Historical story

Florence, 1300:How women took care of their hair. The Fashion Hairstyle

Young woman of the fourteenth century with a typical hairstyle of the time

From the Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio we learn that in Medieval Florence Saturday was the day of rest and therefore the one in which, due to the free time available, one took more care of oneself; women devoted themselves to beauty care and washed their hair .

Once dried, the ladies' long hair was styled with ivory combs finely inlaid and then collected according to the fashion of the time :they were carried over the head and enclosed in a thin net (sometimes studded with gold) and intertwined strands and false braids were added.

Also the color it was important:the trend required golden-blond hair , to obtain which we exposed ourselves as much as possible to the sun.

To speed up the lightening process, a shampoo was used based on honey of which I report the recipe:

"Pink honey distilled in the still, over low heat. With the first distilled water you wash your face, with the other, which has a golden color, you dye your hair once washed and dried ".

Judging from the paintings of women of the time that have come down to us, almost all of them with splendid clear and shiny hair, the method, although quite rudimentary, had to bear fruit. (Photo:Notizie.it)