Another celebrity from the TV screen encourages to buy a unique paint that covers all gray hair. Drugstore shelves are full of more and more sophisticated coloring cosmetics. Our great-grandmothers were doing great without the whole stall!
Before the war, there were plenty of fair-haired ladies who wanted their blondes to be even sunnier. They didn't have hundreds of shades of hair dye, but they still managed to achieve their goal using home remedies. First of all, chamomile was reliable here. To maintain the natural light shade of hair, wash it at least once every two weeks with a decoction of this flower. You can soak the sponge and run it over the strands.
As part of this procedure, you can also, as the journalist of "Dobra Gospodyni" suggested in 1911, "wash the scalp well with soap, adding a little borax to the chamomile". At the same time, it should be noted that we only add borax a little, otherwise the hair will not be able to comb out. What is this mystery expansion pack?
Borax is the most natural ingredient, mined in mines in Turkey and California. Currently, it is mainly used as an eco-friendly cleaning agent. In the past, however, the list of uses was much longer. Borax was useful during the treatment of skin inflammations, as an antiseptic and in cosmetics:for lightening and not only hair.
A wine rinse
In the treatment proposed by the "Good Housewife", the rinse with borax is only the first step. Then wash your hair again with a clean chamomile decoction, wipe it with a towel and comb it out. Chamomile can be prepared in two ways - either dry the chamomile flower or buy a ready-made extract.
Chamomile flower (photo Ulleo, license. CC0)
Also Ellen D'Aubelle - author of the book And You'll Be Beautiful and Young , which was published in Poland in 1937 - revealed to the readers its methods of lightening the hair. For example, she used… rhubarb. Many readers will find it hard to believe. Until recently, rhubarb was also associated with me as a canteen compote or a delicious crumble cake baked at the turn of May and June. But not with beauty treatments. Meanwhile, rhubarb, which is expertly speaking, has been used in folk medicine and Chinese medicine for centuries. In combination with white wine, it brightens the hair.
To prepare a cosmetic with this effect, we need half a liter of white wine and 150 grams of rhubarb. However, it is not about the stalks that we buy in a greengrocer, but about the root that we can buy in a herbal store, dig out from the garden or order online. Put the meat in a pot and pour wine over it, then start to boil it. When we cut the mixture in half, it's ready. Now it is enough to cool it down and start applying the product with a brush. Leave the wine and rhubarb mask on the head to dry.
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You can also lighten your hair with hydrogen peroxide. To do this, combine 50 grams of 12% hydrogen peroxide with 50 grams of rose water. Moisten the hair with the mixture two or three times a week. Hydrogen peroxide with a much higher concentration than the one we use to disinfect wounds (the one in home first aid kits has 3%), it has brightening and antiseptic properties. You have to be very careful with it, because unfortunately it damages your hair a lot.
The rose species most often used in cosmetology is the wild rose, huge shrubs of which are often found in the countryside. Rose water is usually obtained as a by-product of rose oil production, but we can also make it ourselves. As long as we have access to a good plant growing far away from busy roads, it is worth trying your hand. Again, however, I must warn you - heavy metals from exhaust gases are unlikely to work as an additive to skin care cosmetics.
To prepare homemade rose water, we will need a large pot with a convex lid. One with a semicircular handle and no steam outlet. In addition, of course, rose petals will be indispensable - you should prepare a few handfuls of them. The last three items you will need are a bowl (preferably made of metal), an ice bag and water.
Sometimes, however, ladies decided to make a drastic change and resorted to chemicals (photo:public domain)
Pour flakes into the pot and knead lightly. Pour water over it and place the bowl in the center. Cover the pot with the lid placed with the handle facing down and put a bag of ice on the top, in its recess. The whole thing should be put on a slow fire and warmed up. When the contents of the pot start to boil, a large amount of water vapor will be produced in it, which will contain the most valuable ingredients from the rose. After it starts to float upwards, it will encounter a lid chilled by ice, so it will start to condense, running down the curve and running down the handle. The finished product will collect in a bowl positioned exactly in the center.
If we do not have specialized equipment at home (for example, a device for driving moonshine), it is hard to find a better way to get exactly what we want from the flowers. With this method, you can also prepare other plant-based water at home, such as lavender or rosemary.
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