How many times do we look at our hair as we glance past a mirror? Why are we so affected about the way we look now? How come a bad hair day turns out to be a bad day after all?

If you are one of the millions of people in the world who wish you just had awesome hair, then fret no more. The hair-raising topic has been one of the hottest topics from the creation of mankind. It’s no surprise that these days, men are more bothered about their hair than women and there are unisex salons dedicated to making a man look attractive. Everyone needs the best advice for their hair because it is not just using a certain shampoo that makes your hair fall but little things like getting angry and pulling your hair out and not eating a balanced diet can impair your hair.

If you take history, you will recognise civilisations from the mere style of their hair. The Egyptians have a distinct style as with the tribal Africans. It was used for everything from mating to even mourning a loved one’s demise. Hair has been immensely popular around the world that various court officials still wear special white wigs (inspired by the English). It was really a distinguishing uniform. It was also for ‘mourning’ those who went against the law but it also denotes experience (through size) while also meaning that they are ‘different’ from their normal persona, putting their personal emotions aside and thinking about justice. In the Arabic Gulf, the ‘Raqs Na’ashat’ or the Hair dance was a women’s social dance often in groups.

This dance needs women with good long hair because it has plenty of hair throwing, small shoulder shimmies, subtle hip work, simple arm and hand movements and gliding footwork. Now even though majority of the Muslims cover their hair for religious reasons, it has saved their hair in the way that it doesn’t have split ends due to dry heat in the Arabian sun. In the Egypt heat, noblemen and women attached their hair close to their head but for ceremonial occasions, they donned heavy, curly black wigs. In classical Greece, women’s hair was long and pulled back into a chignon.

Many opted to dye their hair red with henna and sprinkle it with gold powder and occasionally adorning it with fresh flowers or jewelled tiaras. Men’s hair was short and even shaved on occasions. In Rome, the tendency was to follow Greek styles but the upper classes would use curling irons and favoured the gold powdered look of the Greeks.

Unmarried Chinese girls wore their hair long and braided whilst women combed the hair back from the face and wound into a knot at the nape. The Manchu regime of the time dictated that men shaved the front of the head and wore the back hair long and braided, tied with black silk. Males in Japan also shaved the front of the head but kept the back hair pulled tightly into a short stiff ponytail.

In the 15th century known as a the Renaissance period, the ladies of the upper classes really took ‘hair plucking’ to the extreme! If you fret about tweezing the odd eyebrow and thought that was painful, imagine plucking the entire front hairline of your scalp to give you the appearance of a higher forehead! The remainder of the hair then is tightly scraped back to reveal the elaborate headdresses of the day. This was a common practice in Europe whereas the upper class ladies of Italy preferred to cover the hairline with low caps and jewelled turbans.

They did, however, envy the fairer hair of Northern Europeans and sat for many hours in the heat of the sun in an attempt to bleach their hair. The ‘bleach’ of the day was made using either saffron or onion skins! How’s that for doing anything for your hair?!

Courtesy: SundayObserver

Posted on Sunday, January 24, 2010 @ 18:48:43 LKT by SaNDun

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