Each hair has tiny prongs or tentacles, something like those on the cockle bur, which catch the dust; hence the especial need of brushing. At a lady’s school in England, some twenty years ago, the girls were required to brush their hair for fifteen minutes daily in the long dressing-room, and they were timed at this exactly as if it were any other exercise.
Occasionally the hair and the scalp need washing, as the face, though less often if the brushing be carefully attended to. When, however, it begins to seem dirty, give it a good shampooing. Wash both hair and scalp thoroughly in a washbowl of warm water in which has been dissolved a tablespoonful of powdered borax; then rinse it well in clear warm water; you will be surprised sometimes at the complexion of the water.
Many women dread the shampooing because of their liability to take cold in the process. Let such a person choose a room where the air is warm and dry. After wiping the hair thoroughly dry with towels, and pinning a fresh one around the neck and shoulders, let her get some one to come and make a breeze with a large palm-leaf fan upon her hair while she is engaged in carefully disentangling it with a brush and comb, occasionally giving the scalp a little vigorous rubbing if it begins to feel chilly. The fanning greatly hastens the drying process. Another plan is to lie down with the hair spread out on cushions in the sunshine. Be sure to get it thoroughly dry before putting it up.
An Excellent Head Covering.
A very pleasant step, though not a necessary one, next to take is to have a little thin silk mob-cap (of some pretty shade of silk, so that it is becoming rather than disfiguring, if needful, to wear about the home), lined, and thickly wadded with cotton-batting, well powdered with heliotrope or some other delicate sachet powder (these come in ten or fifteen-cent packages), and wear this from one to three hours. Here, again, those thousands of minute tentacles come into play; they catch and retain (one would almost think they close over them) the atoms of the perfume when they are thus freed from dust, and when the hair is soft and light in its new cleanness—and it is astonishing for how long a time the hair will retain that faint, delicate aroma which is so truly lovely in a woman’s hair; and all to be obtained in so simple and innocent a way as with this little mob-cap, put on at the right time.
A good rule for ensuring the regular brushing of the hair which may be taught to children (and perhaps good for busy women also), is to brush the hair with fifty long strokes both at morning and at night.
Much also depends upon the brush. Let it not be stiff enough to hurt the scalp. Choose a brush of medium stiffness, with bristles long and close together, and nowhere will it pay better, “in the long run,” to give a good price for a good article than in a woman’s hairbrush which she proposes to use as described above.
Do not use a fine-tooth comb. Frequent washing will remove the dandruff in all cases, and without the injury caused to the scalp by the fine comb.
It is also well to clip the ends of the hair regularly once a month, keeping it smooth and even, besides, as is thought by some stimulating the growth and keeping it in a more healthy condition.
Perseverance in this treatment will give the hair a fine natural gloss, and a healthy tone. It will tend to prevent its falling out, and will also help to preserve its natural color much longer than if it were neglected.