Hair dye is by no means a new invention. In fact since early recorded history, people (particularly women) have been transforming their locks, just not in a way we – or anyone with even an ounce of sanity – would guess!
Rome: DIY Bleach and Horror
In early Rome, it wasn’t uncommon for ladies to attempt to colour greying hair with a root touch up, because apparently women aging has never been ok.
Anyway for this grey be gone, a concuction of boiled walnut shells, ashes and, er, earthworms, would be ground together to form a lovely dark paste.
But it wasn’t just dark haired ladies getting in on the gross dying action, blondes were also having fun (groan)
In this era, blonde hair was used to mark sex workers.
This was done either by using blonde wigs (taken from Germanic folk the Romans had handily invaded) OR by dying the hair.
Now if you thought earthworms were bad, then you’re going to want to strap in for the next bit, because all kinds of no.
To achieve blonde hair, a woman’s hair was slathered with anything from ashes to pigeon shit and then pissed on.
I know. I’m sorry.
BUT, this grimness does actually have some science behind it! See pee contains ammonia which acts as a bleach, which in turn, helps dye hair blonde.
Isn’t history the best?!?
Elizabethan Pain and Price-tags
Elizabeth I bought lip liner to the world, as well as using lead to lighten your skin (you win some you lose some) but it wasn’t just makeup that Lizzy was pioneering; she was also waaay ahead in the hair game!
A queen of iconic hair, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a lot of women in her court wanted in on Lizzys legendary locks.
And so ladies would pluck back their hairlines to achieve that trademark high Elizabethan forehead (ouch!)
Colouring was also a big thing, with red and blonde both the beauty ideals of the day.
Blonde was achieved with a seriously expensive mix of cumin seeds, saffron, oil and celadine, effectively pricing anyone but noble borns from the faux blonde hair racket.
Still, you can’t knock a good false blonde down and women once again resorted to pissing on their heads to bleach the fuck out of their hair.
Luckily, going red was a much nicer process.
Elizabethan ladies opted for henna, a method that is still really popular today.
Note: I’ve been dying my hair red for over a decade; the success rate of a decent colour using henna is like 0.0001%, so don’t be trying no Elizabethan dye jobs at Home.
The 1600s: It get’s better. I guess…
In 1602, Sir Hugh Platt published, Delightes for Ladies; a handy guide of hints, tips and recipes for women. Hugh even included some hair care know how that didn’t suggest dead insects or piss as hair dye ingredients!
But, don’t applaud just yet!
Yeah. Turns out Hugh reeeally didn’t like women having hair; suggesting using sulphuric acid to dye their locks a fetching blonde.
Don’t worry though, Hugh makes it clear you shouldn’t touch the acid, just rub it all over your scalp. 👍
Thankfully by the end of the 1600s, wigs took over from highly dangerous chemicals.
These wigs not only allowed women to turn thier hair into towering pieces of ornate artwork, but also play with colour.
Marie Antoinette was a huge fan of pastels, with her wig collection looking a lot like a very hairy sweet shop!
Sadly all pastel haired dreams must come to an end and the French Revolution did away with the trend for spectacular coloured wigs.
In its place was the Titus.
A groundbreaking short hair cut that both acted as a protest to the French Revolution and meant women didn’t have to spend hours piling on pounds of hair.
But sadly the Titus was all about looking natural, meaning hair dye was out…
But then in 1856: Everything changed
A teenage science nerd called William Perkin was trying to synthesise quinine (a medicine now used to fight maleria) to impress his teacher. Because. Nerd.
Sadly, William totally failed.
BUT he did accidentally create a purple shade, which he dubbed Mauvine.
This was the first synthetic dye!
Mauvine went on to help medical research, build up the textile industry, create new types of food manufacturing and tons more!
But let’s be real, the real success here was opening up hair to a whole rainbow of chemical colours!
By the 1920s women were all over chemical hair dyes!
Sure you left the salon with a burning scalp, but your hair was really pretty, so fair trade right?
OBVIOUSLY NO
Messing around chemicals is a dangerous game. Then putting that mess on your head is basically asking to be maimed.
Nobody is a better testimont to this than Hollywood star, Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow’s nickname was, The Platinum Blonde.
This meant, that as well as acting, being the blondest blonde in Hollywood was basically Jeans number 1 priority.
But this was no easy feat. Nobody was naturally that blonde.
So Jean went to extreme lengths to reach her famed platinum hue.
According to Alfred Pagano, Jeans hairdresser:
“We used peroxide, ammonia, Clorox, and Lux flakes! Can you believe that?”
No Alfred I can’t believe that!
Mainly because mixing literal household bleach (Clorox) and ammonia creates a highly noxious gas which can ultimately lead to kidney failure.
Jeans hair was dyed using this deadly deadly mess ONCE A WEEK FOR YEARS.
How is that shit even legal???!!!???
Thousands upon thousands of women attempted DIY versions of Jeans famous platinum dye recipe, with sales of bleach and ammonia sky rocketing
Thankfully the trend was short lived.
Jeans hair all fell out, which meant she stopped dying it and went to wigs.
But the deadly dyes effects remained.
Jean died of kidney failure aged 26. It was a slow and painful death: almost certainly down to her famed hair dye recipe.
Mercifully, Jean was one of hair dyes last casualties.
By the 1950s mainstream brands like L’Oréal were selling hair dye that dyed hair blonde by lightening, rather than replying on bleach, or you know…piss.
The following decades were defined by hair colour, from the bright colours of the 1980s to the highlights of the 1990s and early 00s (oh hey ‘The Rachel’!)
Now it’s estimated around 70% of women dye their hair , which is pretty unsurprising when you release what a historic love affair we’ve had with colour (and that we know longer need pee to be on trend!)
This was interesting, where can I find out more? Fashions in Hair, the first 5000 years, by Richard Colson is a cracking book. But its retail price is mighty expensive, so best bet for that one is checking out your local library!
Another great (and affordable…) read is Face Paint, The Story of Make Up, by Louise Eldridge, which looks at historic beauty trends.
F Yeah History 