any point in western history, though, I will point out. Sometimes augmenting with hairpieces was done, but seldom an actual wig. Yes, even in the 18th century.)

Soap didn’t start being used on hair until the 19th century, though. So what did they do before? Rosemary water rinses were popular, as were various egg mixtures. And these methods remained popular long after washing with soap became common. Hair was often cleaned with things you had around the house- which could prove disastrous if you followed one Victorian guide that advised dilute ammonia.

Fun fact: my great-grandmother (born 1903) washed my mom’s hair with egg yolks and vinegar when Mom visited her as a kid in the 1950s-60s. And when I was little, Mom used to condition my hair with vinegar after she shampooed it. Old habits die hard.

“But Marzi,” you may be thinking, “if they washed their hair weekly or even less often, it must have been disgusting!”

Well...not really. Modern shampoo is very strong compared to most washes they used, and strips out natural oils more thoroughly. This causes the scalp to compensate by producing way more oil than necessary. In the main, our hair probably gets greasy much faster than our ancestors’ did.

Brushing was a key part of most women’s hair routines for a long time, specifically with natural bristle brushes. This would distribute the oils from the scalp down the length of the hair, protecting the hair  and keeping it from looking too greasy. Brushing could also remove dirt from going about one’s day.

Caveat if you wish to try this- you have to clean your brush quite frequently to avoid spreading extra oil through your hair.

Ever heard the phrase “I washed my hair and now I can’t do anything with it?” That’s because a bit of natural oil in your hair makes it more sculptable and less prone to flyaways- perfect in eras where The Look was to have your hair up in elaborate coiffures. Or at least like. Up, tidy, and smooth. Speaking from experience, Victorian styles are easier to achieve neatly with what we now call “second day hair.”

Her Most Excellent Victwardian Witchness Bernadette Banner just did a video about washing and styling her hair using Edwardian techniques, which I highly recommend.

Hope this was helpful!