Human and pup approved! Visit www.birchliving.com/abbycox to get $400 off your Birch mattress plus two free pillows! I've done a video with the most frequently asked questions in the comments here: th-cam.com/video/dlSTjCuQrMg/w-d-xo.html - please give this a watch!
@@MichiaMakes Because it naturally will degrade and return to the earth when its done, as opposed to remaining in land fills for the next 700 years. But I also am allergic to latex but hopeful that its contained in a way that won't kill me. Otherwise, I"ll be making an actual mattress stuffed with wool.LOL
I remember a book I read as a kid that talked about ladys powdered wigs and how they came in white, grey, and pink. Now I see that, wig or not, the “white” was powdered blonde, the “grey” was powdered dark brown, and the “pink” was powdered auburn or red hair.
Pink is as old as red in usage red had a wider spectrum of shades and tints back thenad a catagory, the modern example of pink, back then, would have been seen as cheap pigment that had faded or the artist scrimping on pigment in the first place, (see Sistine Chapel ceiling) Reds and blue (Lapis Lazuli) were expensive, it was mass marketing that invented pastels for babies and kids. Babies wore white, pale blue, pale lemon, or pale pink for a time then. Red went in tint and shade from russet, a rusty red or gold red deep orange or brown to vermilion, which was rare. By modern measurements, Robin Red Breasts and Holly berries are orange, a separate category that didn't exist in common English until sweet oranges were imported as snacks as for theatre goers to supplement oysters and hazel nuts. Glacé cherries are red, ripe cherries are black.
@@veronica_._._._ I don’t know how old you’re thinking of but in Victorian literature the red of cherries is called…red and robin redbreasts are called…red. Also, I’ve read what we’d consider pink being called rose and it was not considered cheap but rather, youthful.
@@Goldberryvil12 Your questions are conceptual. In the temperate Northern Europe, ,holly berries robin red breasts.ard called red because that is the reddest thing in the natural environment, orange as a concept word was not needed in everyday rural life. Red orange = red back then, why change the name of the bird when it is still a form of red? (Only stain glass windows and rare paint pigments would be vermilion) Again, with pigmentsand dyes, pink and pastel colours are cheaper to produce because logically they use less dye stuffs! How they are cynically sold to the consumer as a concept is from a different conceptual catagory. It's not how far l'm going back, it's that l'm taking in the full sweep of not just history but geography, lighting, commerce ..... Clue: artificial coal tar dyes changed everything.Do you know when and how that happened?
@@veronica_._._._ You’re confusing language. The word red has referred to things being red since the late 800’s and the word pink has referred to things being pink since the early 1700’s when the flower was named “Pink(s)”. The use of dyes and pigments has nothing to do with the use of language.
I'm Indigenous and bear fat is still often used in more remote areas of Canada , now it's used mostly as a deep conditioner but really helps to keep braids in place and bear fat is pretty neutral smelling to begin with. West coast natives and further into the interior of the Rockies used Wild Mountain Lilac for scent and if you crush the petals actual forms up to a mild lather, they washed the hair and garments with it. Wonderful stuff ! I've used bear fat my hair once rinsed was baby soft I was seriously impressed and my scalp felt great. Sadly I don't hunt so I have to rely on others within my community now for any sort of wild game. Good topic!
What an interesting video, I'd never heard of this before. You know as a black woman, I'm used to oiling my hair as a way to protect it from external elements like wind, sun, and air pollution. So I absolutely understand how Pomade in your hair would encourage healthy hair, and therefore allow for long hair growth. Definitely won't do that powdering thing as I have pretty kinky coily hair, and combing everyday is not the move, but I'm absolutely going to look up nineteenth-century scent profiles to add to my homemade oil recipes. Thanks for all the info!
@@oshhsuen9565 when you have curly or afro-texture hair, especially like 4c hair, you can’t brush or comb your hair like you would with thinner, straighter hair because the curls are more fragile and it will break and damage your hair if you comb it out. Finger coiling is a popular thing for people to do so your hair doesn’t get damaged for instance.
@@oshhsuen9565 also, she said that she does not "comb" her hair. Combing and brushing are not the same...you cannot simply comb through kinky coily hair (unless it has been straightened) without causing damage to the hair. However, there are special brushes made specifically for coily hair.
I love how contrary to what people often think, past folks did have some things figured out. The pomade and powder did make your hair look soft and voluminous. Am I the only one who likes the grayish color it gives hair!
I totally agree! So many people act like anyone from world war II or earlier was a caveman. And that humans were all rubbing sticks together to make fires until like the 1980s. Like the ancient Romans had air conditioning. They had this water system that basically had cold water pumped in that ran down the walls and under the floors and it kept the villas cool. Like ancient peoples had our exact same brain capacity. We just have more knowledge and learning now but they were still us. They still had the ability to reason and invent and create and most of the things they invented we built off of. The only reason we all live in such comfortable luxury now was because of the things they invented from scratch.
100% agree. I'll watch a documentary about something and sometimes I wanna scream, "just because they didn't have Google doesn't mean they're all idiots!"
@@AbbyCox I think with the trends for young women to dye their hair white or silver and for elderly women to dye lighter gray or white hair a pastel color, usually blue, purple, or pink, pomade and powder would be amazingly suitable to current fashion. I also think it would be awesome for older ladies who can't get themselves in the shower as often to have a way to safely and effectively clean their hair and get it some more volume.
@@WhitneyDahlin Even cavemen almost certainly weren't as simple as modern humans like to think they were. They were most likely like bushmen in terms of intelligence - plenty smart but with limited knowledge of the world due to lack of exposure.
I've been using this method on my hair for that past 4 months. I'm 58 and have a good bit of gray coming in, so the powder doesn't look weird on me. Nobody even notices, and I like the extra body and volume. Being post-menopausal and having hypothyroidism, my hair should be thinning and breaking off by now, but instead it's thicker and is growing faster than it ever has in my life!
I needed to hear this. I have BALD patches in my head. I'm 33. I have a thyroid condition and I'm over weight, so I am going to try NO POO. ( also going to try weight loss) New ERA. Every like will remind me of my goals 🙏
@@delmarieduvenage I sometimes wash my hair with beaten egg. It really works, no shampoo required. Just put it on your hair as you would shampoo, gently massage it in, then rinse off in WARM NOT HOT water. If you use hot water, you'll end up with a head full of scrambled egg! Leaves your hair baby soft and shiny.
I remember reading a hair dressing manual from the late 18th century that mentioned a few things for if you couldn't afford to pay someone to do your hair (and weren't rich enough for a powdering room) and it was basically "find the least windy spot you can (do it outside), have someone help you, do it upside down a lot of the time, and whatever you do, keep the geese away while you are doing this" (???) Like, sounds like solid advice, but I'm baffled by the geese...
“Keep the geese away” is just good general advice. Not sure what it’s got to do with hair powdering, other than the dangers of standing still outside with your head upside down and/or hair in front of your eyes.
@@scoobysnax Depends on the geese. My parents got attacked by a flock of them before I was born (no serious injuries, just scratches and bruises) and I got chased by an enraged Chinese goose as a second grader but some are pretty chill. There was one goose at a popular goose feeding pond that would basically act as a bouncer and keep the other geese from swarming the people that came to feed them. He could probably be trusted around hair.
I can't help but think this is no different than using dry shampoo. Just a bit more involved with the application. I do love the different techniques of hair care, among other things, but we still have the same problem that we had back then. Affordability.
@@humankaleidoscope4989 I guess you miss the part where I said, "I can't help but think." Not just, "This is just like dry shampoo." Obviously others have thought the same thing. Have a good day. 👍
Not washing my hair was something I'd been meaning to try for a while, then when lockdown happened I did it. The first two weeks were pretty gross (but no one saw me, so whatever) and then my hair was fine - full and bouncy, and has remained so. I use a nice boutique dry shampoo every few weeks, and that is all I need. I do however wash my brush every week. I think that's important. I have friends and family who would tell me if my hair smelled, and so far (six months in) there have been no complaints.
I developed an allergy to shampoo at one time, doctor said wash in water only. My hair grew 4 inches in a bout 1 1/2 months... Back to shampoo, but still grows fast.. don't know if there is a relation
In the category of realizing something that should be obvious but probably isn't anymore. When you said our homes/bathrooms are not set up for this anymore my brain went *ping!* and thought oh so that is where the term Powder Room came from! I do love the random bits I pick up from your channel.
@@poodlegirl56 Beeswax might be too hard/thick? Something like cocoa or shea butter might work better, but I don't have much experience. It might be more helpful to you yo ask this under her pomade and powder video!
Hi, my great grandmother never wet washed her very long hair, but when she was taken into hospital the nurses wanted to "wash" her hair in the end the surgeon was called and he spoke to her and inspected the hair and agreed that the hair was clean and healthy, I know it was pomaded but she added ash too not sure why.💖
Ash absorbs the oil and cleans, i have a pet chinchilla they cant get wet and so u give them dust baths,the dust baths are actually volcanic ash. Thought about trying it on myself.
Hehe, not only is this SUPER COOL and unique, but it reminds me so much of how my chinchillas cannot get wet and instead take dust baths in pumice/volcanic ash…and they are considered the softest animals on earth with the most beautiful fur ♥️♥️♥️ I love dry shampoo…but this is on a whole other level! Thanks! 😍
When you said the creping would last up to a month if you didn't get it wet, I was imagining an 18th century Legally Blonde: "You took a shower? Everyone knows getting your hair wet causes the pomade and powder to clump, and your crepe is still intact"
@@TooSickToDressVictorian Even though it is a silly movie, it does have great moral lessons movies of old once had. When they are funny, sweet, and memorable, they are of even more value. I have a massive music and movie vault and LB 1&2 are there and watched.
I usually put flour in my hair when i'm out of dry shampoo. After 20 min (or longer), i just brush it off with a towel and my hair is clean and voluminous. I usually don't talk about it too much though i don't want people to think i'm mad :D
@@cherisseepp5332 Yeah, I've experimented with a mix of cornstarch and cocoa power for my very dark brown hair and after you brush it out a bit it's pretty invisible with bonus hair smells like chocolate
i've used scented baby powder before, too. my cologne is usually minty/clean linen/cool water sort of profile, so Gold Bond powder actually complements it really well 👀
I tried washing my hair with rye flour for a couple of months. You'd mix a couple of spoonfulls (depening on hair lenght) with some water to get the consistency of pancake batter, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then massage it into your wet hair. Then wash it out. I also rinsed my hair with about a liter of cold water mixed with two teaspoons of lemon juice. It worked really well, and after a couple of weeks I only had to wash my hair about once a week, and it still looked and felt good. It did, however, clog the drain, so I stopped.
@@miralyse.3846 it sounded so good, I was wondering why you had written it in the past tense. Abby is right: our society is not built to accommodate this type of body care.
A few years ago, I saw another video where you talked about pomade and powder and I started doing a variation on my own hair using the modern wax paste styling product and mineral foundation for the powder. It definitely helped build up the body in my very fine hair. Looking at this video today, I would suggest trying a dark brown mineral foundation to powder your hair and no one would be able to tell.
I started to wash my long hair only once every 10 days or so about a year ago and sometimes use dry shampoo in between. My hair got healthier and thicker. But I can't imagine to never get it wet. I sweat a lot when working out and can't imagine not rinsing the sweat out. Plus I love the feeling of hot water on my head, especially on bad days.
I also noticed my curly fine hair has gotten longer and healthier once I started washing it once a week versus once every other day (which I used to do). I wanna say it took me around 10 weeks or so that I started to notice the difference. I recently trimmed my hair myself, and I’ve started using hair oil on the ends to help reduce frizz. :) I’m enjoying healthy hair for now.
I love your attitude towards everything. You're just so frank about it, like "this is the way their society was, this is the way our society is, this made sense then, makes less sense now, but still has its place, it is what it is." It's just a refreshing take to have somebody not be blatantly for or against one technique but just frank and logical about it all.
During exam season in college, I didn't have much time to wash and style my hair so I relied on dry shampoo. Once, I ran out and Googled how to make my own. Turns out, you could use baking powder mixed with hot chocolate power (if you had dark hair) to hide the white residue. It worked so well I didn’t wash my hair for a month! Looking back, it seems a bit crazy, but at least my hair smelled nice lol
Brad mondo needs to see this video. He was wondering how the heck they got their hair to stay and got it so voluminous! He tried teasing it 😁 it was great.
I started using a DIY dry shampoo routine on my hair about a year ago as an experiment after reading The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty. I figured it was worth trying because my hair is fine and greasy, and I struggle using any conventional hair products because I am very sensitive to scents and perfumes. I powder my hair all over with a mixture of cornstarch and cocoa powder for color, and then brush it out. I found that the cocoa powder lets the powder blend into my hair color. I rub a tiny bit of rose hip seed oil into my hair and reapply the power as needed until my hair washing day. (Conditioner only-it lifts away dead skin cells without stripping my hair oils.) And my hair looks amazing! I have volume and texture and I can braid and style my hair much more easily. The cocoa powder makes the powder subtly blend in instead of being obviously grey. I'm not using nearly as much powder or conditioning fats in my hair as an 18th century person probably would, but this works for me as a compromise between historical hair care and modern hair aesthetics. And Abby is right, hair powder is MESSY. My advice is: powder your hair while standing in your bathtub or shower stall, and then you can rinse it out when you're done and not get powder all over the rest of the bathroom.
I have the same hair type and I'm very intrigued! Washing my hair a couple less times sounds amazing for my irritable skin and split ends, so I have to ask: pomade yay or nay? You make it sound like your routine alternates between sole powder and regular hair wash with water and conditioner but not shampoo, can you elaborate on that, please? With maybe how many days in between each treatment? I would love to try it for myself and I'll listen to any advice I can get.
I do this too! Not powdering as much now (have to find the right ratio for color) but it really does work well on my hair and it's very soft and easy to manage when I do it. And LONG! Holy cow my hair has GROWN SO MUCH! Also, condition only really does help oily scalp/hair balance each other out, esp in the winter. Nice tip on the rose hip seed oil and powdering in the shower, so Thank You.
I dove in and pomaded/powdered my hair just now, on day 8 hair. I’m shocked by how soft and voluminous my hair is!!! I remember you saying the fat and cornstarch just makes ✨magic✨ together and it really does. I braided it with ribbons to go to sleep (I’m one year into no elastic!) and I’m going to try this method for the next 6 months and report back! Edit: I kept doing the hair routine for about three more months and loved it. I had no issues except some itching and a spray with a tiny bit of tea tree and peppermint oil in distilled water took away the occasional itch from sweat on my scalp. Usually the hair absorbs the sweat with powder&pomade in it, but on really hot days without AC I would need the spray twice a week. Other than that no issues that I remember. My commitment to zero elastic was amazing and I recommend everyone switch to hair forks, u-pins, hair sticks. Hair sticks are extremely fun to collect also! I had no more breakage along the shaft or split ends with the no elastic method. I also used braids with ribbon and rag curls occasionally. But my favorite hairstyle was a kind of Edwardian Bun held with a big U-pin. OR a classy chignon/french twist. In July last year I lost my housing and suffered from a stress induced emotional breakdown but I’m recovering and stable now. I shaved my head in August/September last year (2022) and started re-growing it two months ago March 2023. I’m going to continue with this method again and report back next year!❤
How is the no elastic going? I’ve considered trying it. I use really soft scrunchies so it doesn’t pull/squish my hair too bad but I feel like ribbon would be neat to try. Any suggestions for material of the ribbon?
@@LK-ir2pg I started using recycled nylon hairties from kitch! I want to stop using elastics for environmental reasons because elastic is derived from oil.
@@jesicadelfin1099 from what I've heard, hair gets greasy from over-producing oil because it's compensating for being washed all the time. Cheap shampoos can dry out our hair, which makes our head make extra oil. So we wash it again, which requires more shampoo and the cycle continues. Using more shampoo is great for the shampoo company's profits. I've started to experiment with different types of shampoo that won't dry my hair out. I'm now up to 7 days without needing a wash and I have slightly wavy 1b hair.
This gave me a great idea how to care for my waist length care after my major back surgery in a few days. I probably won't be able to shower for several months after surgery so thank you very much!!
@4:06 Abby: "This hair care process and technique is ideal for really fine, thin hair on the kinda oily side." Me: "Is my video on??? Can she see me???" Kidding aside, I will be working from home for the near (maybe far) future. It seems like a good time to pomade and powder. Thank you, Abby; I really enjoyed the video. I hope that the move is going well.
I have really really fine hair, like baby fine hair, and used to have so many issues with greasy hair until I stopped washing it as often. Once a day = greasy every day. Reduced it slowly to every other day, then longer and longer until now where I tend to wash it (with an SLS/SLES and paraben free shower gel/shampoo I get custom made) once per month and then its only my scalp. I don't apply it to the lengths at all. Sometimes it ends up being closer to two months. When I first started some of it was due to mental health issues (meaning the not washing it was just not being able to cope with anything that involved leaving my bed) but more recently I noticed how many benefits I got from not stripping it of the natural oils. Whereas before if I went a few days without washing my hair it might start to smell a little, now it doesn't. I've had people compliment how my hair looks, not knowing that its like week 3 of not having washed it. My oil production slowed right down to a very manageable level and brushing it is enough to distribute the oils through the lengths meaning I don't even need to condition it as often any more either. Every now and then I use some olive oil with lavender oil mixed in so it doesn't smell of yucky olive oil, and just apply that to the tips. Then a few hours later I have a bath and wash my scalp, and that's it. Kinda simple process really.
@@AlexaFaie I recommend checking out the Pretty Shepard's channel. She washes her long hair once of month. She has a very interesting routine. I have worked at home since the start of the pandemic. I went from once-a-day shampooing to every few days. My daily cleaning stripped too much oil out of my hair. Every few days was kinder on my hair. It sounds like we should all be kinder to ourselves and our hair.
I haven’t washed my hair for about 5 years. I think I get a lot more body from just rinsing it with water and occasionally using a hair powder on the roots. I use olive oil on the ends before my shower.
@@AlexaFaie I tried not washing mine for a couple months over the pandemic, and it just got dirtier and oiler, lol. I tried using baby powder, which made it look fantastic. Down side was I ended up with an oily paste mixture on my scalp that I couldn't brush out. I loved the volume, but I guess it just wasn't for me. Now I am trying to be eco friendly by using bar shampoo instead of plastic bottles with chemicals.
genuinely might have to try this bc i wear hijab and dont wash my hair often, but the grease can make my skin worse, so kinda seems like ppl in the 18th century knew what i needed lol. also thank u for putting the certifications for the mattress in the video so many ppl make those claims with no evidence oml
Plant fibre hijabs (especially linen), changed frequently, can also help, at least according to people in Tudor England (though they obviously didn’t use the word “hijab”). If Victorian England was obsessed with soap, Tudor England was even more so with clean linen.
I'm wearing satin tichels (Jewish head covering) and using a hair oil right now and discovering a bit of that myself. I like the oily effect, I think it's really helping my hair, and it's not like people are seeing it, but I'm definitely thinking about trying a dark colored powder.
I don’t think this would work well for me because I have naturally thick, curly hair. I can’t really comb my hair regularly or easily. But it’s definitely interesting to learn about the theory behind this. It would be super cool if they started using this method in 18th century period pieces.
I've powdered and pomaded a lot of different hair types, and it has an interesting effect on curly hair (like 3a) where the powder weighs down the curl and it can become wavy. But, it does change depending on your hair texture. I just remember being really fascinated with how the powder weighed down my friend's hair. He also had it cut in an 18th century mullet and when we combed it out, he looked like a 17th century dude with a periwig....which explained a lot about 17th century men's hairstyles. 😂
@@AbbyCox that honestly makes sense, especially with type 3 curls. A lot of products that people with type 3 curls use, especially 3A, are designed to be super lightweight because that curl type tends to be easily weighed down and lose its shape if there’s too much product. There’s other factors as well that may influence how the hair reacts to heavy product, but it’s usually a general rule of thumb to avoid applying too much product to type 3 curls.
@@AbbyCox so this comment just made me want to try this method even more lol My hair has ALL the type 3 curls and I'm a sucker for volume and frizz, so I'm always trying to get my curls to be more open adn wave-like. Anything that weighs down the curls but still manages to give the hair some volume is a win for me. Excuse me while I spend the next few hours looking up some plant-based options over here.
I have 4c hair, so not washing a lot is common for me. It's the powder and combing that would kill me lmao unless it's wet, it's not getting combed. Edit: Also, looking at later hairstyles of the 18th century, I wouldn't really need the creping techniques, as my hair naturally looks that way with a simple light brushing.
Thank you for this video, but the reason why pomade and powder make hair fluffier is due to all the build-up, which doesn't sound like a great ongoing routine to me, more like a way of reducing hair washes (which is always great!). I used to wash my hair every day over a decade ago and then decided to switch to a once or twice per week washing routine. My hair was incredibly oily at first as I was reducing washes, but then my scalp was producing less and less oils. I even bleach my hair nowadays but it's still very healthy because I only wash it twice/week MAX. I wouldn't recommend this as a hygiene routine, it could damage your scalp and hair follicles in the long run due to constant build-up (suffocating the hair and scalp) which combs wouldn't necessarily help with. I don't think the answer to anything is ever black and white, more in the middle. I believe it's great to sometimes give your hair a deep wash and get rid of all the dead skin, bacteria, and other types of build-up, while making sure you don't overwash it, as that could be very damaging indeed (not only to the environment, but also your scalp as you're constantly stripping away its natural oils). My advice to anyone would be to strive for balance. There is no magical solution to health.
I had no real interest in this and thought theres no way ill get through the whole video but this story telling was so interesting and well done i was hooked till the end
I feel like dry shampoo is kinda our modern equivalent, I have trained my hair not to get oily as quickly with use of dry shampoo and washing it less often.
That was so interesting:). I kind of powder my hair occasionally lol I make a “dry shampoo” with cornstarch, coco powder (since i have dark hair) and a drop or two of peppermint essential oil. I apply it to my roots with an old makeup brush. It give a lot of volume and makes my hair look and smell great between washes:)
@@ijustwannacommentnotmyreal9814 yes there is build up between washes but you don’t have to use much and it washed out easily. I use a very gentle shampoo and my hair and scalp always feel very clean after. I have since found an unscented dry shampoo which i use occasionally to give my hair more volume and texture without the lightening effect of the powder mixture. Im very sensitive to fragrance which is why initially switched to my homemade version.
I love finding out that past generations had some things figured out better than us. We shower & wash our hair way too much its true! I've gone a month without washing my hair once. A lot of talc free baby powder
I only wash my hair every two weeks without any problems, if I’m not exercising or sweating much. I also only use dry shampoo once or twice at most between each wash. By the way, we all know that dry shampoo is mostly starch or some other oil-absorbing powder plus fragrance, right?
I already washed only 2x a week but recently bought a dry shampoo on sale. Now I'm experimenting with washing once a week and using dry shampoo instead of washing a second time. I want to try to extend that period and see what happens. I calculated using dry shampoo also saves me water bc I take shorter showers so it's a win win.
Cool! I'm going a month w/out washing now, and attempt the brush two times a day tho ngl i see my hair differently now (whether brushed or not) so since endemic has me home alot imo i just don't need to brush every day. 1920s scarf-turban to the rescue when i need out those days gldnxogndmf
For the record i take bath, srlly clumsy (and risky ^^") to shower in my apartement. Also use a boar brush, altho horse brush would be preferred bc more humane...
Straight up corn starch is awesome for knots and adds silkiness. It brushes away with little residue. It works well on curly hair and is safe for your poodle mix.
I been skipping a day or 2 not washing and dry shampoo. My hair is still very oily. It's thin so the oils make it worse. Then I read too much oils causes blockage for hair to grow and then causes hair loss. I've washed hair every day and I've done months of washing every couple of days. Only difference my hair is oilier. and I still have hair loss. Feel like nothing will work. So my question... corn starch work better than dry shampoo? Does it cause build up and leave flakes?
@@erinrose1016 When I was trying to wash my hair every other day (it was quite long and my hair really doesn't thin out as it grows, so it took FOREVER to dry) I put cornstarch on my hair in the most oily spots before bed and brushed it out in the morning. It didn't brush out nicely if I tried applying it in the morning, and I think it was more effective when I let it sit in my hair longer. If you use a brush with tighter bristles, like boar bristle, it comes out quite well and doesn't build up badly. I have issues with dead skin building up on my scalp and that's one reason I never went longer than 2 days without washing. It wasn't just the oily hair, it was that my scalp started to feel awful, but I have had issues with oily dandruff my whole life, so that's part of it. In short, give cornstarch a try, but apply it at least a couple of hours before you want to be presentable.
@@angiebee2225 so I have tried corn starch and it works great but I see why though why you recommend using it at bedtime lol I personally think it works better than dry shampoo 🙂 thank you !
I had to shampoo my hair last week for the first time in almost a year, and it’s been horrible to work with. It has no body, my combs and elastics don’t hold, it just lies there. I’ve been brushing it twice daily like I always do and it’s finally getting some life back after 8 days. Pomade and powder are definitely the way I prefer, I’m so glad I came across a reference to your experiment several years ago.
If you look at the composition of the modern dry shampoo, it's the modern version of 18e century pomade and powder, the one I use contains rice starch and Avena kernel oil. I may one day jump and try to make my own.
So I've got this book about what to do in case of "apocalypse", how to get back some of the things that took society hundreds or thousands of years to learn, invent, achieve, etc. It teaches to make soap, for example, but there's some pages for notes and I'm adding the pomade and powder recipes to it. I promise I'm not a survivalist freak, it's more of a scientific and philosophical exercise. Also I'd be dead pretty quick if the zombies came.
That sounds so interesting. I “accidentally” bought a bunch of random journals from Denik over holiday and now I think I know what I’m turning one of them into. So glad I came to the comment section for inspiration and found this absolute gem 💎 Oh! The possibilities ❤️❤️❤️
This reminds me of House of Many Ways, which has a very bookish protagonist who realizes that nothing she's read explains how to do simple, practical things like housework, laundry, and cooking.
I’ve sometimes considered a similar thought exercise, too, along the lines of, “if I was thrown back in time 150 years, what modern conveniences could I reproduce?” Not a lot, as it turns out. Electricity? Penicillin? Telephone/telegraph? I have only a vague idea of how those work. I certainly couldn’t reproduce them from scratch.
I've realised I am accidentally doing this a lot of the time. I wash my hair with modern shampoo/conditioner once per week, and in between I use a dry shampoo of cornflour and cocoa powder. I often use hemp oil too...after seeing you do it for longer I might try it more!
I didn't wash my hair for seven years. It started as an experiment and it was horrible and greasy for around 21 weeks, I scraped it back into a ponytail and hoped people would think it was gelled (ha ha!). Around week 22 people started asking me when I started washing it again - and I hadn't. It was in the best and most managable condition it's ever been for those seven years. My My comb needed washing daily, and my brush neeeded washing every few days, because that's where the dirt and grease was going. But my hair was fabulous.... Then I got dandrudff and had to wash it to treat the dandruff... and that was the end of the experiment. I wasn't going through 22 weeks of grease again.
Hilariously, this is something I did on purpose knowing there would be the "detoxing" portion of the hair "rehab". I've been trying to restore my natural curls since Pandemic started and they're a good halfway there - but yeah, that first month is pretty awful for the itchies and shit. My scalp and hair NOW have never been better though and I can finally wash my hair the amount that is healthy for it (1x a week, roughly - note I OF COURSE shower regularly, and use shower caps, for those reading who haven't tried this before... lol). My hair gets greasy and dirty slower, stays soft and fluffy/touchable longer, scalp produces less debris, etc, etc. Hair is even less snarly and prone to knots and tangles! Of course, in addition to scaling back washes to 1x a week and CO-washes or low/no-poo washes, I've added in some leave-ins for curly rehab help and reserved my "deep washes" for 1x a month (thats when the dandruff shampoo/tea tree shampoo gets used)... No all I can say is that the mainstream ideas of how to handle and care for your scalp and hair are all FUBAR. It's different depending on your hair and skin types, and 100% better for your scalp to alternate washing with co-wash or low/no-poo "shampoos". Up the moisture, add a leave in, wash it less often with chemicals and comb with fingers or wide-tooth wooden comb at least 1x a day, if you have thick 2c-3a hair. That's my method! :)
@@bakaichigo {nods}, I only wash my hair once a week since the no-wash-for-seven-years ended. It doesn't grease up like it used to, it's in better condition, and it's curly - it was never more than wavy before.
@@teddy-3765 That's pretty much what I found too - I knew my hair was SUPPOSED to be curly more than wavy, but had no idea how MUCH curl I had lost with the over-washing all those years. I used to have hair like Shirley Temple - pray for me/send good vibes that my hair recovers that :'D Hope your hair journey keeps improving too! :)
@@bakaichigo Good luck retrieving those Shirly Temple curls! I never knew mine was curly, but always longed for curly hair, so it was great when it started curling if I let it dry naturally.
Being someone with fair skin, and light hair/ eyebrows. I definitely relate to adding color back in my face or I look, odd dimensioned in my opinion. always felt that way about it even when I was a child particularly in pictures as the flash would wash my eye brows out & I’d look like an alien. now I know what it is particularly haha. Loved the video !!!!
Can we acknowledge the incredible editing and historical research of this video !!! Not to mention how witty, charming and hilarious Abby is. Excellent video 👌👌👌
I want to thank you for these videos of 18th century hair care. I used the powder and pomade technique on my daughter for our recent production of Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella (which as the production designer I kept us as accurate to the 18th century as I possibly could), my daughter had dyed her hair in shades of blue and green for the school year and I was concerned about hiding it and she couldn't wear a wig with the amount of dancing she was doing, so after watching MANY of your videos I decided that doing the pomade and powder would be our best option and would make styling her finer hair 100x easier. Which it did and since blue was a common dye in their powders in the 18th century, her blue hair worked out. Wish I could send you a picture of how she looked, especially in her ballgown. Thanks Abby for the inspiration and the guide for a fantastic show!
This is fascinating! As a hairstylist/cosmetologist, I have a recipe to modernize. Shampoo & blow dry. Immediately after the blow dry go through the whole head with dry shampoo at the scalp. Use a quarter size of Morrocan oil and apply from mid-strand to ends. It’s a dry oil and will dry down. Once dry, use a light texture spray or light hairspray. Take a bore bristle brush, brush from scalp to ends. Your “clean” hair will last at least 1 week+.
I've occasionally used homemade "airing powders" on my hair without the pomade and they've worked really well. They absorb the excess sebum in oily hair very well, and the grippy texture they give (without fostering tangles) makes old fashioned updos a lot easier to achieve. Thank you for helping normalize alternative hair care. Some people freak out in disbelief when they hear how a daily detergent shampoo isn't necessary to have clean and healthy scalp and hair. (The freakout tells me more about them and their limited experience than anything, but still.)
I once commented under a video of a dermatologist. She said that it was not necessary to use soap all over your body, just on the parts that were stinky. I commented that I do the same since I work from home. But I can understand that people feel the need to soap up their whole body when they have different jobs. That was honestly the first time in my life when I got cyber bullied. So many people called me names and said I was nasty. They wrote long paragraphs. One said that I should use soap on my arms since my forarms were touching my desk which is full of bacteria?! One asked if it was my kink to be dirty?! It was crazy. People were so aggressive about the whole topic for no reason.
@@johanna2690 Wow, that's extreme. What a horrible experience, and I'm not surprised. The nasty comments probably came from people who do things like wipe their mouths on dishtowels (I've seen it firsthand). They use one kitchen sponge to wipe everything - dishes, counters, spills on the floor, the sink - and think nothing of it. They wear street shoes indoors. They never clean their keyboard. I witness so many people using genuinely bad practices when it comes to spreading illness and cross contamination. Then they get irrationally upset when someone doesn't use a specific brand of sanitizing body wash. They have zero common sense nor any knowledge of microbiology nor epidemiology.
I've had instances before where my hair was just...disgustingly greasy, or I had started to do a hot oil treatment and then realized I had to be SEEN in PUBLIC in the next 30 minutes, and emptied like half a can of dry shampoo into it in a panic. It's probably not EXACTLY the same, but I am familiar with a lot of the stuff you're talking about-- the strange soft, malleable texture, the need to comb the ever-loving-crap out of it if you don't want the powder to make your scalp itchy. The washing out is probably slightly easier, especially since I didn't powder repeatedly, but it still required more work than usual. ALL THIS LONGWINDED RAMBLING IS TO SAY, if people want to get an /idea/ of this method without going all out on the historically accurate products, grab thyself a heavy oil (extra virgin olive, jojoba, castor, argan, etc), a comb, and some cheap dry shampoo and give it a whirl!
A lot of brands still make hair powders. They are usually marketed as volumizing powders but they do essentially the same job as dry shampoo and produce that malleable texture.
I started loosing my hair in 2019. I stopped perming my hair, I also stopped using conditioner and stopped washing it every day. I use a low shampoo, meaning that it has fewer ingredients and put Peppermint oil and Rosemary oil in it. Those oils promote hair growth for women. I have gone 7 days without washing it. My family will complain then I wash just once. My natural oils have kicked in and have softened my hair. I have kept this practice up until the present. My hair has grown back .
I’m in my 60s I have very thick hair and when my hair gets oily underneath we were taught to prouder our hair/scalp. It’s works and feels clean again. Less damage from Constant washing. Great video:)
@@Ellzy1 The fat for pomade is a by-product of the animals raised for food, if you eat meat anyway then just think of it as using something that would otherwise go to waste. For vegans or vegetarians then obviously that's a different story.
@@MsStBoom that's not true. If you create a demand for a product, you are asking for more animals to be killed. Supply and demand. You'd be surprised at animals being literally "thrown away" when they are only needed for one to two things. The animal industry isn't interested in "using all the parts." They are interested in making money and profit.
@@JRNarian So we're talking about the parts that are currently being thrown away, yes? So creating a demand will stop those currently unused parts from being thrown away because they are now worth something? Although, honestly, I was thinking on a micro-scale - somebody doing this in their kitchen on a personal use basis. Let's be real, this isn't a practice that the majority of people are going to re-adopt any time soon
I literally haven't bought hair products for years. I just let my hair go through the greasy stage and it balances into being just a tad les shiny than it was when I washed it every day. If I do some dirty gardening and splash mud around or whatever, I rinse my hair with water. My hair was typically a bit oily and a bit dry on the tips and it is awesome to see it is actually beautiful and healthy without any haircare routine except for brushing it each morning. People often compliment me on my hair. I am so happy to not be wasting money and plastic and all the stuff I used to use. Try it!
I read Ruth Goldman's "How to be a Victorian" and she discussed how they combed their hair and often used a dry wash cloth to rub the body twice a day. I tried it for a while. It was a real eye opener. I still try to do the combing daily and wash hair less. Scalp is less itchy, no dandruff. It works.
The dry washcloth was more of a Tudor technique than a Victorian one - by the Victorian era they were becoming more and more obsessed with soap. Tudor era English people were no less obsessed with cleanliness than their Victorian era descendants, however, they just had different methods to achieve it.
@@ragnkja Ruth Goodman looks at the breadth of the Victorian Era in that book, which is quite long, so she goes into the Victorians, and really those living in the city, loving soap once industrialization makes broader consumerism and advertising possible, as well as the introduction of plumbing, in the latter part of the 19th century. You should give her book a look, she really is quite thorough in talking about how the city versus the country lived, from the 1830s to the 1890s, and from gender to age differences. She even talks about her experiences using 19th century dental hygiene routines! and mint was not the flavor they associated with a clean mouth but cardamom! You should also take a look at her series on the BBC called The Victorian Farm where she and two archaeologists live on a typical Victorian Farm for a year, it's really fascinating and detailed. You can find the episodes on TH-cam actually!
I love your descriptions of positive views on the actual processes (make up, hygiene, clothes etc) of the 18th century. I am an historian and so much of our view is influenced by those whose opinion was considered worth keeping (men) and I love your take on this!!
Oooooh this makes so much sense. I have such fine, oily hair, I have wondered what I would do without being able to shower every day, what someone like me would've done in the past. This is fascinating
I mean, I basically do this all the time. I use cornstarch as dry shampoo in between shampoos (which I do as little as possible because of my hair dye). It really absorbs oil and prevents that greasy texture. I just apply it to dirty hair like you did the powder and skip the pomade step, then brush through until it's mostly invisible. It does make my hair a little lighter in color but not to a weird extent like yours does. (Not that that's bad, it's just not a modern look.) I also have extremely fine hair and when I do this my hair is WAY more styleable because it holds it's shape better.
How much cornstarch do you apply? I have thin fine hair and I been skipping a.day or two before I wash for few months now and nothing changes. My hair still gets oily less than 24 hours later after a wash. Even dry shampoo doesn't help much.
I have short thick wavy hair and for a very long time I’ve only been washing my hair with water and a vigorous scrubbing, then putting beeswax with a bit of cocoa butter and jojoba oil mixed in as it dries. Then I powder it - not enough to make it look pale, but enough to absorb any extra beeswax mixture. It’s the best my hair has ever been and I get lots of complements. So I get why this hair care routine was a thing! I love it.
Shout out to Colonial Williamsburg! I worked there for four years while in Jr High and High School as part of the newly launched Junior Apprentice program. It was one of the best experiences of my life, though I can't claim that the clothes were particularly comfortable. They were beautiful, though and watching the process they went through to fit each apprentice and to remain true to what they knew about styles and fabrics was fascinating. They had a box of scraps by the door, and I still have some in my "make a memory quilt someday box." You do a great job and are very informative and fun. I think I want a Birch mattress now, too. Very convincing!
When you were saying how this is good for fine, thin hair that gets greasy fast, it suddenly clicked for me why I love dry shampoo so much 😌. Dry shampoo really makes my hair look healthier and a bit thicker.
Daily use, though, of dry shampoo is actually not good for it. If you think about it, you're leaving out the pomade part of the equation. It can end up breaking it off near the root, especially if you're rubbing it in vigorously. I have tried it a couple of times and really don't like how it looks or feels.
Great video! I'm in my 50's and have been using baby powder as a dry shampoo for most of my life. It's sort of a version of this. However, I just put the powder in at night, usually, and I wake up to fluffy hair in the morning. The powder absorbs all the oil during the night. It does leave a grey cast to the hair, though. I have fine, thin hair.
Well, after seeing you try the menstrual apron thingy, I’m not at all surprised at hearing you experiment wit pomaded and powdered hair. With my super dry hair and skin I want to dip my whole body into a vat of olive oil. However, I am following the lead of The Pretty Shepherdess and only washing my hair once a month while keeping it braided and confined. This is working very well and is longer that it has ever been in my life. I don’t think I have the genes to grow super long hair like Morgan D. ( pre haircut) or our Shepherd friend but I’m happy that it is bra-length in back. I’ve looked at 1860’s cosmetics in an old medical book I have. Of course it also suggests packing the cervix with cocaine to cure morning sickness but what the heck… .
Sounds like you need to take the advice in that book _addito salis grano._ It can take up to five years to find out how long your hair is capable of growing, since the growth cycle of human hair tends to be 3-5 years.
@@ragnkja I've heard that the growth cycle is 7-10 years, and that tracks with my own experience of growing my hair from chin length to as long as it'll go.
packing my cervix with cocaine sounds like a helluva time. i started no shampoo and using a lotion-like conditioner and i swear my hair has never been healthier.
I'm following the Pretty Shepherd's method too, and in 3 lonths my hair grew over 3". I've never seen so much quick growth before, and I'm only putting 9 days between washes.
Same. The pretty shepherd’s hair video has completely changed my hair care routine and it’s healthier than it has ever been. It’s down to the mid butt by now and I’m trying to see how long I can grow it
Request: please create a detailed video of how to do this from start to finish to start (like if you were going from zero to pom and pow to maintenance back to fresh pom and pow look), and how to manage this type of hair in terms of how to sleep and have your head around furniture without leaving your mark everywhere. This video is amazing because it covers so much history and is sprinkled with great sass, but I would love to try this technique for long-term use as part of lifestyle. Also, your pom-cooking video goes over the hard pom, but I can't understand how that would be applied.
Because of your previous videos on the subject, I’ve honestly considered it during our current plague times, but lack a place I wouldn’t make an enormous mess…well, in the wintertime, anyway. I’d look like I had a gray Brillo Pad on my head, but it’d feel luscious! (Very thick, and curly) Hoping your move goes smoothly and efficiently, and you get settled in your next home before you know it. I don’t think moving is ever a piece of cake, but some are definitely easier than others; so, here’s to having an easier one with outstanding movers. I’m right there with you on the wool bandwagon!! In my opinion, there are two perfect fibers on earth, wool and flax. There are several strong second stringers, but none as varied and incredibly useful as wool. I’m a nearly lifelong knitter and crocheter, but I just took the plunge into spinning this last week!! I’m all thumbs and my singles are beyond ugly, and it’s just the best thing EVER! 😁🥰🥳
When I've done it on curly hair, the powder can actually weigh down the curls to turn them into waves, plus the extra moisture for curls is never a bad thing!
I’ve been kitting and spinning since 1995… I find that careful fiber prep is really the key. I use a cat brush to open the individual locs (time consuming with merino, that’s for sure) first brushing the tips then the cut ends, leaving them open in a fan shape (tips at the pointy end). I stack them on top of each other in rows and it becomes very easy to draft an even amount of fiber from each piece. Once you find the method, you’ll be in good shape. At some point, invest in a good set of wool tongs so you can do worsted spinning, too. Cheers!
Didn't wash my hair for a month (dry shampoo only), never received more compliments on how great it looked. This solves the lack of conditioning problem I ran into.
My hair dresser told me to only wash my hair once a week and that was crazy to me. I’m a blonde who’s going platinum very slowly and it’s not recommend to wash my hair so often. I go to the gym and workout a lot so a week is the most that I can do and that’s using a ton of dry shampoo.
be careful not to go *too* long between cleanings, though. i knew a girl who almost exclusively used dry shampoo and while her hair was absolutely GORGEOUS it always just smelled kinda bad like skin oil mixed with whatever fragrance was in the dry shampoo. personally, when i used to have long hair, i used a gentle shampoo every few days on JUST the scalp
@@possumprince oh yeah gross… absolutely not. I can’t stand it when my hair is greasy idk how someone can go longer than a couple of days without washing.😅
this video has been continually recommended to me probably since it was posted. I finally gave in and watched and wasn't disappointed. now I wanna try it for my soft fine hair
I’m not sure I could do this, I already hate the feeling of dry shampoo on my scalp. Powders in my hair set off my sensory issues so badly. But I also dye it bright red and wouldn’t want it to be faded by the powder anyway so it probably isn’t meant to work for me anyway 😂
Ooooohhh my word yes. I shampoo and lightly condition my hair, and I dont even use hair spray unless it's up out of my face and I know I'll wash it rhe next morning. I tried dry shampoo and I just couldn't. And I can't stand greasy hair touching my face- the fear of acne is real
Yeah. And somehow even with all that uncomfortable powder my bangs still got oily in 5 minutes. I think dry shampoo and those powder techniques don't work for people with mixed race weird hair (I'm castiza and my individual strands are thin and frizzy but I have so many that my overall head of hair is pretty thick).
I remember this one morning where I ran out of dry shampoo and was in a hurry. So i thought flour might work just as fine. And not gonna lie I did it more often since then and it DOES work. The only problem was that the first time I did it was raining outside and when I arrived at work I looked like a complete Idiot because the flour had all gotten wet and dried up. 😂
I recall a letter from an American Revolution aide de camp to his father saying he was out of hair powder, to which his father replied to just use flour. Maybe a joke depending on rations at the time but contextually flour could totally work!
Due to the benzene recall, I've made my own dry shampoo from cornstarch, bentonite clay, and cocoa powder. It's perfection and lasts days. I powder my hair! P. S. I have a very oily scalp.
How long can you go? A month? 3? A year? Is there anything else you do lifestylewisr that is liberating in that it deviates from cultural tyranny and DOESN'T create the supposed hortible ill effects we're warned of?? Thank you! 🙌🏻👍🤗😁‼
Mom used to go to the "hairdresser" every Tuesday. Every single Tuesday. Without fail. The hair was washed, put up in curlers, dried in a huge contraption, "combed out", teased a LOT, and styled. The hair was then heavily, relentlessly sprayed -with Aqua Net! This creation would look pristine for the required week. Every week. Then, one day, she had it washed and blown dry and never looked back.
I remember those days! My mom had a perm, though, so she had the helmet hair from the salon only when she had it cut. I used to love going with her when I was little.
My mom's day was Friday. Finally after about 40 years she started washing and putting curlers in more often than once a week. Yeah, I remember the cloud of Aqua Net when she sprayed it!
Omg...my Mom too! The Exact Same Thing, down to the Aqua Net hairspray, ( a lot of it!). She would wear a light blue satin kind of shower cap thing to bed every night to help the "do" last, and to keep all that stuff off the pillow case. ( I wonder what my Dad thought? Lol)
I used to live in williamsburg, honestly might go back there just to learn blacksmithing or any of the other craftsman trades there. I always appreciated how dedicated everyone was to their jobs
Considering how you don’t want pomaded and powdered hair to get wet, the places where such a hair-care routine makes most sense are almost exactly the same places where you want to conserve water by not using it to wash your hair.
That's a good point about the water. If every drop if water is saved this would save even more. As someone with allergies and smell sensitivities, I can't try this😕
@@ellanorevannin4147 Yeah, if you need to shower frequently to wash away allergens it’s not as much of an option. The only other alternative I can see for you would be to cover as much as possible of your hair and skin with fabric and wash _that_ at least as often, but I don’t imagine that you want to dress like a medieval or Renaissance woman on a daily basis.
This was so helpful to understand powdered hair! I will offer this view up to those I talk with that don't understand that this WAS normal practice and hygienic! LOVE your channel and learning from your experience!
I only use shampoo on my head for 2 reasons.... 1 - if my scalp has got dirty because of actual "dirt" like mud, or attic dust; 2 - if I have a flare up of dermatitis/excema on my scalp, in which case I treat the scalp with oils (overnight application) and then use shampoo to emulsify the oil, and remove it. I only use a mild shampoo. The rest of the time I use warm water to rinse out sweat etc. The first month after shampoo the hair gets a bit oily, but then it establishes equilibrium. I use regular brushing to deal with the scalp. I am often complemented on the condition of my hair, and people are amazed when I tell them about my hair care. I even use temporary (non-permenant) hair colours, and still use this routine.
Thin hair is usually more oily because thin hair usually means you have more hairs. Since each hair is connected to an oil gland, more hair = more oil. I'd assume that people with more curly hair would need to use a lot more animal fat to make up for that.
i used to do something very similar to this and absolutely LOVED the effect - i would use a Lush massage bar (because i liked the glittery ones haha, they're just solid cocoa butter) and dusting powder (ditto) and had hugely voluminous, scented and sparkly hair 💜 AND! as a bonus, it made my hair super easy to style, improved the condition and reduced the amount of washing it needed - just a win/win all around if you ask me!
I lived in this place in California called Ojai and everyday this family of quails would would walk single file down this hill into my backyard to do a bit of feeding.. it was so awesome to watch. When they were done they would politely walk back up the hill the same way. . 🙌🏽
Love your videos! I have a question, how does this hold up to a very sweaty scalp? I imagine the humidity in Williamsburg was intense at times, and I’m just curious about whether the powder became sticky and gunky when your scalp sweated.
I haven't used anything but water on my hair since October 2019, so this was really interesting! And I also changed from using a hairbrush to a comb too when I made the change. I never thought of the idea of using anything like a pomade or powder. In case you are curious about my experience: My hair is very long (about to my waist) and wavy, and in the past I thought it was super oily - but really, I find that now it's not. I will say that I don't think my hair looks any better since I stopped shampooing it - but it doesn't look any worse, either. It's not stinky, greasy or gross, and I just gently scrub my scalp with my fingertips whenever I shower. Sometimes - maybe every other week or three? - I will also oil it with jojoba or argan oil.
@@emilyhuffman7815 True, but it doesn't stop shedding dead skin. I used to wash my hair every day but now I'm down to every 4 - 5 days. I need to do a little scalp exfoliation with conditioner and sugar before using a non-sulfate shampoo and then I use a pretty rich conditioner or hair mask including right on my scalp because it now produces almost not enough oils. lol
Oh! Someone else who doesn't use anything but water on their hair. I haven't gone as long as you. But I first started the no-wash thing in 2020. I've ended up washing it maybe 2-3 times in total since then - one was my hairdresser washing it. I have super short hair - basically a pixie cut. I would agree that it doesn't look any better but it also doesn't look worse. My hair is fine, and this means it has more body. It always had the tendency to look greasy quite soon after washing, and I feel like it is generally less greasy with this hair management style.
@@phangirlable I can't say I've had issues with shedding skin on my scalp, regular combing at night seems to manage it just fine. I do spend a bit of extra time on good scalp scratching in the shower. If I do need to remove sebum, I use an egg, but I only have to do that maybe 3 times a year. Hair care is super individual. When I started my "no poo" journey I tried lots of things that others raved about and they did not suit my hair at all. It for sure requires lots of trial and error to find the sweet spot
@@AbbyCox real talk though I loathe how they'll just chill out by the side of the road and dart out right as you're driving past so you have to SLAM on your brakes to avoid nailing the whole damn bevy of them!!
It was wonderful learning something new, and especially something that was used hundreds of years ago but I personally find the look unappealing. It just looks dirty to me, whereas without looks oily. Either look bothers me to no end! I cannot sleep well if my hair is dirty and couldn't imagine adding fat and powder to my scalp. It'd drive me crazy! But to each their own. It's amazing that you've practiced it for so long and I'm so glad it's known of if it helps people care for their hair!
I feel the same! It was so interesting but I couldn't shake the feeling that I thought it just looked like she had something in her hair that needed to be washed, I don't think I could wear it personally, I touch my hair a lot during the day and I feel like it would feel dry and powdery and that's a bit triggering for me haha.
Same here. I hate the final greyed out look. It also looks like absolute misery to apply…and then I have A LOT of hair on top of that. My skin’s also stupidly sensitive to things like cosmetics and literally Skin Dust (I had to clean a tanning salon once. Half my breakout was from everyone else’s dead skin getting on me EVERYWHERE from dusting, not just the tanning oil residues since I wore gloves since I was allergic to the main disinfectant as well…biggest reason why I Cannot share makeup but my own cheap makeup MIGHT be okay Once) and…yeah. Watching this literally is making me itch sympathetically. I’d sooner sheer all my hair off than bother with the maintenence of this method as an only option. Forget also having dense wavy hair with zero wire so it frizzes when touched and falls “straight” when dirty, being terrible with hair in general (I can tie back a pony and that’s it), and having really shitty wrists. Then of course the skin allergy? Yeah. It’s ALL coming off or I’m seeing what another culture did to keep their hair clean, preferably one that literally doesn’t practically demand some degree of wealth like a mirror and/or servant to apply it (since a lot of people Back Then didn’t have access to mirrors to try and do it themselves…and goodness. I itch in sympathy for people with allergies since even if they skip it and try to just use a lather of soap on short hair instead, they’re still surrounded by everyone else in those powders
I've recently taken to powdering my hair whenever I need to because I'm too cheap to buy dry shampoo and I actually like it better because it gives me more control!
I haven't used shampoo or conditioner for over 10 years. I use the baking soda and vinegar system. In the vinegar I will put rosemary to help with hair growth. After I will use olive or argon oil to condition. Just smallest amount. To smell pretty I use home-made lilac, rose, or orange water. But I have I also purchased various waters at my local Mediterranean store. I started this for heath reasons. Now it is habit.
I always wonder: don‘t your clothes (e. g. winter coat) and your bed get quite dirty from contact with powdered hair (especially when you add cocoa for darker hair)?
@@ottliecrue4747 oh!!! Now I understand the night bonnet! I've been thinking about them for a while now because I think they are cute and I want to make one. Sadly I have never really understood why they were used. Now I got really interested about this hair powdering thing and now I have a good reason to seriously plan my bonnet 🙌😂 nice! I already made one for a family member because it prevents a hair loss/breakage if one needs to use breathing aid machine during night 😌
Please keep in mind if you get a Birch mattress for your guest room, to ask your guests if they are allergic to latex. Latex does break down over time, especially in the sun. Like other allergies, some people react even if it’s just in the room.
I had to come back to this video to say that, yes, this definitely does work and I love it! I didn't do it exactly like this cuz I have naturally curly hair and it's thick and gets dried out easily. I didn't powder, I just used my cotton head wraps for the excess oil. But it does work as far as not having to wet your hair and wash it. The only thing is, brushing my hair out means I have to set it in curlers and I got tired of that. I went almost 2 whole months. Once my hair is long again though it'll be cool. I can just do braids or a twist out or wear a bun or updo, more options. Anyway, I will definitely be using this method over winter when it's cold.
I’m the same colour of printer paper, I don’t either. My stupid hair is so fragile, if I washed it daily I’d be bald. And broke, unless I used cold water. Brrrr. 😹
I have a form of alopecia and have had thin and thinning hair for about 15 years. For a long time I didn't really do anything about it and was just embarrassed all the time, but several years ago I discovered the joys of dry shampoo. I generally wear loose hats, but I don't wash my hair that often and whenever I need to wear my hair out of a hat, or even just to add volume when I am wearing hats, I'll do a conditioning and then powder the hell out of it. If I'm using a very light powder and don't want my hair to look so light and powdery I'll do a coat of a tinted dry shampoo like the Batiste Hint of Color (though I do try to avoid it because it's aerosolized and I hate breathing that garbage in). I can't say my hair is the softest or healthiest it's ever been, especially because when I try to cut down on the cost of the dry shampoos I'll opt for a talc-free baby powder, which kind of draws more moisture out of the hair than the dry shampoos do. But if I were more diligent about conditioning beforehand (or pomade, I suppose, as the original technique requires) it probably wouldn't be so bad.
As someone who has scalp psoriasis and therefore has to wash their scalp everyday, I can't imagine applying powder (that could clog my pores), and not washing my hair for a month at a time. That would definitely inflame my psoriasis for sure. I wonder what people with scalp conditions like mine did during this era? Either way, a very interesting topic and video 👍
Most of our modern skin conditions come from our modern diet so I doubt they had those scalp issues back then with no artificial ingredients, fillers, or coloring
Washing your scalp will make it worse. You are stripping oils and then your scalp is hyper-producing them. I had this issue and stopped washing 10 years ago and it's stayed gone. I also changed my diet to a anti-inflammatory one (lazy keto) and my hair has never been better. good luck!
I currently do a version of this and plan on easing into it deeper. I wash my hair monthly and use powder once or twice weekly to avoid oil buildup. Without the pomade any excess powder brushes out and my hair just looks clean.
I used to have very oily hair. I’ve had a month off from work while repairs are being done at my workplace and I used the time to retrain my hair. I stopped washing it daily and weaned down for longer periods of time. My hair regulated itself and after 1.5 weeks of not washing my hair (I bathe every other day) my hair doesn’t over produce oils. Plus my hair is so healthy and my curls came back tenfold. It even started growing more from letting the natural oils do their job.
Stumbled across this- as someone with thin straight hair who values older more natural methods with a general interest/curiosity in everything, really enjoyed this video
It's practically dry shampoo. I love the volume even by just put it in the roots. Really for straight hair it's so nice to have some volume. Only thing I don't like the fact it's a spray...I can smell the toxins each time I use it. I tried an homemade powder and I got some strange confused looks mostly in small offices with super bright light. I just couldn't hide it but everywhere else it was fine. I wish there was a company that could make a proper powered brown dry shampoo.
This is really fascinating, and as a person who hates doing hair I would love to try this. Unfortunately I have super tight curls - to give an example, they curl about the same way as the spring inside a pen. I don't know how European women with very curly hair managed it, but I would love to know and I would love to know what African women used during this time period. I love learning about this kind of stuff. Thanks!
@@ShaareiZoharDaas most black hair salons will be dealing with modern day hair products though. You'd hav to find someone who is specifically into the history of black haircare.
American Duchess actually discussed this in a podcast ( Abby is in it and Cheyney McKnight from "NotYourMommasHistory" (That is also her TH-cam Channel and I cannot recommend it enough). The title of the podcast is: "Episode 23: Cheyney McKnight on African Hair And Headwraps
Human and pup approved! Visit www.birchliving.com/abbycox to get $400 off your Birch mattress plus two free pillows!
I've done a video with the most frequently asked questions in the comments here: th-cam.com/video/dlSTjCuQrMg/w-d-xo.html - please give this a watch!
Stupid money. One day I’ll switch to birch!
What is their obsession with latex though???? Everything else sounds AMAZING, but anaphylaxis is a thing for us with latex allergies.
This was the first TH-cam ad read I havent skipped in a long time.
@@MichiaMakes Because it naturally will degrade and return to the earth when its done, as opposed to remaining in land fills for the next 700 years.
But I also am allergic to latex but hopeful that its contained in a way that won't kill me. Otherwise, I"ll be making an actual mattress stuffed with wool.LOL
Wish it didn't have latex in it. I like a good night's sleep on natural and sustainable products, but I like not having anaphylaxis more
I love it when people prove that people in antiquity were just as smart as we are now, just without the same technology.
for some hairtypes. think this would be horrible for curly hair. 😂
@@wearesurvivorsx
Part of the reason straight hair needs to be brushed or combed so often is to “air it out”, which is less necessary for curly hair.
Yes, and the thing we moderns need to remember is - we didn't invent all this stuff, people from the past did!
I agree!
@@wearesurvivorsx Yup. I would end up with broken hair and horrible frizz.
I remember a book I read as a kid that talked about ladys powdered wigs and how they came in white, grey, and pink. Now I see that, wig or not, the “white” was powdered blonde, the “grey” was powdered dark brown, and the “pink” was powdered auburn or red hair.
Pink is as old as red in usage red had a wider spectrum of shades and tints back thenad a catagory, the modern example of pink, back then, would have been seen as cheap pigment that had faded or the artist scrimping on pigment in the first place, (see Sistine Chapel ceiling)
Reds and blue (Lapis Lazuli) were expensive, it was mass marketing that invented pastels for babies and kids. Babies wore white, pale blue, pale lemon, or pale pink for a time then.
Red went in tint and shade from russet, a rusty red or gold red deep orange or brown to vermilion, which was rare. By modern measurements, Robin Red Breasts and Holly berries are orange, a separate category that didn't exist in common English until sweet oranges were imported as snacks as for theatre goers to supplement oysters and hazel nuts.
Glacé cherries are red, ripe cherries are black.
Omg yes
@@veronica_._._._ I don’t know how old you’re thinking of but in Victorian literature the red of cherries is called…red and robin redbreasts are called…red. Also, I’ve read what we’d consider pink being called rose and it was not considered cheap but rather, youthful.
@@Goldberryvil12 Your questions are conceptual. In the temperate Northern Europe, ,holly berries robin red breasts.ard called red because that is the reddest thing in the natural environment, orange as a concept word was not needed in everyday rural life. Red orange = red back then, why change the name of the bird when it is still a form of red?
(Only stain glass windows and rare paint pigments would be vermilion)
Again, with pigmentsand dyes, pink and pastel colours are cheaper to produce because logically they use less dye stuffs!
How they are cynically sold to the consumer as a concept is from a different conceptual catagory.
It's not how far l'm going back, it's that l'm taking in the full sweep of not just history but geography, lighting, commerce .....
Clue: artificial coal tar dyes changed everything.Do you know when and how that happened?
@@veronica_._._._ You’re confusing language. The word red has referred to things being red since the late 800’s and the word pink has referred to things being pink since the early 1700’s when the flower was named “Pink(s)”.
The use of dyes and pigments has nothing to do with the use of language.
I'm Indigenous and bear fat is still often used in more remote areas of Canada , now it's used mostly as a deep conditioner but really helps to keep braids in place and bear fat is pretty neutral smelling to begin with. West coast natives and further into the interior of the Rockies used Wild Mountain Lilac for scent and if you crush the petals actual forms up to a mild lather, they washed the hair and garments with it. Wonderful stuff ! I've used bear fat my hair once rinsed was baby soft I was seriously impressed and my scalp felt great. Sadly I don't hunt so I have to rely on others within my community now for any sort of wild game. Good topic!
I bet your hair is so shiny too. ✨
What an interesting video, I'd never heard of this before. You know as a black woman, I'm used to oiling my hair as a way to protect it from external elements like wind, sun, and air pollution. So I absolutely understand how Pomade in your hair would encourage healthy hair, and therefore allow for long hair growth. Definitely won't do that powdering thing as I have pretty kinky coily hair, and combing everyday is not the move, but I'm absolutely going to look up nineteenth-century scent profiles to add to my homemade oil recipes. Thanks for all the info!
U dont brush ur hair?
@@oshhsuen9565 when you have curly or afro-texture hair, especially like 4c hair, you can’t brush or comb your hair like you would with thinner, straighter hair because the curls are more fragile and it will break and damage your hair if you comb it out. Finger coiling is a popular thing for people to do so your hair doesn’t get damaged for instance.
@@Boggythefroggy exactly!!
@@oshhsuen9565 also, she said that she does not "comb" her hair. Combing and brushing are not the same...you cannot simply comb through kinky coily hair (unless it has been straightened) without causing damage to the hair. However, there are special brushes made specifically for coily hair.
@@oshhsuen9565 Yes we do brush them but it's better to do it when it's wet cause dry hell nah its the worst and it's more harder to brush them
I love how contrary to what people often think, past folks did have some things figured out. The pomade and powder did make your hair look soft and voluminous. Am I the only one who likes the grayish color it gives hair!
I really love the affect it has on my hair color too...the softness and matte-finish of it all is much prettier than what one would expect!
I totally agree! So many people act like anyone from world war II or earlier was a caveman. And that humans were all rubbing sticks together to make fires until like the 1980s. Like the ancient Romans had air conditioning. They had this water system that basically had cold water pumped in that ran down the walls and under the floors and it kept the villas cool. Like ancient peoples had our exact same brain capacity. We just have more knowledge and learning now but they were still us. They still had the ability to reason and invent and create and most of the things they invented we built off of. The only reason we all live in such comfortable luxury now was because of the things they invented from scratch.
100% agree. I'll watch a documentary about something and sometimes I wanna scream, "just because they didn't have Google doesn't mean they're all idiots!"
@@AbbyCox I think with the trends for young women to dye their hair white or silver and for elderly women to dye lighter gray or white hair a pastel color, usually blue, purple, or pink, pomade and powder would be amazingly suitable to current fashion.
I also think it would be awesome for older ladies who can't get themselves in the shower as often to have a way to safely and effectively clean their hair and get it some more volume.
@@WhitneyDahlin Even cavemen almost certainly weren't as simple as modern humans like to think they were. They were most likely like bushmen in terms of intelligence - plenty smart but with limited knowledge of the world due to lack of exposure.
I've been using this method on my hair for that past 4 months. I'm 58 and have a good bit of gray coming in, so the powder doesn't look weird on me. Nobody even notices, and I like the extra body and volume. Being post-menopausal and having hypothyroidism, my hair should be thinning and breaking off by now, but instead it's thicker and is growing faster than it ever has in my life!
I needed to hear this. I have BALD patches in my head. I'm 33. I have a thyroid condition and I'm over weight, so I am going to try NO POO. ( also going to try weight loss) New ERA. Every like will remind me of my goals 🙏
@@delmarieduvenage I sometimes wash my hair with beaten egg. It really works, no shampoo required. Just put it on your hair as you would shampoo, gently massage it in, then rinse off in WARM NOT HOT water. If you use hot water, you'll end up with a head full of scrambled egg! Leaves your hair baby soft and shiny.
@@sarahcrooks6780 me too, agreed, it makes my hair really soft and clean!
I remember reading a hair dressing manual from the late 18th century that mentioned a few things for if you couldn't afford to pay someone to do your hair (and weren't rich enough for a powdering room) and it was basically "find the least windy spot you can (do it outside), have someone help you, do it upside down a lot of the time, and whatever you do, keep the geese away while you are doing this" (???) Like, sounds like solid advice, but I'm baffled by the geese...
Maybe the geese smell the fat and starch and Go... Mmmmh... Guys, Theres CAKE!
to be fair, you want to keep the geese away regardless of the state of your hair. they have teeth.
Yep and a goose bite really does hurt and can leave you bloodied if bitten 😳
“Keep the geese away” is just good general advice. Not sure what it’s got to do with hair powdering, other than the dangers of standing still outside with your head upside down and/or hair in front of your eyes.
@@scoobysnax Depends on the geese. My parents got attacked by a flock of them before I was born (no serious injuries, just scratches and bruises) and I got chased by an enraged Chinese goose as a second grader but some are pretty chill. There was one goose at a popular goose feeding pond that would basically act as a bouncer and keep the other geese from swarming the people that came to feed them. He could probably be trusted around hair.
I can't help but think this is no different than using dry shampoo. Just a bit more involved with the application. I do love the different techniques of hair care, among other things, but we still have the same problem that we had back then. Affordability.
I was thinking the same thing
Exactly!
I was going to say the same things! Tho it doesn't look good at all with light bangs :')
It's not at all. dry shampoo is really bad for your hair and scalp. this is pretty good in part because it conditions the hair
@@humankaleidoscope4989 I guess you miss the part where I said, "I can't help but think." Not just, "This is just like dry shampoo." Obviously others have thought the same thing. Have a good day. 👍
Not washing my hair was something I'd been meaning to try for a while, then when lockdown happened I did it. The first two weeks were pretty gross (but no one saw me, so whatever) and then my hair was fine - full and bouncy, and has remained so. I use a nice boutique dry shampoo every few weeks, and that is all I need. I do however wash my brush every week. I think that's important. I have friends and family who would tell me if my hair smelled, and so far (six months in) there have been no complaints.
How's it been since then? What type of hair do you have and what dry shampoo do you use?
I developed an allergy to shampoo at one time, doctor said wash in water only. My hair grew 4 inches in a bout 1 1/2 months...
Back to shampoo, but still grows fast.. don't know if there is a relation
I can go a month and that’s it.
Do you just skip the shampoo or just avoid getting it wet?
In the category of realizing something that should be obvious but probably isn't anymore. When you said our homes/bathrooms are not set up for this anymore my brain went *ping!* and thought oh so that is where the term Powder Room came from! I do love the random bits I pick up from your channel.
Also cause women would powder their faces. Really just a lot of powdering going on in there
Omg yeah
@@zamiaramirez1390 a nightmare for an asthmatic haha
Can you use bees wax instead of animal fat?
@@poodlegirl56 Beeswax might be too hard/thick? Something like cocoa or shea butter might work better, but I don't have much experience. It might be more helpful to you yo ask this under her pomade and powder video!
Hi, my great grandmother never wet washed her very long hair, but when she was taken into hospital the nurses wanted to "wash" her hair in the end the surgeon was called and he spoke to her and inspected the hair and agreed that the hair was clean and healthy, I know it was pomaded but she added ash too not sure why.💖
maybe she added ash to make the mixture darker? :) did she have dark hair?
Ash is basic on the PH scale (it is a source of lye), She may have found that to be beneficial in some way.
Ash makes lye. Lye +fat = cleansing agent. Her hair was always fresh and clean.
Ash cleans
Ash absorbs the oil and cleans, i have a pet chinchilla they cant get wet and so u give them dust baths,the dust baths are actually volcanic ash. Thought about trying it on myself.
Hehe, not only is this SUPER COOL and unique, but it reminds me so much of how my chinchillas cannot get wet and instead take dust baths in pumice/volcanic ash…and they are considered the softest animals on earth with the most beautiful fur ♥️♥️♥️ I love dry shampoo…but this is on a whole other level! Thanks! 😍
When you said the creping would last up to a month if you didn't get it wet, I was imagining an 18th century Legally Blonde: "You took a shower? Everyone knows getting your hair wet causes the pomade and powder to clump, and your crepe is still intact"
I kinda want to see that now!
Lol. I thought that immediatly. The rules of hair care are simple and finite!
@@TooSickToDressVictorian Even though it is a silly movie, it does have great moral lessons movies of old once had. When they are funny, sweet, and memorable, they are of even more value. I have a massive music and movie vault and LB 1&2 are there and watched.
Haha exactly the same
@@sheaholloway9537 lol
I usually put flour in my hair when i'm out of dry shampoo. After 20 min (or longer), i just brush it off with a towel and my hair is clean and voluminous. I usually don't talk about it too much though i don't want people to think i'm mad :D
I’ve heard of using cornstarch for blond hair and cocoa for darker hair as well. I’ve used cornstarch in my blond hair. It works well.
@@cherisseepp5332 Yeah, I've experimented with a mix of cornstarch and cocoa power for my very dark brown hair and after you brush it out a bit it's pretty invisible with bonus hair smells like chocolate
i've used scented baby powder before, too. my cologne is usually minty/clean linen/cool water sort of profile, so Gold Bond powder actually complements it really well 👀
I tried washing my hair with rye flour for a couple of months. You'd mix a couple of spoonfulls (depening on hair lenght) with some water to get the consistency of pancake batter, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then massage it into your wet hair. Then wash it out. I also rinsed my hair with about a liter of cold water mixed with two teaspoons of lemon juice. It worked really well, and after a couple of weeks I only had to wash my hair about once a week, and it still looked and felt good. It did, however, clog the drain, so I stopped.
@@miralyse.3846 it sounded so good, I was wondering why you had written it in the past tense. Abby is right: our society is not built to accommodate this type of body care.
A few years ago, I saw another video where you talked about pomade and powder and I started doing a variation on my own hair using the modern wax paste styling product and mineral foundation for the powder. It definitely helped build up the body in my very fine hair. Looking at this video today, I would suggest trying a dark brown mineral foundation to powder your hair and no one would be able to tell.
Can you tell me exactly what you use?
I started to wash my long hair only once every 10 days or so about a year ago and sometimes use dry shampoo in between. My hair got healthier and thicker. But I can't imagine to never get it wet. I sweat a lot when working out and can't imagine not rinsing the sweat out. Plus I love the feeling of hot water on my head, especially on bad days.
THIS!!!!!!!!!
I do mine about every 2 weeks and my hair has gotten way longer and healthier.
how long did it take to notice the difference in your hair?
I also noticed my curly fine hair has gotten longer and healthier once I started washing it once a week versus once every other day (which I used to do). I wanna say it took me around 10 weeks or so that I started to notice the difference. I recently trimmed my hair myself, and I’ve started using hair oil on the ends to help reduce frizz. :) I’m enjoying healthy hair for now.
@@alyssaroyale1031 I can't remember exactly. 2-3 month I think.
I love your attitude towards everything. You're just so frank about it, like "this is the way their society was, this is the way our society is, this made sense then, makes less sense now, but still has its place, it is what it is." It's just a refreshing take to have somebody not be blatantly for or against one technique but just frank and logical about it all.
I think the same. :)
During exam season in college, I didn't have much time to wash and style my hair so I relied on dry shampoo. Once, I ran out and Googled how to make my own. Turns out, you could use baking powder mixed with hot chocolate power (if you had dark hair) to hide the white residue. It worked so well I didn’t wash my hair for a month! Looking back, it seems a bit crazy, but at least my hair smelled nice lol
Been easier and cheaper to wash your hair, then put it in a bun and wear a hat.
Brad mondo needs to see this video. He was wondering how the heck they got their hair to stay and got it so voluminous! He tried teasing it 😁 it was great.
You'd think that history of personal hygiene would be something they teach in cosmetology school
I started using a DIY dry shampoo routine on my hair about a year ago as an experiment after reading The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Beauty. I figured it was worth trying because my hair is fine and greasy, and I struggle using any conventional hair products because I am very sensitive to scents and perfumes.
I powder my hair all over with a mixture of cornstarch and cocoa powder for color, and then brush it out. I found that the cocoa powder lets the powder blend into my hair color. I rub a tiny bit of rose hip seed oil into my hair and reapply the power as needed until my hair washing day. (Conditioner only-it lifts away dead skin cells without stripping my hair oils.)
And my hair looks amazing! I have volume and texture and I can braid and style my hair much more easily. The cocoa powder makes the powder subtly blend in instead of being obviously grey. I'm not using nearly as much powder or conditioning fats in my hair as an 18th century person probably would, but this works for me as a compromise between historical hair care and modern hair aesthetics.
And Abby is right, hair powder is MESSY. My advice is: powder your hair while standing in your bathtub or shower stall, and then you can rinse it out when you're done and not get powder all over the rest of the bathroom.
Love the bathtub tip!
I have the same hair type and I'm very intrigued! Washing my hair a couple less times sounds amazing for my irritable skin and split ends, so I have to ask: pomade yay or nay?
You make it sound like your routine alternates between sole powder and regular hair wash with water and conditioner but not shampoo, can you elaborate on that, please? With maybe how many days in between each treatment? I would love to try it for myself and I'll listen to any advice I can get.
Do you have scalp problems usually?
I do this too! Not powdering as much now (have to find the right ratio for color) but it really does work well on my hair and it's very soft and easy to manage when I do it. And LONG! Holy cow my hair has GROWN SO MUCH! Also, condition only really does help oily scalp/hair balance each other out, esp in the winter. Nice tip on the rose hip seed oil and powdering in the shower, so Thank You.
Ditto! But I’m blonde, no need for the coco. Down to 2 washes a week. Been doing it for 10 years 💕
This was fascinating. You really bring it to life. If only more history teachers in schools were like you.
I dove in and pomaded/powdered my hair just now, on day 8 hair. I’m shocked by how soft and voluminous my hair is!!! I remember you saying the fat and cornstarch just makes ✨magic✨ together and it really does.
I braided it with ribbons to go to sleep (I’m one year into no elastic!) and I’m going to try this method for the next 6 months and report back!
Edit: I kept doing the hair routine for about three more months and loved it. I had no issues except some itching and a spray with a tiny bit of tea tree and peppermint oil in distilled water took away the occasional itch from sweat on my scalp. Usually the hair absorbs the sweat with powder&pomade in it, but on really hot days without AC I would need the spray twice a week. Other than that no issues that I remember. My commitment to zero elastic was amazing and I recommend everyone switch to hair forks, u-pins, hair sticks. Hair sticks are extremely fun to collect also! I had no more breakage along the shaft or split ends with the no elastic method. I also used braids with ribbon and rag curls occasionally. But my favorite hairstyle was a kind of Edwardian Bun held with a big U-pin. OR a classy chignon/french twist.
In July last year I lost my housing and suffered from a stress induced emotional breakdown but I’m recovering and stable now. I shaved my head in August/September last year (2022) and started re-growing it two months ago March 2023.
I’m going to continue with this method again and report back next year!❤
How is the no elastic going? I’ve considered trying it. I use really soft scrunchies so it doesn’t pull/squish my hair too bad but I feel like ribbon would be neat to try. Any suggestions for material of the ribbon?
@@LK-ir2pg I started using recycled nylon hairties from kitch! I want to stop using elastics for environmental reasons because elastic is derived from oil.
What is it like when you get sweaty
My hair gets very greasy looking and brittle when I don’t wash it. The longest I can be without washing it is 4 days.
@@jesicadelfin1099 from what I've heard, hair gets greasy from over-producing oil because it's compensating for being washed all the time.
Cheap shampoos can dry out our hair, which makes our head make extra oil. So we wash it again, which requires more shampoo and the cycle continues. Using more shampoo is great for the shampoo company's profits.
I've started to experiment with different types of shampoo that won't dry my hair out. I'm now up to 7 days without needing a wash and I have slightly wavy 1b hair.
I came here to be scandalized about your hair, and now I’m in love with this channel and am knee-deep into a binge of your videos.
Lol! Same!
Me too!
This gave me a great idea how to care for my waist length care after my major back surgery in a few days. I probably won't be able to shower for several months after surgery so thank you very much!!
This is so cool! Now I know why the restroom is still called the “powder room” some times. Very interesting!🥰
To powder your face!
@@sarajones4786 obviously… but apparently there’s a lot more to it that I never knew before. 👍
i always heard 'im going to step to the powder room and powder my nose' or powder my face etc and always assumed it was cocaine
@@noonecares7397 women used to carry a ”powder compact” to freshen up their makeup. It had nothing to do with drugs of any kind.
In Italy we say "vado ad incipriarmi il naso! " = "I go to powder my nose" 😂
@4:06 Abby: "This hair care process and technique is ideal for really fine, thin hair on the kinda oily side." Me: "Is my video on??? Can she see me???" Kidding aside, I will be working from home for the near (maybe far) future. It seems like a good time to pomade and powder. Thank you, Abby; I really enjoyed the video. I hope that the move is going well.
Same! My sister and I have really fine and sparse hair, and my sister gets oil really fast. I guess our ancestors would really have benefited from it.
I have really really fine hair, like baby fine hair, and used to have so many issues with greasy hair until I stopped washing it as often. Once a day = greasy every day. Reduced it slowly to every other day, then longer and longer until now where I tend to wash it (with an SLS/SLES and paraben free shower gel/shampoo I get custom made) once per month and then its only my scalp. I don't apply it to the lengths at all. Sometimes it ends up being closer to two months. When I first started some of it was due to mental health issues (meaning the not washing it was just not being able to cope with anything that involved leaving my bed) but more recently I noticed how many benefits I got from not stripping it of the natural oils. Whereas before if I went a few days without washing my hair it might start to smell a little, now it doesn't. I've had people compliment how my hair looks, not knowing that its like week 3 of not having washed it. My oil production slowed right down to a very manageable level and brushing it is enough to distribute the oils through the lengths meaning I don't even need to condition it as often any more either. Every now and then I use some olive oil with lavender oil mixed in so it doesn't smell of yucky olive oil, and just apply that to the tips. Then a few hours later I have a bath and wash my scalp, and that's it. Kinda simple process really.
@@AlexaFaie I recommend checking out the Pretty Shepard's channel. She washes her long hair once of month. She has a very interesting routine. I have worked at home since the start of the pandemic. I went from once-a-day shampooing to every few days. My daily cleaning stripped too much oil out of my hair. Every few days was kinder on my hair. It sounds like we should all be kinder to ourselves and our hair.
I haven’t washed my hair for about 5 years. I think I get a lot more body from just rinsing it with water and occasionally using a hair powder on the roots. I use olive oil on the ends before my shower.
@@AlexaFaie I tried not washing mine for a couple months over the pandemic, and it just got dirtier and oiler, lol. I tried using baby powder, which made it look fantastic. Down side was I ended up with an oily paste mixture on my scalp that I couldn't brush out. I loved the volume, but I guess it just wasn't for me. Now I am trying to be eco friendly by using bar shampoo instead of plastic bottles with chemicals.
I have no interest in ever doing this to my hair, but I just watched your video (including the ad!) with so much glee. You just rock, sister.💕
genuinely might have to try this bc i wear hijab and dont wash my hair often, but the grease can make my skin worse, so kinda seems like ppl in the 18th century knew what i needed lol. also thank u for putting the certifications for the mattress in the video so many ppl make those claims with no evidence oml
Plant fibre hijabs (especially linen), changed frequently, can also help, at least according to people in Tudor England (though they obviously didn’t use the word “hijab”).
If Victorian England was obsessed with soap, Tudor England was even more so with clean linen.
just careful i think it uses pig fat
When making your pomade just choose an appropriate animal fat.
@@saritshull3909 I think I remember hearing that beef fat works, too, so that could be a good alternative.
I'm wearing satin tichels (Jewish head covering) and using a hair oil right now and discovering a bit of that myself. I like the oily effect, I think it's really helping my hair, and it's not like people are seeing it, but I'm definitely thinking about trying a dark colored powder.
I don’t think this would work well for me because I have naturally thick, curly hair. I can’t really comb my hair regularly or easily. But it’s definitely interesting to learn about the theory behind this. It would be super cool if they started using this method in 18th century period pieces.
I've powdered and pomaded a lot of different hair types, and it has an interesting effect on curly hair (like 3a) where the powder weighs down the curl and it can become wavy. But, it does change depending on your hair texture. I just remember being really fascinated with how the powder weighed down my friend's hair. He also had it cut in an 18th century mullet and when we combed it out, he looked like a 17th century dude with a periwig....which explained a lot about 17th century men's hairstyles. 😂
I also have thick and curly hair, i'd like to do these methods but if i comb everyday, it will ruin my curls
@@AbbyCox that honestly makes sense, especially with type 3 curls. A lot of products that people with type 3 curls use, especially 3A, are designed to be super lightweight because that curl type tends to be easily weighed down and lose its shape if there’s too much product. There’s other factors as well that may influence how the hair reacts to heavy product, but it’s usually a general rule of thumb to avoid applying too much product to type 3 curls.
@@AbbyCox so this comment just made me want to try this method even more lol
My hair has ALL the type 3 curls and I'm a sucker for volume and frizz, so I'm always trying to get my curls to be more open adn wave-like. Anything that weighs down the curls but still manages to give the hair some volume is a win for me.
Excuse me while I spend the next few hours looking up some plant-based options over here.
I have 4c hair, so not washing a lot is common for me. It's the powder and combing that would kill me lmao unless it's wet, it's not getting combed.
Edit: Also, looking at later hairstyles of the 18th century, I wouldn't really need the creping techniques, as my hair naturally looks that way with a simple light brushing.
Thank you for this video, but the reason why pomade and powder make hair fluffier is due to all the build-up, which doesn't sound like a great ongoing routine to me, more like a way of reducing hair washes (which is always great!). I used to wash my hair every day over a decade ago and then decided to switch to a once or twice per week washing routine. My hair was incredibly oily at first as I was reducing washes, but then my scalp was producing less and less oils. I even bleach my hair nowadays but it's still very healthy because I only wash it twice/week MAX.
I wouldn't recommend this as a hygiene routine, it could damage your scalp and hair follicles in the long run due to constant build-up (suffocating the hair and scalp) which combs wouldn't necessarily help with. I don't think the answer to anything is ever black and white, more in the middle. I believe it's great to sometimes give your hair a deep wash and get rid of all the dead skin, bacteria, and other types of build-up, while making sure you don't overwash it, as that could be very damaging indeed (not only to the environment, but also your scalp as you're constantly stripping away its natural oils). My advice to anyone would be to strive for balance. There is no magical solution to health.
Good points!
I tried hair training for 8 months. It didn't work.
I agree. I used to wash my hair every day now I wash it twice a week and I feel it's growing a lot longer than when I used to wash it every day.
I had no real interest in this and thought theres no way ill get through the whole video but this story telling was so interesting and well done i was hooked till the end
I feel like dry shampoo is kinda our modern equivalent, I have trained my hair not to get oily as quickly with use of dry shampoo and washing it less often.
That was so interesting:). I kind of powder my hair occasionally lol I make a “dry shampoo” with cornstarch, coco powder (since i have dark hair) and a drop or two of peppermint essential oil. I apply it to my roots with an old makeup brush. It give a lot of volume and makes my hair look and smell great between washes:)
No buildup as a result of it?
@@ijustwannacommentnotmyreal9814 yes there is build up between washes but you don’t have to use much and it washed out easily. I use a very gentle shampoo and my hair and scalp always feel very clean after. I have since found an unscented dry shampoo which i use occasionally to give my hair more volume and texture without the lightening effect of the powder mixture. Im very sensitive to fragrance which is why initially switched to my homemade version.
@@songangel15 wow thats nice ❤ is it the batiste dry shampoo u found?
@@ijustwannacommentnotmyreal9814 yep :)
@@songangel15 great 🥰 unfortunately it leaves me with some buildup sometimes, and gets itchy after a few hours, but the volume is soo amazing
I love finding out that past generations had some things figured out better than us. We shower & wash our hair way too much its true! I've gone a month without washing my hair once. A lot of talc free baby powder
I only wash my hair every two weeks without any problems, if I’m not exercising or sweating much. I also only use dry shampoo once or twice at most between each wash. By the way, we all know that dry shampoo is mostly starch or some other oil-absorbing powder plus fragrance, right?
You could also add a few drops of essential oil to the powder for a nice lightly scented version!
I already washed only 2x a week but recently bought a dry shampoo on sale. Now I'm experimenting with washing once a week and using dry shampoo instead of washing a second time. I want to try to extend that period and see what happens. I calculated using dry shampoo also saves me water bc I take shorter showers so it's a win win.
Cool! I'm going a month w/out washing now, and attempt the brush two times a day tho ngl i see my hair differently now (whether brushed or not) so since endemic has me home alot imo i just don't need to brush every day. 1920s scarf-turban to the rescue when i need out those days gldnxogndmf
For the record i take bath, srlly clumsy (and risky ^^") to shower in my apartement. Also use a boar brush, altho horse brush would be preferred bc more humane...
Straight up corn starch is awesome for knots and adds silkiness. It brushes away with little residue. It works well on curly hair and is safe for your poodle mix.
cool!
Do bugs go after it?
I been skipping a day or 2 not washing and dry shampoo. My hair is still very oily. It's thin so the oils make it worse. Then I read too much oils causes blockage for hair to grow and then causes hair loss. I've washed hair every day and I've done months of washing every couple of days. Only difference my hair is oilier. and I still have hair loss. Feel like nothing will work. So my question... corn starch work better than dry shampoo? Does it cause build up and leave flakes?
@@erinrose1016 When I was trying to wash my hair every other day (it was quite long and my hair really doesn't thin out as it grows, so it took FOREVER to dry) I put cornstarch on my hair in the most oily spots before bed and brushed it out in the morning. It didn't brush out nicely if I tried applying it in the morning, and I think it was more effective when I let it sit in my hair longer. If you use a brush with tighter bristles, like boar bristle, it comes out quite well and doesn't build up badly. I have issues with dead skin building up on my scalp and that's one reason I never went longer than 2 days without washing. It wasn't just the oily hair, it was that my scalp started to feel awful, but I have had issues with oily dandruff my whole life, so that's part of it. In short, give cornstarch a try, but apply it at least a couple of hours before you want to be presentable.
@@angiebee2225 so I have tried corn starch and it works great but I see why though why you recommend using it at bedtime lol
I personally think it works better than dry shampoo 🙂 thank you !
I had to shampoo my hair last week for the first time in almost a year, and it’s been horrible to work with. It has no body, my combs and elastics don’t hold, it just lies there. I’ve been brushing it twice daily like I always do and it’s finally getting some life back after 8 days.
Pomade and powder are definitely the way I prefer, I’m so glad I came across a reference to your experiment several years ago.
How do you usually wash your hair? Or literally you didn't wash it with anything for 1 year
If you look at the composition of the modern dry shampoo, it's the modern version of 18e century pomade and powder, the one I use contains rice starch and Avena kernel oil. I may one day jump and try to make my own.
Basic ingredients for a vegan pomade right there.
So I've got this book about what to do in case of "apocalypse", how to get back some of the things that took society hundreds or thousands of years to learn, invent, achieve, etc. It teaches to make soap, for example, but there's some pages for notes and I'm adding the pomade and powder recipes to it. I promise I'm not a survivalist freak, it's more of a scientific and philosophical exercise. Also I'd be dead pretty quick if the zombies came.
That sounds so interesting. I “accidentally” bought a bunch of random journals from Denik over holiday and now I think I know what I’m turning one of them into. So glad I came to the comment section for inspiration and found this absolute gem 💎
Oh! The possibilities ❤️❤️❤️
This reminds me of House of Many Ways, which has a very bookish protagonist who realizes that nothing she's read explains how to do simple, practical things like housework, laundry, and cooking.
Can you please share the name of the book?
I’ve sometimes considered a similar thought exercise, too, along the lines of, “if I was thrown back in time 150 years, what modern conveniences could I reproduce?” Not a lot, as it turns out. Electricity? Penicillin? Telephone/telegraph? I have only a vague idea of how those work. I certainly couldn’t reproduce them from scratch.
I would also like to know the name of the book
Didn't expect to find this as fascinating as much as I do! It's beautiful what someone can create out of their life by sheer dedication!
I've realised I am accidentally doing this a lot of the time. I wash my hair with modern shampoo/conditioner once per week, and in between I use a dry shampoo of cornflour and cocoa powder. I often use hemp oil too...after seeing you do it for longer I might try it more!
I didn't wash my hair for seven years.
It started as an experiment and it was horrible and greasy for around 21 weeks, I scraped it back into a ponytail and hoped people would think it was gelled (ha ha!). Around week 22 people started asking me when I started washing it again - and I hadn't. It was in the best and most managable condition it's ever been for those seven years.
My My comb needed washing daily, and my brush neeeded washing every few days, because that's where the dirt and grease was going. But my hair was fabulous.... Then I got dandrudff and had to wash it to treat the dandruff... and that was the end of the experiment. I wasn't going through 22 weeks of grease again.
The less often you strip the natural oils, the less oil your scalp produces.
Hilariously, this is something I did on purpose knowing there would be the "detoxing" portion of the hair "rehab". I've been trying to restore my natural curls since Pandemic started and they're a good halfway there - but yeah, that first month is pretty awful for the itchies and shit. My scalp and hair NOW have never been better though and I can finally wash my hair the amount that is healthy for it (1x a week, roughly - note I OF COURSE shower regularly, and use shower caps, for those reading who haven't tried this before... lol).
My hair gets greasy and dirty slower, stays soft and fluffy/touchable longer, scalp produces less debris, etc, etc. Hair is even less snarly and prone to knots and tangles! Of course, in addition to scaling back washes to 1x a week and CO-washes or low/no-poo washes, I've added in some leave-ins for curly rehab help and reserved my "deep washes" for 1x a month (thats when the dandruff shampoo/tea tree shampoo gets used)...
No all I can say is that the mainstream ideas of how to handle and care for your scalp and hair are all FUBAR. It's different depending on your hair and skin types, and 100% better for your scalp to alternate washing with co-wash or low/no-poo "shampoos". Up the moisture, add a leave in, wash it less often with chemicals and comb with fingers or wide-tooth wooden comb at least 1x a day, if you have thick 2c-3a hair. That's my method! :)
@@bakaichigo {nods}, I only wash my hair once a week since the no-wash-for-seven-years ended. It doesn't grease up like it used to, it's in better condition, and it's curly - it was never more than wavy before.
@@teddy-3765 That's pretty much what I found too - I knew my hair was SUPPOSED to be curly more than wavy, but had no idea how MUCH curl I had lost with the over-washing all those years. I used to have hair like Shirley Temple - pray for me/send good vibes that my hair recovers that :'D
Hope your hair journey keeps improving too! :)
@@bakaichigo Good luck retrieving those Shirly Temple curls! I never knew mine was curly, but always longed for curly hair, so it was great when it started curling if I let it dry naturally.
Being someone with fair skin, and light hair/ eyebrows. I definitely relate to adding color back in my face or I look, odd dimensioned in my opinion. always felt that way about it even when I was a child particularly in pictures as the flash would wash my eye brows out & I’d look like an alien. now I know what it is particularly haha. Loved the video !!!!
Can we acknowledge the incredible editing and historical research of this video !!! Not to mention how witty, charming and hilarious Abby is. Excellent video 👌👌👌
I want to thank you for these videos of 18th century hair care. I used the powder and pomade technique on my daughter for our recent production of Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella (which as the production designer I kept us as accurate to the 18th century as I possibly could), my daughter had dyed her hair in shades of blue and green for the school year and I was concerned about hiding it and she couldn't wear a wig with the amount of dancing she was doing, so after watching MANY of your videos I decided that doing the pomade and powder would be our best option and would make styling her finer hair 100x easier. Which it did and since blue was a common dye in their powders in the 18th century, her blue hair worked out. Wish I could send you a picture of how she looked, especially in her ballgown. Thanks Abby for the inspiration and the guide for a fantastic show!
Oh I'd love to see this!
This is a wonderful theater trick that I’m going to have remember for next time a student dyes their hair some wild color a week before show!
Load a video to your page your daughter can do it haha
This is fascinating! As a hairstylist/cosmetologist, I have a recipe to modernize. Shampoo & blow dry. Immediately after the blow dry go through the whole head with dry shampoo at the scalp. Use a quarter size of Morrocan oil and apply from mid-strand to ends. It’s a dry oil and will dry down. Once dry, use a light texture spray or light hairspray. Take a bore bristle brush, brush from scalp to ends. Your “clean” hair will last at least 1 week+.
you can brush your hair after all that? I always thought brushing after hair spray was a no-no
I've had to stop dry shampoo it was causing hair loss.
I've occasionally used homemade "airing powders" on my hair without the pomade and they've worked really well. They absorb the excess sebum in oily hair very well, and the grippy texture they give (without fostering tangles) makes old fashioned updos a lot easier to achieve.
Thank you for helping normalize alternative hair care. Some people freak out in disbelief when they hear how a daily detergent shampoo isn't necessary to have clean and healthy scalp and hair. (The freakout tells me more about them and their limited experience than anything, but still.)
I once commented under a video of a dermatologist. She said that it was not necessary to use soap all over your body, just on the parts that were stinky. I commented that I do the same since I work from home. But I can understand that people feel the need to soap up their whole body when they have different jobs. That was honestly the first time in my life when I got cyber bullied. So many people called me names and said I was nasty. They wrote long paragraphs. One said that I should use soap on my arms since my forarms were touching my desk which is full of bacteria?! One asked if it was my kink to be dirty?! It was crazy. People were so aggressive about the whole topic for no reason.
@@johanna2690 Wow, that's extreme. What a horrible experience, and I'm not surprised. The nasty comments probably came from people who do things like wipe their mouths on dishtowels (I've seen it firsthand). They use one kitchen sponge to wipe everything - dishes, counters, spills on the floor, the sink - and think nothing of it. They wear street shoes indoors. They never clean their keyboard.
I witness so many people using genuinely bad practices when it comes to spreading illness and cross contamination. Then they get irrationally upset when someone doesn't use a specific brand of sanitizing body wash. They have zero common sense nor any knowledge of microbiology nor epidemiology.
I've had instances before where my hair was just...disgustingly greasy, or I had started to do a hot oil treatment and then realized I had to be SEEN in PUBLIC in the next 30 minutes, and emptied like half a can of dry shampoo into it in a panic.
It's probably not EXACTLY the same, but I am familiar with a lot of the stuff you're talking about-- the strange soft, malleable texture, the need to comb the ever-loving-crap out of it if you don't want the powder to make your scalp itchy. The washing out is probably slightly easier, especially since I didn't powder repeatedly, but it still required more work than usual.
ALL THIS LONGWINDED RAMBLING IS TO SAY, if people want to get an /idea/ of this method without going all out on the historically accurate products, grab thyself a heavy oil (extra virgin olive, jojoba, castor, argan, etc), a comb, and some cheap dry shampoo and give it a whirl!
When I was younger and had a bad grease day but had to leave the house before I could shower I would use baby powder and brushed it out.
Fun fact! My grandma showed me a trick that instead of dry shampoo, just use regular face powder, and it does the same thing!
A lot of brands still make hair powders. They are usually marketed as volumizing powders but they do essentially the same job as dry shampoo and produce that malleable texture.
So could I just use baby powder and comb it through my hair??? I have fine hair and want to try this technique.
@@EdgyIntellect
You probably have some kind of starch in your kitchen, right? Just use that.
I started loosing my hair in 2019. I stopped perming my hair, I also stopped using conditioner and stopped washing it every day.
I use a low shampoo, meaning that it has fewer ingredients and put Peppermint oil and Rosemary oil in it. Those oils promote hair growth for women.
I have gone 7 days without washing it. My family will complain then I wash just once. My natural oils have kicked in and have softened my hair. I have kept this practice up until the present. My hair has grown back .
I’m in my 60s I have very thick hair and when my hair gets oily underneath we were taught to prouder our hair/scalp. It’s works and feels clean again. Less damage from Constant washing. Great video:)
What do you powder it with?
Think of how much sparkling, pristine, potable water we use in shampooing our hair.
Imagine not killing animals for your hair and the water consumption used to raise those animals. I’m not vegan, just pointing it out.
@@Ellzy1 The fat for pomade is a by-product of the animals raised for food, if you eat meat anyway then just think of it as using something that would otherwise go to waste. For vegans or vegetarians then obviously that's a different story.
@@Ellzy1 I'm vegan and I appreciate your honesty
@@MsStBoom that's not true. If you create a demand for a product, you are asking for more animals to be killed. Supply and demand. You'd be surprised at animals being literally "thrown away" when they are only needed for one to two things. The animal industry isn't interested in "using all the parts." They are interested in making money and profit.
@@JRNarian So we're talking about the parts that are currently being thrown away, yes? So creating a demand will stop those currently unused parts from being thrown away because they are now worth something?
Although, honestly, I was thinking on a micro-scale - somebody doing this in their kitchen on a personal use basis. Let's be real, this isn't a practice that the majority of people are going to re-adopt any time soon
I literally haven't bought hair products for years. I just let my hair go through the greasy stage and it balances into being just a tad les shiny than it was when I washed it every day. If I do some dirty gardening and splash mud around or whatever, I rinse my hair with water. My hair was typically a bit oily and a bit dry on the tips and it is awesome to see it is actually beautiful and healthy without any haircare routine except for brushing it each morning. People often compliment me on my hair. I am so happy to not be wasting money and plastic and all the stuff I used to use. Try it!
I read Ruth Goldman's "How to be a Victorian" and she discussed how they combed their hair and often used a dry wash cloth to rub the body twice a day. I tried it for a while. It was a real eye opener.
I still try to do the combing daily and wash hair less. Scalp is less itchy, no dandruff. It works.
I'm currently reading her "How to Be A Tudor" book.
Oh I ADORE Ruth!
The dry washcloth was more of a Tudor technique than a Victorian one - by the Victorian era they were becoming more and more obsessed with soap. Tudor era English people were no less obsessed with cleanliness than their Victorian era descendants, however, they just had different methods to achieve it.
Goodman* :)
@@ragnkja Ruth Goodman looks at the breadth of the Victorian Era in that book, which is quite long, so she goes into the Victorians, and really those living in the city, loving soap once industrialization makes broader consumerism and advertising possible, as well as the introduction of plumbing, in the latter part of the 19th century. You should give her book a look, she really is quite thorough in talking about how the city versus the country lived, from the 1830s to the 1890s, and from gender to age differences. She even talks about her experiences using 19th century dental hygiene routines! and mint was not the flavor they associated with a clean mouth but cardamom! You should also take a look at her series on the BBC called The Victorian Farm where she and two archaeologists live on a typical Victorian Farm for a year, it's really fascinating and detailed. You can find the episodes on TH-cam actually!
I love your descriptions of positive views on the actual processes (make up, hygiene, clothes etc) of the 18th century. I am an historian and so much of our view is influenced by those whose opinion was considered worth keeping (men) and I love your take on this!!
Oooooh this makes so much sense. I have such fine, oily hair, I have wondered what I would do without being able to shower every day, what someone like me would've done in the past. This is fascinating
I mean, I basically do this all the time. I use cornstarch as dry shampoo in between shampoos (which I do as little as possible because of my hair dye). It really absorbs oil and prevents that greasy texture. I just apply it to dirty hair like you did the powder and skip the pomade step, then brush through until it's mostly invisible. It does make my hair a little lighter in color but not to a weird extent like yours does. (Not that that's bad, it's just not a modern look.) I also have extremely fine hair and when I do this my hair is WAY more styleable because it holds it's shape better.
How much cornstarch do you apply? I have thin fine hair and I been skipping a.day or two before I wash for few months now and nothing changes. My hair still gets oily less than 24 hours later after a wash. Even dry shampoo doesn't help much.
@@erinrose1016 it's my issue too. The morning after maybe I could go with dry shampoo, but as noon comes it's DISGUSTING.
I have short thick wavy hair and for a very long time I’ve only been washing my hair with water and a vigorous scrubbing, then putting beeswax with a bit of cocoa butter and jojoba oil mixed in as it dries. Then I powder it - not enough to make it look pale, but enough to absorb any extra beeswax mixture. It’s the best my hair has ever been and I get lots of complements. So I get why this hair care routine was a thing! I love it.
great editing, not what i expected from a hair video- but honestly i got a good laugh and was well informed! you got a subscriber out of me :D
Omg when the quail have their wee tiny babies and they follow the momma around in a little line it is theee most adorable thing!! 💕
Shout out to Colonial Williamsburg! I worked there for four years while in Jr High and High School as part of the newly launched Junior Apprentice program. It was one of the best experiences of my life, though I can't claim that the clothes were particularly comfortable. They were beautiful, though and watching the process they went through to fit each apprentice and to remain true to what they knew about styles and fabrics was fascinating. They had a box of scraps by the door, and I still have some in my "make a memory quilt someday box."
You do a great job and are very informative and fun. I think I want a Birch mattress now, too. Very convincing!
When you were saying how this is good for fine, thin hair that gets greasy fast, it suddenly clicked for me why I love dry shampoo so much 😌. Dry shampoo really makes my hair look healthier and a bit thicker.
Do you find it makes your scalp break out? Doing a survey, lol. Also, do you use just dry shampoo or baby powder/ talc of some sort?
Same here!
I have the same hair type and every dry shampoo just makes it look wayyy worse :(
Daily use, though, of dry shampoo is actually not good for it. If you think about it, you're leaving out the pomade part of the equation. It can end up breaking it off near the root, especially if you're rubbing it in vigorously. I have tried it a couple of times and really don't like how it looks or feels.
⚠️Be very careful!! A recent study found that dry shampoo contain carcenegens that cause cancer.🥺😢
Great video! I'm in my 50's and have been using baby powder as a dry shampoo for most of my life. It's sort of a version of this. However, I just put the powder in at night, usually, and I wake up to fluffy hair in the morning. The powder absorbs all the oil during the night. It does leave a grey cast to the hair, though. I have fine, thin hair.
doesnt baby powder cause cancer though
@@Goldenretriever-k8m Baby powders are no longer made with talcum powder, so they are safe
@@Goldenretriever-k8m talc causes cancer so just be sure to get a baby powder without.Should be most of not all brands.
Everything cause cancer nowadays
@@tiredfella it's still made with talcum, at least some brands.
That mattress looks amazing. I live in NZ and I’m all for supporting our wool 🤍🤍
Well, after seeing you try the menstrual apron thingy, I’m not at all surprised at hearing you experiment wit pomaded and powdered hair. With my super dry hair and skin I want to dip my whole body into a vat of olive oil. However, I am following the lead of The Pretty Shepherdess and only washing my hair once a month while keeping it braided and confined. This is working very well and is longer that it has ever been in my life. I don’t think I have the genes to grow super long hair like Morgan D. ( pre haircut) or our Shepherd friend but I’m happy that it is bra-length in back. I’ve looked at 1860’s cosmetics in an old medical book I have. Of course it also suggests packing the cervix with cocaine to cure morning sickness but what the heck… .
Sounds like you need to take the advice in that book _addito salis grano._
It can take up to five years to find out how long your hair is capable of growing, since the growth cycle of human hair tends to be 3-5 years.
@@ragnkja I've heard that the growth cycle is 7-10 years, and that tracks with my own experience of growing my hair from chin length to as long as it'll go.
packing my cervix with cocaine sounds like a helluva time. i started no shampoo and using a lotion-like conditioner and i swear my hair has never been healthier.
I'm following the Pretty Shepherd's method too, and in 3 lonths my hair grew over 3". I've never seen so much quick growth before, and I'm only putting 9 days between washes.
Same. The pretty shepherd’s hair video has completely changed my hair care routine and it’s healthier than it has ever been. It’s down to the mid butt by now and I’m trying to see how long I can grow it
Request: please create a detailed video of how to do this from start to finish to start (like if you were going from zero to pom and pow to maintenance back to fresh pom and pow look), and how to manage this type of hair in terms of how to sleep and have your head around furniture without leaving your mark everywhere. This video is amazing because it covers so much history and is sprinkled with great sass, but
I would love to try this technique for long-term use as part of lifestyle. Also, your pom-cooking video goes over the hard pom, but I can't understand how that would be applied.
She has a book about it, seems)
When an old method works just as well as a new one we shouldn’t question the process if the results are still amazing. Great video!
Because of your previous videos on the subject, I’ve honestly considered it during our current plague times, but lack a place I wouldn’t make an enormous mess…well, in the wintertime, anyway. I’d look like I had a gray Brillo Pad on my head, but it’d feel luscious! (Very thick, and curly)
Hoping your move goes smoothly and efficiently, and you get settled in your next home before you know it. I don’t think moving is ever a piece of cake, but some are definitely easier than others; so, here’s to having an easier one with outstanding movers.
I’m right there with you on the wool bandwagon!! In my opinion, there are two perfect fibers on earth, wool and flax. There are several strong second stringers, but none as varied and incredibly useful as wool. I’m a nearly lifelong knitter and crocheter, but I just took the plunge into spinning this last week!! I’m all thumbs and my singles are beyond ugly, and it’s just the best thing EVER! 😁🥰🥳
When I've done it on curly hair, the powder can actually weigh down the curls to turn them into waves, plus the extra moisture for curls is never a bad thing!
@@AbbyCox So true!! I might just have to do it. Thank you! 😍
I’ve been kitting and spinning since 1995… I find that careful fiber prep is really the key. I use a cat brush to open the individual locs (time consuming with merino, that’s for sure) first brushing the tips then the cut ends, leaving them open in a fan shape (tips at the pointy end). I stack them on top of each other in rows and it becomes very easy to draft an even amount of fiber from each piece.
Once you find the method, you’ll be in good shape. At some point, invest in a good set of wool tongs so you can do worsted spinning, too. Cheers!
Spinning is awesome fun! It gets better!! 💞
Didn't wash my hair for a month (dry shampoo only), never received more compliments on how great it looked. This solves the lack of conditioning problem I ran into.
I can't even imagine the amount of buildup that's on your scalp.
My hair dresser told me to only wash my hair once a week and that was crazy to me. I’m a blonde who’s going platinum very slowly and it’s not recommend to wash my hair so often. I go to the gym and workout a lot so a week is the most that I can do and that’s using a ton of dry shampoo.
be careful not to go *too* long between cleanings, though. i knew a girl who almost exclusively used dry shampoo and while her hair was absolutely GORGEOUS it always just smelled kinda bad like skin oil mixed with whatever fragrance was in the dry shampoo. personally, when i used to have long hair, i used a gentle shampoo every few days on JUST the scalp
omg what is your last name??
@@possumprince oh yeah gross… absolutely not. I can’t stand it when my hair is greasy idk how someone can go longer than a couple of days without washing.😅
this video has been continually recommended to me probably since it was posted. I finally gave in and watched and wasn't disappointed. now I wanna try it for my soft fine hair
I’m not sure I could do this, I already hate the feeling of dry shampoo on my scalp. Powders in my hair set off my sensory issues so badly. But I also dye it bright red and wouldn’t want it to be faded by the powder anyway so it probably isn’t meant to work for me anyway 😂
Ooooohhh my word yes. I shampoo and lightly condition my hair, and I dont even use hair spray unless it's up out of my face and I know I'll wash it rhe next morning. I tried dry shampoo and I just couldn't. And I can't stand greasy hair touching my face- the fear of acne is real
Oooh. I wonder if this would protect birght colors from fully fading, like give them a gray tone. Google rabbit hole ensuing
With you, absolutely -- I have fine, very thick hair and found dry shampoo just unbearable. Couldn't get it wet-shampooed out of there fast enough.
Yeah. And somehow even with all that uncomfortable powder my bangs still got oily in 5 minutes. I think dry shampoo and those powder techniques don't work for people with mixed race weird hair (I'm castiza and my individual strands are thin and frizzy but I have so many that my overall head of hair is pretty thick).
Yes this I hate the feel 😂
I remember this one morning where I ran out of dry shampoo and was in a hurry. So i thought flour might work just as fine. And not gonna lie I did it more often since then and it DOES work. The only problem was that the first time I did it was raining outside and when I arrived at work I looked like a complete Idiot because the flour had all gotten wet and dried up. 😂
oh no 😂 feel this. i'm sorry but glad you laugh bout' it ❤
I recall a letter from an American Revolution aide de camp to his father saying he was out of hair powder, to which his father replied to just use flour. Maybe a joke depending on rations at the time but contextually flour could totally work!
Just make sure to bake your flour beforehand, because raw flour can have e coli in it!
Bruh 💀 then what happened?? U went to work like that??
Cornstarch is way better!
Due to the benzene recall, I've made my own dry shampoo from cornstarch, bentonite clay, and cocoa powder. It's perfection and lasts days. I powder my hair! P. S. I have a very oily scalp.
Can you drop the recipe? 😅
I very rarely wash my hair, it’s great to see this, I really want to learn to powder my hair so this is super helpful.
How long can you go? A month? 3? A year?
Is there anything else you do lifestylewisr that is liberating in that it deviates from cultural tyranny and DOESN'T create the supposed hortible ill effects we're warned of??
Thank you! 🙌🏻👍🤗😁‼
Mom used to go to the "hairdresser" every Tuesday. Every single Tuesday. Without fail. The hair was washed, put up in curlers, dried in a huge contraption, "combed out", teased a LOT, and styled. The hair was then heavily, relentlessly sprayed -with Aqua Net! This creation would look pristine for the required week. Every week. Then, one day, she had it washed and blown dry and never looked back.
I remember those days! My mom had a perm, though, so she had the helmet hair from the salon only when she had it cut. I used to love going with her when I was little.
My mom's day was Friday. Finally after about 40 years she started washing and putting curlers in more often than once a week. Yeah, I remember the cloud of Aqua Net when she sprayed it!
Omg...my Mom too! The Exact Same Thing, down to the Aqua Net hairspray,
( a lot of it!). She would wear a light blue satin kind of shower cap thing to bed every night to help the "do" last, and to keep all that stuff off the pillow case.
( I wonder what my Dad thought? Lol)
I "shampoo set" my 80yr old grandmother's hair like this every week and she has had pretty much the same helmet hair since before I was born.
Do you remember that smell of 1970' s perming lotion ? If was like bad eggs mixed with strong cheap perfume 😂
I used to live in williamsburg, honestly might go back there just to learn blacksmithing or any of the other craftsman trades there. I always appreciated how dedicated everyone was to their jobs
The water consuption thing really stuck with me. We should really consider more sustainable routines
It definitely flipped a switch for me too.
Considering how you don’t want pomaded and powdered hair to get wet, the places where such a hair-care routine makes most sense are almost exactly the same places where you want to conserve water by not using it to wash your hair.
That's a good point about the water. If every drop if water is saved this would save even more.
As someone with allergies and smell sensitivities, I can't try this😕
My town is in a severe drought. I have been washing my hair as little as possible. I'm glad to know about this option for low-water hygiene 💙
@@ellanorevannin4147
Yeah, if you need to shower frequently to wash away allergens it’s not as much of an option.
The only other alternative I can see for you would be to cover as much as possible of your hair and skin with fabric and wash _that_ at least as often, but I don’t imagine that you want to dress like a medieval or Renaissance woman on a daily basis.
This was so helpful to understand powdered hair! I will offer this view up to those I talk with that don't understand that this WAS normal practice and hygienic! LOVE your channel and learning from your experience!
I only use shampoo on my head for 2 reasons.... 1 - if my scalp has got dirty because of actual "dirt" like mud, or attic dust; 2 - if I have a flare up of dermatitis/excema on my scalp, in which case I treat the scalp with oils (overnight application) and then use shampoo to emulsify the oil, and remove it. I only use a mild shampoo.
The rest of the time I use warm water to rinse out sweat etc. The first month after shampoo the hair gets a bit oily, but then it establishes equilibrium. I use regular brushing to deal with the scalp.
I am often complemented on the condition of my hair, and people are amazed when I tell them about my hair care. I even use temporary (non-permenant) hair colours, and still use this routine.
Thin hair is usually more oily because thin hair usually means you have more hairs. Since each hair is connected to an oil gland, more hair = more oil. I'd assume that people with more curly hair would need to use a lot more animal fat to make up for that.
yes! thicker hair needs *sooo* much more pomade to get that same "towel dry" look that you saw on me.
i used to do something very similar to this and absolutely LOVED the effect - i would use a Lush massage bar (because i liked the glittery ones haha, they're just solid cocoa butter) and dusting powder (ditto) and had hugely voluminous, scented and sparkly hair 💜 AND! as a bonus, it made my hair super easy to style, improved the condition and reduced the amount of washing it needed - just a win/win all around if you ask me!
Did you use COCOA POWDER !!!!!?
DID ANIMALS AND INSECTS CHASE you to eat you?
I know this is very random but the bacon-bits dog treat ad is one of my lifetime favorites and I was so excited to see it clipped in your video :)!
I lived in this place in California called Ojai and everyday this family of quails would would walk single file down this hill into my backyard to do a bit of feeding.. it was so awesome to watch. When they were done they would politely walk back up the hill the same way. . 🙌🏽
Now that I am naturally grey I think pomade and powder may be the way for me to go. I have such fine hair but so much of it, i shall see!
Love your videos! I have a question, how does this hold up to a very sweaty scalp? I imagine the humidity in Williamsburg was intense at times, and I’m just curious about whether the powder became sticky and gunky when your scalp sweated.
I haven't used anything but water on my hair since October 2019, so this was really interesting! And I also changed from using a hairbrush to a comb too when I made the change. I never thought of the idea of using anything like a pomade or powder. In case you are curious about my experience: My hair is very long (about to my waist) and wavy, and in the past I thought it was super oily - but really, I find that now it's not. I will say that I don't think my hair looks any better since I stopped shampooing it - but it doesn't look any worse, either. It's not stinky, greasy or gross, and I just gently scrub my scalp with my fingertips whenever I shower. Sometimes - maybe every other week or three? - I will also oil it with jojoba or argan oil.
I haven't used shampoo in 8 years. When you stop constantly stripping your scalp, it stops overproducing sebum. Pretty cool.
@@emilyhuffman7815 True, but it doesn't stop shedding dead skin. I used to wash my hair every day but now I'm down to every 4 - 5 days. I need to do a little scalp exfoliation with conditioner and sugar before using a non-sulfate shampoo and then I use a pretty rich conditioner or hair mask including right on my scalp because it now produces almost not enough oils. lol
Oh! Someone else who doesn't use anything but water on their hair. I haven't gone as long as you. But I first started the no-wash thing in 2020. I've ended up washing it maybe 2-3 times in total since then - one was my hairdresser washing it.
I have super short hair - basically a pixie cut.
I would agree that it doesn't look any better but it also doesn't look worse. My hair is fine, and this means it has more body. It always had the tendency to look greasy quite soon after washing, and I feel like it is generally less greasy with this hair management style.
@@0roseable same here
@@phangirlable I can't say I've had issues with shedding skin on my scalp, regular combing at night seems to manage it just fine. I do spend a bit of extra time on good scalp scratching in the shower. If I do need to remove sebum, I use an egg, but I only have to do that maybe 3 times a year. Hair care is super individual. When I started my "no poo" journey I tried lots of things that others raved about and they did not suit my hair at all. It for sure requires lots of trial and error to find the sweet spot
Me: perfectly content, watching Abby teach me cool hair stuff.
Abby: We LiKe ThE qUaILS
Me: *Dies laughing *
💖💖💖
I LOVE THEM THEY ARE PERFECT
@@AbbyCox real talk though I loathe how they'll just chill out by the side of the road and dart out right as you're driving past so you have to SLAM on your brakes to avoid nailing the whole damn bevy of them!!
@@renataravensong 🤣🤣
@@AbbyCox I lived in CA. It's illegal to harm them, they're the state bird of CA lol
+
It was wonderful learning something new, and especially something that was used hundreds of years ago but I personally find the look unappealing. It just looks dirty to me, whereas without looks oily. Either look bothers me to no end! I cannot sleep well if my hair is dirty and couldn't imagine adding fat and powder to my scalp. It'd drive me crazy! But to each their own. It's amazing that you've practiced it for so long and I'm so glad it's known of if it helps people care for their hair!
I feel the same! It was so interesting but I couldn't shake the feeling that I thought it just looked like she had something in her hair that needed to be washed, I don't think I could wear it personally, I touch my hair a lot during the day and I feel like it would feel dry and powdery and that's a bit triggering for me haha.
Same here. I hate the final greyed out look. It also looks like absolute misery to apply…and then I have A LOT of hair on top of that. My skin’s also stupidly sensitive to things like cosmetics and literally Skin Dust (I had to clean a tanning salon once. Half my breakout was from everyone else’s dead skin getting on me EVERYWHERE from dusting, not just the tanning oil residues since I wore gloves since I was allergic to the main disinfectant as well…biggest reason why I Cannot share makeup but my own cheap makeup MIGHT be okay Once) and…yeah. Watching this literally is making me itch sympathetically.
I’d sooner sheer all my hair off than bother with the maintenence of this method as an only option. Forget also having dense wavy hair with zero wire so it frizzes when touched and falls “straight” when dirty, being terrible with hair in general (I can tie back a pony and that’s it), and having really shitty wrists. Then of course the skin allergy? Yeah. It’s ALL coming off or I’m seeing what another culture did to keep their hair clean, preferably one that literally doesn’t practically demand some degree of wealth like a mirror and/or servant to apply it (since a lot of people Back Then didn’t have access to mirrors to try and do it themselves…and goodness. I itch in sympathy for people with allergies since even if they skip it and try to just use a lather of soap on short hair instead, they’re still surrounded by everyone else in those powders
Same, even just using dry shampoo makes my scalp itch and then I get bits of it under my nails 🤢 the texture makes me cringe
I really feel this way too it actually really grossed me out!!!
@@anonymousfellow8879 lol. I love the way you write !!! I 🤣😂😍😁🤗🙌🏻‼
I've recently taken to powdering my hair whenever I need to because I'm too cheap to buy dry shampoo and I actually like it better because it gives me more control!
I haven't used shampoo or conditioner for over 10 years. I use the baking soda and vinegar system. In the vinegar I will put rosemary to help with hair growth. After I will use olive or argon oil to condition. Just smallest amount. To smell pretty I use home-made lilac, rose, or orange water. But I have I also purchased various waters at my local Mediterranean store. I started this for heath reasons. Now it is habit.
Wait this sounds WONDERFUL!
PLEASE PLEASE WILL YOU SHARE your exact precise recipes, products and schedule/regimen?
I want to try !
Xoxo thank you !!
I always wonder: don‘t your clothes (e. g. winter coat) and your bed get quite dirty from contact with powdered hair (especially when you add cocoa for darker hair)?
@@ottliecrue4747 oh!!! Now I understand the night bonnet! I've been thinking about them for a while now because I think they are cute and I want to make one. Sadly I have never really understood why they were used. Now I got really interested about this hair powdering thing and now I have a good reason to seriously plan my bonnet 🙌😂 nice! I already made one for a family member because it prevents a hair loss/breakage if one needs to use breathing aid machine during night 😌
Please keep in mind if you get a Birch mattress for your guest room, to ask your guests if they are allergic to latex. Latex does break down over time, especially in the sun. Like other allergies, some people react even if it’s just in the room.
Remember people also have wool allergies so ask about that as well. Even with bedsheets it could still potentially bother the.
I had to come back to this video to say that, yes, this definitely does work and I love it!
I didn't do it exactly like this cuz I have naturally curly hair and it's thick and gets dried out easily. I didn't powder, I just used my cotton head wraps for the excess oil. But it does work as far as not having to wet your hair and wash it. The only thing is, brushing my hair out means I have to set it in curlers and I got tired of that. I went almost 2 whole months. Once my hair is long again though it'll be cool. I can just do braids or a twist out or wear a bun or updo, more options. Anyway, I will definitely be using this method over winter when it's cold.
I think when some ppl say "we wash our hair too much", all I have to ask is "who is we?" Because black folks are not washing their hair on the daily..
I’m the same colour of printer paper, I don’t either. My stupid hair is so fragile, if I washed it daily I’d be bald. And broke, unless I used cold water. Brrrr. 😹
In india if we wash our hair everyday, most of our parents will disown us.
In Serbia we tend to wash our hair once a week.
@@lunalu666lucifuge5 same in India but nowadays everyone are adapting to western culture.
Lol U.S. caucasians ON-BRAND with that childishly naiive never-questioned core belief that US. caucasian reality is the world NORM 😂🤣🙌🏻‼
I have a form of alopecia and have had thin and thinning hair for about 15 years. For a long time I didn't really do anything about it and was just embarrassed all the time, but several years ago I discovered the joys of dry shampoo. I generally wear loose hats, but I don't wash my hair that often and whenever I need to wear my hair out of a hat, or even just to add volume when I am wearing hats, I'll do a conditioning and then powder the hell out of it. If I'm using a very light powder and don't want my hair to look so light and powdery I'll do a coat of a tinted dry shampoo like the Batiste Hint of Color (though I do try to avoid it because it's aerosolized and I hate breathing that garbage in).
I can't say my hair is the softest or healthiest it's ever been, especially because when I try to cut down on the cost of the dry shampoos I'll opt for a talc-free baby powder, which kind of draws more moisture out of the hair than the dry shampoos do. But if I were more diligent about conditioning beforehand (or pomade, I suppose, as the original technique requires) it probably wouldn't be so bad.
As someone who has scalp psoriasis and therefore has to wash their scalp everyday, I can't imagine applying powder (that could clog my pores), and not washing my hair for a month at a time. That would definitely inflame my psoriasis for sure. I wonder what people with scalp conditions like mine did during this era? Either way, a very interesting topic and video 👍
Most of our modern skin conditions come from our modern diet so I doubt they had those scalp issues back then with no artificial ingredients, fillers, or coloring
Washing your scalp will make it worse. You are stripping oils and then your scalp is hyper-producing them. I had this issue and stopped washing 10 years ago and it's stayed gone. I also changed my diet to a anti-inflammatory one (lazy keto) and my hair has never been better. good luck!
why do you think wigs came into fashion?
That's so strange. My fiance is dealing with something similar and he was told by the doctor to not wash his hair as often.
Comb with a good quality headlice/nit comb
I currently do a version of this and plan on easing into it deeper. I wash my hair monthly and use powder once or twice weekly to avoid oil buildup. Without the pomade any excess powder brushes out and my hair just looks clean.
I used to have very oily hair. I’ve had a month off from work while repairs are being done at my workplace and I used the time to retrain my hair. I stopped washing it daily and weaned down for longer periods of time. My hair regulated itself and after 1.5 weeks of not washing my hair (I bathe every other day) my hair doesn’t over produce oils. Plus my hair is so healthy and my curls came back tenfold. It even started growing more from letting the natural oils do their job.
Stumbled across this- as someone with thin straight hair who values older more natural methods with a general interest/curiosity in everything, really enjoyed this video
It's practically dry shampoo. I love the volume even by just put it in the roots. Really for straight hair it's so nice to have some volume. Only thing I don't like the fact it's a spray...I can smell the toxins each time I use it. I tried an homemade powder and I got some strange confused looks mostly in small offices with super bright light. I just couldn't hide it but everywhere else it was fine. I wish there was a company that could make a proper powered brown dry shampoo.
This is really fascinating, and as a person who hates doing hair I would love to try this. Unfortunately I have super tight curls - to give an example, they curl about the same way as the spring inside a pen. I don't know how European women with very curly hair managed it, but I would love to know and I would love to know what African women used during this time period. I love learning about this kind of stuff. Thanks!
get the to a black hair salon and ask for help they will give you every possible tip.
@@ShaareiZoharDaas most black hair salons will be dealing with modern day hair products though. You'd hav to find someone who is specifically into the history of black haircare.
American Duchess actually discussed this in a podcast ( Abby is in it and Cheyney McKnight from "NotYourMommasHistory" (That is also her TH-cam Channel and I cannot recommend it enough).
The title of the podcast is:
"Episode 23: Cheyney McKnight on African Hair And Headwraps