1. TO BEAUTIFY THE HAIR.--Keep the head clean, the pores of the skin open,
and the whole circulatory system in a healthy condition, and you will have
no need of bear's grease (alias hog's lard). Where there is a tendency in
the hair to fall off on account of the weakness or sluggishness of the
circulation, or an unhealthy state of the skin, cold water and friction
with a tolerably stiff brush are probably the best remedial agents.
2. BARBER'S SHAMPOOS.--Are very beneficial if properly prepared. They
should not be made too strong. Avoid strong shampoos of any kind. Great
caution should be exercised in this matter. {108}
3. CARE OF THE HAIR.--To keep the hair healthy, keep the head clean. Brush
the scalp well with a stiff brush, while dry. Then wash with castile soap,
and rub into the roots, bay rum, brandy or camphor water. This done twice a
month will prove beneficial. Brush the scalp thoroughly twice a week.
Dampen the hair with soft water at the toilet, and do not use oil.
4. HAIR WASH.--Take one ounce of borax, half an ounce of camphor
powder--these ingredients fine--and dissolve them in one quart of boiling
water. When cool, the solution will be ready for use. Dampen the hair
frequently. This wash is said not only to cleanse and beautify, but to
strengthen the hair, preserve the color and prevent baldness.
ANOTHER EXCELLENT WASH.--The best wash we know for cleansing and softening
the hair is an egg beaten up and rubbed well into the hair, and afterwards
washed out with several washes of warm water.
5. THE ONLY SENSIBLE AND SAFE HAIR OIL.--The following is considered a most
valuable preparation: Take of extract of yellow Peruvian bark, fifteen
grains; extract of rhatany root, eight grains; extract of burdoch root and
oil of nutmegs (fixed), of each two drachms; camphor (dissolve with spirits
of wine), fifteen grains; beef marrow, two ounces; best olive oil, one
ounce; citron juice, half a drachm; aromatic essential oil, as much as
sufficient to render it fragrant; mix and make into an ointment. Two
drachms of bergamot, and a few drops of attar of roses would suffice.
6. HAIR WASH.--A good hair wash is soap and water, and the oftener it is
applied the freer the surface of the head will be from scurf. The
hair-brush should also be kept in requisition morning and evening.
7. TO REMOVE SUPERFLUOUS HAIR.--With those who dislike the use of arsenic,
the following is used for removing superfluous hair from the skin: Lime,
one ounce; carbonate of potash, two ounces; charcoal powder, one drachm.
For use, make it into a paste with a little warm water, and apply it to the
part, previously shaved close. As soon as it has become thoroughly dry, it
may be washed off with a little warm water.
8. COLORING FOR EYELASHES AND EYEBROWS.--In eyelashes the chief element of
beauty consists in their being long and glossy; the eyebrows should be
finely arched and clearly divided from each other. The most innocent
darkener of the brow is the expressed juice of the elderberry, or a burnt
clove. {109}
[Illustration: DISCUSSING THE FASHIONS.]
9. CRIMPING HAIR.--To make the hair stay in crimps, take five cents worth
of gum arabic and add to it just enough boiling water to dissolve it. When
dissolved, add enough alcohol to make it rather thin. Let this stand all
night and then bottle it to prevent the alcohol from evaporating. This put
on the hair at night, after it is done up in papers or pins, will make it
stay in crimp the hottest day, and is perfectly harmless.
10. TO CURL THE HAIR.--There is no preparation that will make naturally
straight hair assume a permanent curl. The following will keep the hair in
curl for a short time: Take borax, two ounces; gum arabic, one drachm; and
hot {110} water, not boiling, one quart; stir, and, as soon as the
ingredients are dissolved, add three tablespoonfuls of strong spirits of
camphor. On retiring to rest, wet the hair with the above liquid, and roll
in twists of paper as usual. Do not disturb the hair until morning, when
untwist and form into ringlets.