Fooling Mother Nature - A Short History of Hair Dyes.

Since at least the time of the ancient Assyrians, 2700 years ago, humans have been trying to change the color of their hair.  Whether to psych themselves up for battle, to be part of a tribe, a gang, or a clique, to look younger or older, to stand out from the crowd or blend in with it, people have spent time, money, and ingenuity, and often endangered their health, to make a change in their appearance.

The Assyrians found natural substances to make their heads and beards black, or they used the vegetable tint henna to get an auburn look.  They often completed the transformation with a gold dusting on the head.  The Ancient Israelites preferred black hair with gold dust in it.  While the Ancient Greeks waxed poetic about nature, at least one famous statesman, the warrior Alcibiades, was known for dyeing his hair, eyebrows, and beard.  Greek women used gold, white, and red hair powders.

As people desired more and more effective dyes, new formulas were invented.  Imperial Romans tried a black dye made from leeches and vinegar left to ferment in a lead vessel for two months.  Women were cautioned to hold oil in their mouths while applying the substance to keep their teeth from turning black, too.  Other Romans, wanting to look like their German invaders, used ashes or vinegar to bleach their hair, or dyed it yellow with saffron.  At the same time, the Germans dyed their blond hair red.  The Gauls and Anglo-Saxons went further, using not only red, but bright orange and blue dyes.  The natural look was definitely out.

When Christianity arrived in Rome, the church tried to squelch such pagan vulgarities as hair-coloring.  Clemens Romanus, pope during the first century A.D.,  declared it was unlawful for a Christian man to “frizell, trounce, powder or coloure his Haire”, as these acts might “inflame their lusts”.  Nevertheless, some people overcame their fears of inflamed lusts by using dyes surreptitiously. 

By the 14th century, hair dying was common, despite the objections of the clergy.  Both black and blond were popular choices.  By the 15th century, those who serviced the rich and famous of their day had come up with many different shades of blond, from golden to tawny.

As time went on, people took more risks to achieve whatever look was popular at the time.  16th century painter Cesare Vecellio wrote of Venetian women:  “During the hours when the sun darts its most ... scorching rays ... they condemn themselves to broil....  They keep on wetting their hair with a sponge dipped in some elixir of youth ... They wear on their heads a straw hat without a crown ... this hat doing double duty as a drying-line for the hair and a parasol to protect the neck and face.”  History records young noble women sometimes suffering severe nose bleeds while sitting in the hot mid-day sun, trying to turn their brown hair blonde.
Strange ingredients were often used with disastrous consequences.  In 1562, a certain Dr Marinallo warned that sulphur and other harsh ingredients could cause hair to fall out and scalp damage.  Yet people continued to use dangerous chemicals that were not fully understood at the time in the name of fashion.

When Elizabeth I was queen in the 16th century, her handmaidens bleached their hair blonde.  Then by the 1770s when fashion demanded towering wigs on Marie Antoinette’s court, blonde hair was definitely out.  Elderberries and red wine were used to turn the “disagreeable yellow hue” into “agreeable black”.

In the early 19th century, the hair of both sexes and men’s beards were dyed with a chemical called “silver of nitrate”.  While it gave the desired black coloring indoors, in bright sunshine it became iridescent, with a glow of rainbow colors.  Achieving a natural- looking brown to cover gray was beyond the means of the times.  People who wanted to match their natural brown hair usually had to use a black tint, and hope it would fade to brown.  Darker hair continued to be preferred over blond, and red hair was considered laughable.  Then suddenly in the middle part of the century, blond hair became the fashion again.

By the time of the 1890s, when Gibson Girl hairstyles were common, The Ladies Home Journal advised that well-bred American women did not color their hair.  The practice seemed somewhat immoral, and associated with “loose women”.  However, “respectable” women sometimes colored their hair and hoped no one would notice, or at least pretend not to notice.

Then in the 1920s, everything changed.  Women’s skirts got shorter, and so did their hair.  Dyeing it was no longer considered morally suspect.  The big question was about safety.  The newly enfranchised flappers did not want to go back to the dangerous chemicals their grandmothers had used.

A doctor, writing for Good Housekeeping, advised that henna, a plant substance, was the only safe tint.  This was fine if you wanted red or auburn hair, but nothing else.  Also, vegetable dyes such as henna tend to wash out, and the color is not always predictable. 

The 1950s finally brought modern hair coloring techniques:  pre-packaged, relatively safe, chemicals that would give the user the color shown on the box when used according to directions.  Now anyone could have any color hair, not only solid colors, but streaks and tips.  Television sold the new products as natural-looking with such lines as “Only her hairdresser knows for sure.”  And it was clear what the favorite color was, from such ads as “If I’ve only one life to live, let me live it as a blonde.” and “Blondes have more fun.”  Nevertheless, until around 1990 African-American women who bleached their hair were considered tacky.  

Most women of the ‘50s wanted natural-looking hair, though some more daring types imitated the platinum blonde and fire engine red seen in movies.  The film industry was helped by temporary tints in spray cans that allowed actors and actresses to make short-term color changes.  Many non-celebrities used these sprays for special occasions.  For a while, hair powdering came back into style, in the form of aluminum dust sprinkled on the hair for an evening.

Changing hair color to be more like your peer group has always been common.  After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese mothers of mixed-race children fathered by American soldiers would rub black shoe polish on their children’s light-colored hair to make them look more Vietnamese.  In recent years, the ad industry has convinced men that covering their gray hair will not only help them get ahead at work, but improve their love loves.

Today, new techniques such as slicing often involve using more than one color to emphasize a cut.  Even letting your “roots” show, once an unpardonable fashion sin, is now okay.  And all colors are acceptable for all people, especially for younger adults who want to look hip.  Some teens use arbitrary patches of color to express individuality.

So whether you want to stand out or blend in, hair coloring may be for you.