A woman’s beauty arsenal consists of a bunch of hair care products. This ranges from shampoo to conditioner; straightening irons to curlers; volumizing sprays to hair gels; and a bunch of others. Aside from the everyday hair care products, there are also styling products used for special occasions to make the crowning glory look extra good. But have you ever wondered how the women from years past cared for their precious locks? In the following section, we will take a look at some of the products used by women from the ancient times to care for their hair.
Ancient Products Used for Hair Care
Cleopatra bathing in milk is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of ancient beauty rituals. Milk is indeed beneficial for the skin, although you don’t have to necessarily bathe in it these days just to make your complexion smooth and supple. There are more convenient ways to produce the same effect using modern products, even some with all-natural ingredients.
What about when it comes to caring for the hair? What did the women during Cleopatra’s time do in order to make their hair look long, soft and luxurious? Here is a quick list of some natural products used for hair care during the ancient times:
• Brilliantine/Guillotine
A Frenchman named P. G. Wodehouse invented a formula called guillotine which was used as a treatment for gray hair. During the 1900s, perfumer Ed Pinaud formulated brilliantine at the Paris Exposition Universelle. What it does is make men’s hair softer, along with their moustaches and beards. From then, the more modern formulas for shampoos and conditioners as we know today have been concocted by perfumers, aestheticians and beauty product manufacturers.
• Chamomile
For women with blonde hair, chamomile was used to add natural highlights to the locks. What the women back then did was add dried chamomile to a small amount of water. Boiled for half an hour, the chamomile flowers are taken out and the resulting liquid is poured onto one’s hair after it cools. For brownish hair which needs to be lightened, the same process was used with garden sage as the main ingredient.
• Natural Oils
Jojoba oils, Macassar oil, palm oil, coconut oil, ylang-ylang and other flower-based oils have long been used as a natural hair conditioner. The oil makes hair softer, smoother and more luxurious to the touch.
• Rosemary
After washing or adding oil onto the hair, rosemary water was used as a rinsing agent. This ingredient can still be seen in hair products up to now. Steeped tea can also be used as a rinsing agent to remove the dirt and impurities from one’s hair.
• Walnuts
This last ingredient may sound odd but walnuts were used as a hair care product back in the days. The black hulls of walnuts are steeped, then turned into powder and incorporated into greying hair to give it that additional color.
These items which have useful benefits for the hair used up to now, but as one of the ingredients in hair care products. You will see shampoos, conditioners and other hair care items with Jojoba oil, rosemary and similar ingredients on the back label. This just means that the same hair care benefits from such natural ingredients can be enjoyed up to now, only they are incorporated into more modern and easy-to-use products.