Vintage Hair Care Posts prior Sept 30, 2005

Mahalialee4

Mahalialee4

New Member
To give the Newbies and other interested members quick access to some Vintage Hair Care Ideas that have been posted by the members here are some post links from LHCF.

African Ladies: THREAD WRAPPING
#17211 African Hair Secrets Archives
Nonie
06-07-2004, 04:38 AM
[ QUOTE ]
Nacai23 said:
This threading sounds very interesting. How is it done? Can someone post instructions please?

[/ QUOTE ]

Miss Zaire who was 1st runner up in 1985 Miss Universe had her hair in the thread style during the pageant (if I'm not mistaken) but I couldn't find a picture to show it.

Basically, you divided hair into section like you'd do for single plaits or bantu knots...and then wrapped each section with black thread starting at the base until the hair was covered completely (you know how cat trees have rope wrapped around the poles to create a scratch post? Same idea. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif ) After that you could either join the wrapped sections to form rows...or any other way - no limit to creativity here.

The way I mention is how mine was done. Imagine having four rows of singles arranged front to back. Now imagine joining the two rows on the right together overlapping wrapping more thread to join so that you get a pattern like this >>>>> and then doing the same on the left to get the same pattern when viewed from above, ie two "cornrows". Let me try and explain that better...

- Divide the hair into four rows as if to do four cornrows, back to front.

- Now divide each row from left to right into several singles. The narrower the better. Do one row at a time and wrap each division with thread from base to end before doing the next section. Start off like you're making a ponytail with a small single section (single as in single braid section like you would use to do a single braid. Even though I say small, two pencils thick is small enough). Don't stop at the pony but keep wrapping the thread around the section till it's completely covered. (Or you can leave gaps if you like. I used to have mine covered completely). Do this till every single section is covered completely by thread before going on to the next step.

- Oh forgot to mention... Try to make the # of partings on each row the same as the next so that you end up with a checked pattern of the partings...and each single is next to a single on the adjacent row.

- Now take the first two singles on the right hand side (ie the first single of row one and the first single of row 2...counting the rows either from left or right with the one closest to the ear being 1 and so on and the one closes to the other ear being 4) and hold them together. You can place one over the other if you like. BTW, don't hold them down against the scalp. They used to have them lifted about half an inch from the scalp. So you hold them together to get a shape like this > In other words, you start wrapping at the point where the sections meet when raised about an inch from the scalp.

- Now wrap thread over the place where they overlap so you get >- (BTW, you get a neater look if you start the wrapping at the point where the two when held together hover over the middle of the next two. In other words you are holding the two sections pointing back, raised a little off the scalp and you start wrapping at a point where when you will get a V shape). Wrap the two to form an arm that goes back a little so that when you grab the next two singles to join them, they are slanting at the same angle... giving this pattern >>>>> Or put another way, this pattern >->->->-

-Do the same to the two rows on the other side.

End result mimics two "French braids" a little raised off the scalp.

Sometimes my stylist didn't join the singles. She'd make fewer partings (like you do for bantu knots) and leave them separate but folded. Taking each at a time, she'd fold the wrapped section to form a loop then wrapping thread around the loop shape so you'd get a shape like d lying on its side...looked a little like bantu knots just not wrapped around. The ends would lie against my scalp.

Miss Zaire (I still remember how beautiful she looked with that style, but my memory may not be quite on the mark) had four or so single sections separated by diagonal parts so that she had one section in the crown area, one in the back and one one either side by her ear. Seemed her hair was long coz the wrapped section were long (or stood up high). They were then bent to meet horizontally at the center of her head. Picture a shape resembling those electronic massagers. I don't think the joint was pointed up like an antenna. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Maybe she had it joined under. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/scratchchin.gif Twas a long time since I saw it, but as you can see, it left an impression on me. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/grin.gif

Oh another thing that deserves mentioning. When you wrap the hair, you end up with a stiff-ish stick shape. Which is how the styles can stand raised off the scalp. And it's a little stiff and if done too tight might making sleeping hard. But with the "French braid" do, the sides where flat so you could sleep on those. And it does soften a little with time. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

What I do remember about threading was that your natural hair would be straight when you undid them. Probably because as the thread was wrapped your hair was being stretched. Oh and the thread was thick. It's the kind of thread used for crotcheting but in black. And if your hair was too short for the single sections to meet, one'd wrap some thread around the hand several times and then cut through the loop to get several equal-length threads. One'd then hold these against the hair to be wrapped and wrap the hair together with the "fake hair created by the threads" and continue wrapping beyond the hair to cover the sections of thread that make the "fake hair" (this also ensured that the ends of the real hair were well-covered. I never thought of it but that's one sure way to protect the ends. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif )

Ooooh...Now I wanna do it. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/trampoline.gif Who'll lend me her daughter or her own head so I can use her as demo. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/poke.gif http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif I promise I don't braid tightly. (Can't do it on my own head coz I won't be able to part the lines right and it won't look nice unless they are straight and even. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif )
http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/grin.gif
Oh another thing that deserves mentioning. When you wrap the hair, you end up with a stiff-ish stick shape. Which is how the styles can stand raised off the scalp. And it's a little stiff and if done too tight might making sleeping hard. But with the "French braid" do, the sides where flat so you could sleep on those. And it does soften a little with time. http://st1m.longhaircareforum.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Note: I think this would be neat to do this on a couple of sections of hair for a nice ethnic touch. Just two would really be neat. Bonjour
 
Here is a Thread that composes a compilation of Information on Vinage Hair Care as Well. So I will insert it here.
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=67316&highlight=Vintage+Hair+Care




ETHIOPIAN HAIR SECRETS:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=9750&highlight=henna
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=15560&highlight=henna
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=65693&highlight=Ethiopian+women

Hopefully we can avoid repetition of posts so if we read them all through first before we make a post we can keep repetition to a zero minium. Bonjour.
 
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Quotes from History of Hair Care...check it out....

http://www.ecrm-epps.com/Expose/V3_5/History_Of_Hair_Care.asp
”Long before dippity-do, women of central Africa were rolling their hair into long coated cylinders with ochre and animal fats…” Women in Benin, found porcupine quills ideal for the delicate job of undoing finely braided cornrows”……some things they had access to>>>> early American settlers used brushes of boar’s hair… The Africans who later came to the Americas as slave brought with them their own hair care practices and were quick to use what was available. They conditioned their hair with shea butter to strengthen and moisturize and used mayonnaise, an emulsion of oil and eggs, as a conditioner. Dry shampoos for the sick were improvised with corn meal or hominy grits. This blend of Native American, European settler and African knowledge continues to form the base of modern American hair care.”
 
HISTORY BITES:
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/intersections/shawanw/black_body Note: If this is what our female ancestors had to deal with I can understand what Lisa Akbari had to say about the “shorthair syndrome” and I do think that it can be generational unless certain tendencies, issues and habits and ways of addressing our specific needs are dealt with. Personally, I have always felt that a lot of spiritual damage was done to black women and it expressed itself in the state of their hair. Like when the enemy cuts off the women’s hair when they overpower a nation or in times of war . It’s in your history books. Thank goodness for this Board!!!! Here is a quote from that site:
“However, during that time many black women did not know how to take care of their hair. This led to rampant scalp diseases like dandruff, lice, eczema, alopecia and tetter. The result was profound hair loss for many black women. In fact, Walker got into the cosmetics industry because she lost her own hair and was searching for a way to make it grow back. She used a product by Pope-Turnbo and finding success began selling it for the company. Walker eventually went into business for herself and built a mighty empire.”..Note: I believe we need to RECLAIM everything that was stolen from us and remove those curses off our heads and restore our crowning glories. Bonjour
 
More History Bites: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/intersections/intersections.cultural.studies/_black_hair_

Clearly hair was significant in the lives and cultures of Africans entering the United States. This fact becomes particularly important during the Middle Passage when foul, disgusting and inhumane conditions aboard ships affected the Africans’ mind and body. Peterson-Lewis notes the profound rupture and discomfort that the Middle Passage must have caused to this cultural value of hair care.

The Africans, part of a tradition steeped in the art and science of highly specialized hair care, arrived this time in the Western world with a scalp that was often infested with sores and hair that was matted and soiled with perspiration, blood, feces, urine and dirt, and all this without a proper comb. (108)

There was little that the slaves could do about their appearance because they were unable to transport any of the tools necessary to maintain their grooming practices. While the slaves in the New World did in fact devise new ways to groom themselves, their image, particularly their “wooly, rebellious” hair, was held by slaveholders to be one of the primary reasons to regard them as inferior and dangerous...". For 400 years this was reinforced. Something that was not created by us was stereotyped to us. We had totally lost touch with the old ways and knowledge and we had no tools because they were denied to us. Four hundred years without a comb. Till the good ole Afro pic!!!!
Note: so ladies this should serve as a SUMMARY to help us appreciate the difference between having and not having, knowledge and access, and a support network to enable us to do this. We are so blessed.
 
Note: I believe we need to RECLAIM everything that was stolen from us and remove those curses off our heads and restore our crowning glories.


Oh how do I agree!!
 
Here are some posts that include new posts for September on the History of Henna and its use by African women and women of color for thousands of years.
Henna and People of Color
http://www.sphosting.com/reverndbunny/HaPoC.html
African Women: http://www.women.tas.gov.au/resources/african_news2.pdf#search='African%20women%20and%20henna'
Nubians and Henna History of Henna: Black Kingdoms of the Nile:
http://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi1/1_diary2.htm
http://www.hennaforhair.com/history/19thc.html
http://reverndbunny.sphosting.com/hairindex.html
http://www.hennaforhair.com/history/19thc.html
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=4567&page=1&pp=10&highlight=castor+oil
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=14950&highlight=henna
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=9720&highlight=henna
Note: check out the posts on Search under Straighten Hair the Natural Way.
It was not only used to color the hair but as an excellent conditioner that had the capacity to relax some of the curl, add weight to the hair, stimulate growth (excellent for the scalp) and thicken the hair strands. Bonjour
 
Women of Haiti: Related Cultures
I am convinced Haitian Women Have a Hair Secret
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=47517&highlight=Haiti

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=15621&highlight=okra

i think for palm oil in fact all these oils are steeped from african tropical palm trees in the case of castor oil it comes from the castor-tree also called palma christi also called castor bush, these 3 terms are the same thing. Now palm oil is according to definition a yellowish fatty oil obtained especially from the crushed nuts of an african Vpalm (elaeis guineensis) and used to manufacture of soaps, chocolates,cosmetics and candles. i guess they all kinda same family of tropical palm trees.
http://www.kellysearch.com/us-company-900569857.html Palm Kernel Oil and Shea product for hair
http://www.congocookbook.com/c0226.html The red palm oil, which is easily extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the African oil palm, should not be confused with the oil which can be obtained by crushing the hard inner kernel. Palm nuts, the fruit of the African oil palm, are not much bigger than grapes and grow in large bunches. They are orange-red in color, and their pulp and oil give a distinctive color and taste to many African soups and stews. Palm oil is to tropical African cooking what olive oil is to Mediterranean cooking and butter is to northern European http://www.congocookbook.com/c0226.html The Elaeis Guiniensis, locally called mchikichi, which is known by the Arabs to grow in the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba and more rarely in the mountains of Usagara, springs apparently uncultivated in large dark groves on the shores of the Tanganyika, where it hugs the margin, rarely growing at any distance inland. The bright-yellow drupe, with shiny purple-black point, though nauseous to the taste, is eaten by the people. The Mawezi, or palm-oil, of the consistency of honey, rudely extracted, forms an article of considerable traffic in the regions about the lake. The is the celebrated extract whose various officinal uses in Europe have already begun to work a social transformation in W. Africa. The people of Ujiji separate by pounding the oily sarcocarpium from the one seed of the drupe, boil it for some hours, allow the floating substance to coagulate, and collect it in large earthen pots. The price is usually about one doti of white cotton for thirty-five pounds, and the people generally demand salt in exchange for it from caravans. This is the "oil of a red color" which, according to Mr. Cooley, is brought by the Wanyamwezi "from the opposite of southwestern side of the lake." Despite its sickly flavor, it is universally used in cooking, and forms the only unguent and lamp-oil in the country. This fine Guinea-palm is also tapped, as the date palm in Western India, for toddy; and the cheapness of this tembo--the sura of West Africa--accounts of the prevalence of intoxication, and the consequent demoralization of the lakist tribes.
Elaeis guineensis
Family: Arecaceae / Palmae
African oil palm, Jacquin
Origin: Africa
The fruit grows in bunches and consists essentially of a soft outer skin, which is reddish orange when ripe, and a fibrous layer covering the nut, composed of a shell and a kernel containing the palm oil. The fruit yields two kinds of oil: palm oil from the fleshy covering and palm kernel oil from the nut. During the processing of palm fruits the first residue of empty bunches, 50 percent of the fresh fruit bunches is used as fuel in the oil-extraction plant. Then anther 20 percent of the fresh fruit bunches are processed in a mechanical press to obtain viscous crude oil. The nuts from 15 percent of the fresh fruit bunches are separated from the solid residue, or palm fibre, and sent to plants specializing in the extraction of palm kernel oil. Purification of the oil produces large amounts of sludge. The oil from the fleshy outer skin of the fruit is customarily included (at about a 5 percent level) in pig and poultry rations as a source of vitamins A and D and to reduce dustiness in the feed.

Important Note: Island Ladies to the best of the knowledge that I have researched I submit the following. Others far more knowledgeable than myself may have more information or could clarify if this is the case.

(The Bahamas is mostly black) are said to have descended from Yorubans, Dahomeys and I think Hausas & Fulanis (because of slave trade)
The people of Haiti are from the Benin area of Africa
Jamaicans…Maroons….African so much in common we all have. Bonjour
 
Information contained about the palm oil is a direct quote from one of the sites I researched and forgot to add the " ...." signs. Bonjour
 
Annie Turbo Malone and her Student Madame C. Walker:
http://www.isomedia.com/homes/bhd2/annie_malone.htm
http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/inventors/malone.html

Madame C. Walker
http://alfredoftexas.tripod.com/blackhistoryfacts/id4.html: interesting about the ingredients: sulphur, capsicum...and you wonder where those ideas come from right? Remember that Miss Annie, with a background knowledge in chemistry, taught Miss Walker and also that Miss Walker credits some of her knowledge to info she received in a dream after praying about her own hair loss. Bonjour

Very interesting yes:
 
Madame C. Walker
http://alfredoftexas.tripod.com/blackhistoryfacts/id4.html: interesting about the ingredients: sulphur, capsicum...and you wonder where those ideas come from right? Remember that Miss Annie, with a background knowledge in chemistry, taught Miss Walker and also that Miss Walker credits some of her knowledge to info she received in a dream after praying about her own hair loss. Bonjour


Hey Mahalialee i'm answering my own question i asked you on the other thread members and mods, about what is capsicum, i searched it it's cayenne!!! omg did n't we have a cayenne challenge and that it grows hair. Now im thinking that on this board we really are using all those secrets herbs, products whatever they were :look:
 
Sulphur was not uncommon in hair products.

Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald
1924
Natural, healthy hair colour
Almost everyone knows that Sage Tea and Sulphur, properly compounded brings back the natural colour and lustre to the hair when faded, streaked or gray. Years ago the only way to get this mixture was to make it at home, which is mussy and troublesome.
Nowadays, we simply ask at any drug store for "Wyeth's Sage and Sulphur Compound." You will get a large bottle of this old- time recipe improved by the addition of other ingredients, at very little cost. Everybody uses this preparation now, because no one could possibly tell you darkened your hair, as it does it so naturally and evenly. You dampen a sponge or soft brush with it and draw this though your hair; by morning the gray disappears.
Hair loss sulphur pilocarpine http://www.oldandsold.com/articles17/colon-
 
http://www.marrder.com/htw/may97/cultural.htm traditional hair care Honduras

"
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera has been used by Native Americans, Indians and many in the Caribbean to promote healthy hair and prevent hair loss. Aloe's can help the scalp by healing it and balancing the pH level of the scalp while cleansing the pores. A common preparation of Aloe Vera gel with a small amount of wheat germ oil and coconut milk is used as a shampoo and has traditionally shown great benefit."

Ancient Mayan hair butter soap
http://www.naturopathy-usa.com/ProductsCP/Hair loss/healthy hair care.html

You may even want to check out an Aubrey Organics product called:
Calaquala Cade Fern and Tar Hair Thickener by Aubrey Organics, if you have fine hair and want to thicken it up or http://www.puritan.com/pages/file.asp?PID=1 Panthenol Hair thickener.Puritan Pride "http://www.herbalremedies.com/hairthickener.html NOW d panthenol hair thickener gel
D-Panthenol Gel Hair Thickener is a natural hair thickener, and is quickly absorbed into the hair shaft, where it thickens and moisturizes. Simply add 1/2 to 1 oz. of d-Panthenol Gel Hair Thickener to 16 oz. of your favorite shampoo. Panthenol is the naturally occurring form of Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B-5) found in human hair that supports the growth and maintenance of bodily tissues. Most shampoos with Panthenol contain only 1 - 2% of the important nutrient.
Suggested Dosage or Use: Add 1/2 to 1 oz. of pure d-Panthenol Hair Thickener to 16 oz. of your favorite shampoo. Mix well. If hard, it can be melted or softened by placing in a pan of hot water for 30 minutes or microwaved for a few seconds. ". Note: Many African American women suffer from thinning and fine hair. Hope this helps. Bonjour
 
Remember I mentioned a long time ago in an old post that some of my people used bear grease at one time. Well, I found a site that carries this. I have to tell you that bear grease is some potent smelling stuff. Mtg and Black Castor Oil would not have anything on this. I do not use it, but I have eaten bear meat, which is quite oily in my opinion. Anyway, who is gonna kill a bear today? And they be killing all kinds of people up here in Canada. Bonjour.
http://www.naturallist.com/bearfat.htm check out the home page as well.

And for those interested in how raw shea butter is obtained here is another site with a very vivid description. Now I love me some shea butter, and mine is the raw unrefined product from Ghana. http://www.island.net/~ydrums/SheaButterStory.htm I also use ioo% emu oil and here is some info on what it does to the hair follicles and how it stimulates hair growth. There is now a patent for it. http://www.pharmcast.com/Patents/09....htmhttp://www.follicle.com/section3/3_7.html
Here is the website for the coconut diet that tells about how coconut oil has properties that take care of yeast.



Bonjour
 
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