Harmful Affects of Hair Dyeing

Scarcely a week passes but I receive questions concerning the hair. Sorrowfully come the lamentations “My hair is falling out” ” My hair is getting thin.” ” Can you tell me how to make my hair grow ? I cut it regularly but it does no good.” One correspondent flatters me thus—” My hair comes out in handfuls. I have been to nearly every doctor in Melbourne, and they have done me no good, now I ask you to help me.” What touching faith. All ,the medical men have failed ignominiously, and so she comes to me to heal her, and I cannot, all I can do is to give some useful hints from which I trust she may derive a certain amount of benefit.

Let me begin by stating that many diseases of the hair can never be cured. Some are within the reach of treatment, and a few may be managed by a little care and attention, if the sufferer will but carry out a few simple remedies.

The most common affection, known is termed “alopecia” or loss of hair. This may occur in patches or by a general thinning out. Now before any remedy can be suggested it is first of all absolutely necessary to know the circumstances under which the hair has been lost. And at this point let me relate an anecdote, which may act as a warning to many.

A lady of fashion, very handsome and elegant, preserved her beauty to a very late age. At 55 her figure was still slender and supple, her walk light, her hair fair, her complexion fresh. These last two were, however, due to art. She was immensely admired, for so skilful was she that many declared that she was still young, and that her hair and complexion owed nothing to art. But quite suddenly her health broke down, she had horrible pains in her head, and in a few weeks’ time she lost her eye sight to such an extent that no spectacles availed, and she could not go out unaccompanied. Then she became so bad with violent headaches that she had to keep her room.

In a few week’s time what a change had taken place! a seemingly young and charming woman had lapsed into an old, blind, decrepit creature, with hair as white as snow. The unhappy woman aged long before her proper time, confessed that her doctor had told her that her lost eyesight and pain-racked head were entirely due to the tons of dye she had been using for years, both for her hair and eyebrows.

Repentance came too late. Relinquishing the use of the dye stopped the pains in her head, but her eyesight had gone for ever. And, be it remembered, this is not by any means an isolated case. It is, unfortunately, a type of thousands, and it is a fact that there is hardly a woman who uses dye who does not bitterly regret the day she commenced. Surely there can be no greater folly, no greater madness, than, with the powerful ingredients contained in hair dyes,to injure the scalp of the head, which covers the most delicate and sensitive organ in the whole human frame.

This is not the worst. Hair dyeing is progressive; once the first fatal step is taken retreat is impossible. The dye has to be constantly renewed and the quantity increased, or else the hair would turn a horribly unnatural color. The new hair growing every day has to be taken care of, and colored to match the other. The habit cannot be discontinued, because the original color has been destroyed. There is only one way out of the difficulty, and that is to shave the head and wear a wig, or go into retirement until the hair has grown sufficiently.

The first law for the health of the hair is cleanliness. This is the greatest of all restorers, and under this head must be included washing, combing, shampooing, and efficient brushing. Soap and water are most beneficial to it, and the washes and pomades used are not absolutely harmful. The serpent lurks in the reviver and dyes. Shun these as you would a pestilence. You cannot dye your hair so that it will deceive anyone. The woman who paints her face and dyes her hair does so at her peril, and it is seen plainly by even the most casual observer.

There are many recipes extant which are said to be useful in promoting the growth of the hair. Tincture of canthorides is one. Castor oil pomade was once approved by many, but objections to it have been discovered. Spermaceti and oil of almonds melted together make a useful unguent. Rosemary is an excellent hair wash. It is made thus:— Boil one pound in two quarts of water, filter through blotting paper, add one ounce of spirit of lavender and a quarter of an ounce of Naples soap or salt of tartar. Bay rum has much to recommend it, and is sold, like the rosemary wash, ready for use. Camphor and borax combined will also produce an excellent wash.

The more the head is brushed the healthier it will make the skin. If we wish our daughters to have good heads of hair when they grow up we should teach them to brush it well and often, and to wash it at least once a fortnight, even in the very coldest weather. One teaspoonful of liquid ammonia to a pint of warm water makes a wash that may be used every day with perfect safety. Sometimes, owing to ill health, the hair is apt to become brittle and dry. A little good vegetable oil rubbed well into the roots will be found most beneficial in this case. Avoid animal pomades, as they turn rancid, and send forth a very unpleasant odor. Lately a preparation made from petroleum has come into use, and a very valuable agent it is for assisting to remedy the texture of the hair.

Baldness in patches is a source of great annoyance, especially to women. This is said, by good authorities, to arise from the nerves that supply the skin becoming disordered. The bare spots have the appearance of ringworm, and it is recommended that the spots thus laid bare should be well brushed night and morning with a soft tooth-brush dipped in distilled vinegar. Dressing the hair too tightly is another fruitful cause of its falling out. You may depend upon it nature knows best, and which ever way she intended it to lie let it, even humor it in that direction. If you will persist in dragging it another way do not complain if you suffer from headaches. Do not fasten it up too tightly with the hairpins, because by so doing you stop the free flow of the sap through the tubes, and a consequent loss of nourishing power will be the result.

About cutting. There is no need to have this done by a hairdresser, because all that is wanted is to snip off the forked ends every month or six weeks with a sharp pair of scissors. A good preparation for the hair when it has a tendency to thinness is—Bicarbonate of Soda one dram, distilled water two tablespoonfuls, to be rubbed into the scalp at the roots of the hair.

Do not expect immediate results, patience and perseverance are quite as necessary as the unguent itself. Dandruff is an affection of the cuticle of the scalp, and when not very obstinate, may be treated by the daily use of the tepid bath, and by applying Goulard water, or a solution of borax in rose water (30 grains to half a pint of water). Very obstinate cases require sulfurous baths, change of air, and the daily use of a lotion containing 10 grains of bi-chloride of mercury in half a pint of spirits of wine.

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