It has always been a symbol of femininity and sensuality. Magma red, ebony black, golden blond and all the shades in between them, shape an infinite number of colour tones to describe The Hair.
We often see our hair as a reflection of our identity because it is both personal and public. Many women feel that a bad hair day is synonym of bad day. When a woman’s hair is too fine, too frizzy, too dry, turning grey or falling out, her self-esteem is seriously affected. This deep personal relationship between hair and self-esteem is evident throughout history.
For centuries, women have been able to play different roles by changing different hairstyles. Hair talks about ourselves, about our personality, our mood, our social status, religion and so on. It is an firm expression of our feminine essence, a very subtle way to spread your message.
Egyptian hairstyles very much depended on the wealth, age and social group. To contrast from the Egyptians, classical Greece hairstyles where pulled back into a chignon style and was grown much longer and also involved sprinkling Gold powder into the hair. In Ancient Rome hairstyles became an expression of a person’s identity as much as it is today and again the style determined the persons wealth, status, gender and age. For women, their hair indicated how attractive and wealthy she was.
Now you might be understanding why, us women, pay so much attention to it... Let's have a look on other civilisations...
Indians should shave the whole head, leaving a lock of hair at the back or at the side, similar to young Egyptians, allowing "God to pull people into heaven".Chinese hairstyles vary depending on the age of the woman and her marital status and the reason for their hair being extremely long was because it was considered disrespectful to cut hair because it was inherited from their parents.
In Japan in the 7th Century noble women wore their hair tight to their head with a sickle-shaped ponytail at the back (kepatsu). However, after this period and up until 1345 fashion dictated that women should wear their hair long and unbound as a sign of beauty. In the Edo Period (1603-1868), women took on much more elaborate styles, in particular they would wear a variety of different buns, decorated with hairsticks, ribbons, flowers and combs.
In Africa there where many tribes and with that, plenty of different customs. Masai warriors would spend hours braiding each other’s hair. They die their hair red with a natural hair pigment found in volcanic regions which is mixed with animal fat to create a paint texture
Native Indians to America were divided in hairstyles like many African tribes.
In conclusion, there's been different reasons to style our hair in a way or another: religion, marital and economical status, sensuality, freedom, power etc. Hair is being a tool for expression as old as humankind. Nowadays it is not just a mean to express our message but also a reflect of our healthy or unhealthy lifestyle.
The next 2 months I'll be posting different articles to talk about the hair, how to take care of it: from the inside, from the outside with pampering DIY recipes,and also tips & tricks to start with to improve hair's health.
Remember, your hair is open book about you.
Wishing you a magical day!