I'm a hairstylist. I tried Medieval hair care and went a month without washing my hair
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- Опубліковано 28 кві 2022
- I used Medieval hairstyles, hair care, and no shampoo for a month to prove hair in the Middle Ages wasn't dirty! Time for historical myth busting. Brooklinen is having their Birthday Sale right now until May 4th! Get 20% off all Brooklinen products here: bit.ly/SnappyDragon_Brookline...
The idea that Medieval people didn't bathe or clean their hair is a myth, not historical fact. After years as a professional hairstylist, I tested Medieval hair care methods for a month to prove that while Medieval people didn't wash their hair (often), in the middle ages hair could still be kept clean and healthy. On this channel, we take historical myth busting very seriously : seriously enough that I went a month without washing my hair to debunk this myth. Historical hair techniques relied on braided hairstyles, diligent combing, and veils or headscarves. Nearly every medieval hairstyle uses braids to keep hair protected and tangle-free, whether it was high medieval fashion or an everyday easy historical hairstyle, and regular combing of the hair took the place of hair washing to keep hair clean and conditioned. Headscarves and veils were also extensively used in middle ages hairstyles to protect hair and keep it from getting dirty. Changing to a clean headscarf or veil also helped keep medieval hair clean!
Medieval hair care is completely different from modern hair care, but it still has its uses! This technique of medieval hair washing can help keep your hair clean and healthy in situations where hair washing isn't possible, like camping trips or when you have plumbers in your house for two weeks (like I did. . . . ). These methods were useful in Medieval times and plenty of other times and places too, and I hope this medieval hair tutorial + vlog helps show how.
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Attributions :
Photo of a 14th century ivory comb by Valerie McGlinchey, housed at the V&A Museum. Lisenced under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales, creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Village Ambiance by Alexander Nakarada
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As a hijabi, I can testify there is a thing named bad-head-scarf day. It is when your scarf or tichel does not want to stay on your head like you draped it and then you have to always adjust it. Then the next day everything goes, although you draped it and pinned it exactly the same 😂 I totally loved your green Tichel-style headscarf a lot. Green looks so nice on you.
I definitely experienced a few of those (mostly thanks to my own inexperience)!
Wait so just on a normal day going out getting groceries stuff like that vs something rigorous that'll cause you to sweat what does your hair feel like (and if your like me and don't know and don't bother to check your hair when it's like that then I don't blame you
@@karina_martinez420 the hair itself feels fine. I personally feel like they're softer if not smoother. Maybe the heat from the scalp has anything to do with it. The hair is protected from the elements n is usually remained clean. But the scalp is a different story after a very sweaty day 😂 but after brushing n combing, the oil is distributed throughout n it feels fine afterwards. Most of us shampoo once a week n conditions twice to thrice a week if needed
omg yesss this morning my hijab wasnt secure enough-tho it didnt fall or anything, it just kept on moving around and made me uncomfortable-even when i pined it down and done it the same way i always do.
@@karina_martinez420Majority of cases, the hair actually feel nicer and smoother and more silky when you remove the hijab when you arrive home. But it also depends on the fabric of the undercap/veil you use. If you use a really rough undercap/veil, the hair can feel dry and brittle at end of the day because of friction.
Other than that, like my hijabi sister said previously, it protects the hair from the elements (sunlight is really damaging, humidity, dry air etc...). Your scalp is usually fine but it can be sweaty on hot day tho, but it depends on the fabric of the hijab and the intensity of the work.
But the scarf definitely help having cleaner hair because it protects air from pollution, dirt...☺️
Checking out at my doctor’s office I noticed a woman with a really pretty headscarf. She noticed me looking and I could tell she was nervous about my attention, I immediately assured her, “Your scarf is beautiful, I was just admiring it!” She immediately relaxed and apologized for not knowing where she got it, she was so sweet and it was just a nice moment in the real world for two women to appreciate a little beauty. It should be completely normal to wear your hair in whatever way suits you, your culture, religion, or style. I hope we continue to get closer to that goal.
She may have been sick...I wore one a lot when I was sick and my hair was extremely thin.
People wear hair covering for a multitude of reasons! It can be religious or aesthetical or comfortable or done for hygienical reasons like myself.
Living in a polluted urban climate makes me itchy every single time I go out without head covering. No, it wasn't my shampoo.
Whenever I go out with loose hair I wash it when I go back home, no matter what.
I really hate sleeping in a tangled, dried and itchy nest and my hair is long, wavy, fine and easy to break. I can really feel the outside dust and dirt with my fingers and the smell is awful like smog. I'm sure it also ruined my hair along the years of wild loose hair and I had to cut it often.
Where I live most women above 35s have awful hair cut short or mid-lenght and it often looks badly dyed, dirty, greasy divided in strands that show the scalp.
And we are full of hairdressers!
Head covering and jojoba oil saved my hair. Now it's long and healthy, no broken ends, no itchy scalp.
I wear lovely scarves or sporty colourful tube scarves in summer. People have all sorts of culturally biased gaze and assumptions but it's their problem.
They might think you're a muslim because they don't actually know how a real hijab is done or that you have cancer because they actually don't know how cancer survivors heads really look and now, at least where I live, the new bias is Ukrainian/Russian/Eastern Europe old woman just because they don't actually know how those ladies (beautifully) wrap their heads.
It seems to me that most people have no historical nor cultural accuracy.
@@negy2570POOR EDUCATION OF CAPITALISTIC SYSTEMS CREATE THAT.🙄
GOOD FOR YOU TO EDUCATE YOURSELF AND LOOK FURTHER TO B ABLE TO APPRECIATE OTHER CULTURES.👏🏾
🌺☮️💟🌺
ITS so sad, that one has to justify themselfs how one wears your Hair. Most parts of History IT was common to Cover your Hair or at least wear it Up, ITS Not an opression Thing, IT can BE, but thats by fare Not the mayority. IT got established Out of practical reasons, religious ones only came later and going with that, the bible too says to Cover your Hair AS a Woman . . . . .
She was probably used to get verbally assulted for wearing a designated "sign of opression" so visably on her head. Because in the west victim-blaming is still the standard, so when girls/women are seen as "wearing too much" or "wearing too little" they are blamed for being opressed or even for being raped. Or just blamed for "looking opressed/submissive to opression" or "looking like they want to get raped"(!) Itś two sides of the same coin, victim-blaming. Belive me, I have had different types of "more covering" clothing styles throughout my youth and as a young adult woman in the west and my little siste the opposite. Even our own parents have brought this victim-blaming on us. It really weighs you down! : ( Also, many of us girls/women who really feel a strong need to cover up all or most of our hair/heads -for loads of various reasons, be it medical, religious, mental or a mixture of all those... Well many of us feel the need to over-compensate in order to avoid these stereotypes, so we put in extra effort to make whatever haircovering we use look stylish enough so that nobody would throw insults in our face atleast. Some may have been so bullied about wearing this type of cloth (haircovering headscarf) that they are very sensitive about people staring at it. But I've worn it for so long I don't really care anymore that people stare and recognize it ś often curious or neutral stares just because it's unusual where I 'm at. I honestly don't care anymore when people frown on it eather, after so many years.
This has been a very interesting experiment. As a black woman my hair is in protective styles about 90% of the time. It’s either braided, in twists or an updo. In the spring and summer when I work in the garden a lot I wear a scarf of some sort to protect it from pollen and dirt.
Growing up as a little black girl and even in college I remember white people’s horror that I didn’t wash my hair daily, or, especially as a child, weekly. A braided hairstyle can take 6+ hours, you’re not going to take it down until you have to. It’s a real timesaver for black moms to have a little girl’s hair in a braided style for several weeks.
Of course classmates were convinced that my hair was dirty or that it smelled. Neither were true. With braids you usually sleep in headscarf or bonnet. And I would often wear a scarf during the day as well. Both the protective style and wearing the scarf helps with cleanliness.
I’ve been told headscarves are ‘unprofessional’, even though I always coordinated the scarf with my outfit. (Thanks for your comment about that.) Headscarves have even been deemed unacceptable for zoom calls while my office has been WFH during the pandemic.
The level of cluelessness about Black haircare is ridiculous-- I had classmates in cosmetology school, of all places, who knew just that little. And unfortunately, because they didn't realize they were missing something, they never tried to learn. I'm so sorry your office is like that!
If you're wearing a head covering for religious reason, there is nothing they can say. And if you have hair loss due to medical reasons there is nothing they can say.
@@ThatGirlJD Would that this actually stopped racists!
(Also, it would be cool to not demand reasons from people, having a scarf on your head for any reason doesn't get in the way of doing a job.)
Roslyn I'm sorry to hear about your experience from ignorant whites, as a white female, even my dermatologist told me no one is supposed to wash their hair every day. I also had a few close girlfriends growing up who were black and they told me about the difference between whites and black people scalps not getting oily from not washing.
Why are headscarves considered unprofessionell? Why are all people forced to be/act/look a certain way which is what 'white' people consider 'normal'.
20 years ago, some SCA friends and I decided to live full time as medieval people for 7 years. I love watching videos like this disproving modern myths about poor hygiene, as we all looked and smelled fine, though as you noted, we did have a "human" smell that most modern people associate with being unwashed.
That's some dedication!
@@SnappyDragon Yes, there were a few years where our crops were not yielding as much as needed, so we had to ration really drastically to get through the winter-but we all survived, though it is interesting that during the season where most people gain weight, we were losing like 50lbs.
@@JackDanyaKemplin
In animals, and presumably also in humans historically, it's totally normal to put on weight in the summer and autumn in preparation for the winter when food isn't as abundant.
@@ragnkja Yes, the opposite of what modern society says about winter weight and summer bods 😉.
Wow, that’s so cool!! I’d definitely watch a video of you talking about your experiences! (No idea if you have a channel or not, I started to comment before I checked, but if you do already have one, I’ll watch it). How many people did this take?
I am a curly girl, and my big issue with those historical haircare videos is that they usually have people with straight hair telling how wonderful it is to comb their hair. I loved your video and I'm going to try more protective styles to grow my hair out, as breakage is a huge issue for me.
About head scarves, it is very variable. I am very pale, but have really dark hair, so with a headscarf some people could think of me as a very pale Middle Eastern woman, luckily the only thing I've had happened to me is somebody speaking arabic to me in a very polite way. I've been lucky.
TBH that's one of the reasons I made this! There are some great videos out there, but they are usually from people like Opus Elenae with knee-length straight hair. It's gorgeous, but also completely different than mine.
Came here to say the exact same thing! As a fellow thick-haired curly, thank you for demonstrating these techniques on hair that isn't straight for once!
my hair is curly and I'm using a comb since about 5 years. It felt weird when I started, but it definitely is better for my hair.
But well, I'm blond so I can't really say anything on the other topic.
I have curly hair. And I can say achieving full sebum coverage does wonders for protecting your hair from tangles and breakage.
Yes, i have the same problem. I have curley hair and if i comb it i get so much friz even after conditioner. It just ruins the curles. After brushing my hair just stands up like afro style terrible friz
Tip for tying off braids securely and historically appropriate: insert the ribbon / thread a little bit above where the braid should end (or at the very top if you like the effect) and braid both ends along with the hair for a bit, then tie off. It won't slide out that way, because your hair holds it in place. If I remember correctly, it was Morgan Donner who showed this in one of her videos.
Hehe, I learned that trick when braiding horses for shows, but Morgan Donnner's finger loop braiding is what I use for the cord in my own hair!
@@bunhelsingslegacy3549 Me too! I made some in a color of embroidery floss very similar to my hair for when it's up in braids, but mostly I use ones with fun colors. It's seriously great, and really easy once you've had a little practice. I also have incredibly slippery hair (hair taping just will NOT work for me), but this will stay for days.
When I learned this from her, I ended up never using elastics in braids again. I have really slick hair and elastics either tangle badly in it or slide out. Zero in between. I used to use the elastics that would get tangled and try to carefully snip them out but that would damage the ends. Ribbons are so much safer and easier.
YES, exactly! I've been doing that for two years and it works amazingly well.
Or use thin leather Strips, those have more grip then fabric! Thats what I go with, using the scraps of the leather I used in building my graded piece of furniture at the end of learning my profession
Thank you for acknowledging the struggle women of color endure while trying to protect our hair.
Absolutely! Most of what the curly hair community knows is owed to WoC .
My husband is curly haired redhead who prior to meeting me didn’t even use conditioner! 🙄🤦🏾♀️ I taught him to co-wash and to wash less frequently. His hair is AMAZING.
Anyone with curly hair struggles with it - straight-haired people just don't "get it"!
I have 3b/3c hair and if my hair isn’t in a protective style it won’t love me.
@@nmd1211
As someone with type 1a hair I certainly don’t have any experience with needing extra oil anywhere near the scalp (it’s only as my hair has grown long that I’ve started to put oil on the tips before I wash it), nor with how curly hair behaves in general, because my hair literally won’t hold a curl for more than a few minutes at best.
I've had to do this for over a year because I was completely bedbound. So many bedbound people do this. Its not gross! Its definitely not a reason to report someone to social services or tell them to shave it all ofd (yes really!) Not being able to wash your hair regularly for energy reasons, mobility, etc is fine. Yes people should be given assistance to wash their hair every few months if they can't on their own. Much thanks to my husband and father for that. But washing it daily is completely unnecessary.
Oh ffs, not only is reporting that horribly nosy and ableist, it's also a total waste of social services' time!
Me too! Mostly Bedbound with MECfS and I have long 3c hair. Braids and a silk scarf or bonnet have saved me. Grateful to my black and Dominican women friends for teaching me. We all need to accept things for who we are.
I used dry shampoo while I was recovering from a broken humerus. Every other day paired with wet wipes, powder and lotion. When I was ready to shower the person helping me said I will help you shower. I was like nope. I already did my routine for the day and only asked her if I smelled. She confirmed I did not after months of only water for teeth brushing.
I feel you on the curly girl struggle of combing out your hair. This is such a neat experiment. The usefulness of headscarves and braids is amazing.
Will not lie, I was *terrified* during that first comb-out. I think it took an hour of sitting there listening to an audiobook and hoping it didn't all break off!
A boar bristle brush makes the comb out to have less crazy result. A fellow curly here hahaha
my mum lived in a city prone to smog in an area people still used coal to heat their houses. in winter when she washed her hair the water would run off black. this was 40+ years ago and the air quality has improved a lot.
Oh goodness, that's another reason to keep hair covered! I hadn't even thought of that when making this video and I should have.
@@SnappyDragon works well for general dust too. I live in an agricultural county on Southern California where Santa Ana winds create dust storms and work in a beach town. Headscarves are GOLD for keeping salt spray scum out of your hair and grit out of it on windy days (or while doing yard work or out hiking).
A friend brought up the very valid point about air quality affecting us by asking, "when was the last time you heard a laundry detergent commercial for "ring around the collar"? I think the 80s was the last time I remember that being a thing.
Cycling in London in white jeans resulted in them being grey by the time I arrived at work. I also used to blow my nose and the tissue would be full of soot.
@@lpanayi6954 My mom said the same thing about the nose blowing when we lived in near an Industrial area in the early 80's
I have a fine wooden comb too and the amount of lint and gunk in my hair is always surprising! I always love seeing people do these experiments because they're very interesting to me as a disabled person. I can't always wash my hair up to 21st century standards so it's nice to learn about alternatives :)
Always good to have options!
How do you clean the comb? I use an old toothbrush but I always worry that I'm doing something weird...
@@mikeciul8599 i use a cotton cloth for light cleanings, i don't think a toothbrush is a bad idea though. My cloth is thin enough I can get it between the tines. But wooden combs can also be washed with water if they get very dirty. The manufacturer of my comb had instructions for various ways to wash it safely.
I went to a medieval market last weekend and did something different with my hair and I noticed something interesting. Normally I would wear my Brigitta cap and veil with a normal bun and my veil and cap always slip off and need to be adjusted multiple times during the day. This time I decided to wear my hair in two braids that were wrapped around my head. This held the cap in place a lot better and I have not needed to adjust my veil and cap a single time. When it I took them off they were just as secure as when I put them on. I have fine straight hair that is terrible in holding stuff so I am very pleased with this.
So many historical fashions are like this! They're super confusing until you put all the pieces together and then they work super well.
As a disabled person that don't always have the energy to wash my hair, I'll totally try this! I imagine it can save me a lot of energy, and still make me feel like I'm actually doing something productive.
(Mind you, I do have very straight hair, tho, and it never really tangles at all, because I already sleep with it in braids or twists)
Yay for saving energy!
I'm a disabled curly girl and honestly the frequent brushing sounds like it would be harder than washing! I might still try it though.
Hi, Jackie from Rigr Crafts here! Thank you so much for featuring our combs and hair pins. I follow the historical haircare routine too (although I end up washing every 2 weeks because I'm a greasy Italian lol) and I use our hair and beard oils on the ends of my hair once or twice a week and then comb it through. It gives it a really nice scent and it helps condition the ends since my hair is waist length. I also wear head scarves regularly especially when I'm working in my jewelry studio so it stays clean. My hair has never been healthier. Now I'm off to share this video on all of our socials!
Thanks so much for sending them to me! I'm literally typing this with the silver pins in my otherwise-modern hair 💚
How long does it take to ship your products?
How long does it take to ship your products?
Stephanie, we usually ship within 3 business days of the order coming in. (Weekends we're usually vending at events so not shipping things out.) We don't control USPS though, so once we ship we're a their mercy.
@@jackielou68 Okay thank you
I have very long, very straight hair and I work as a gardener and landscaper. Lots of bending, twisting and sweating. I can pin my hair in a braided bun with no elastics and nothing moves all day and since the weight of my hair is distributed over all the pins, there is no discomfort. I started doing it because it was practical for me, turns out it's pretty historically accurate too.
And braiding my hair loosly before sleeping saves me so much time in the morning!
Why am I not surprised that a method that worked for centuries of people doing agricultural work, also works for present-day people doing gardening work? 😃
As of a month or two ago I realized that my pandemic hair is long enough that if I twist it into a bun and pull the ends up through the center it actually stays up pretty damn well. No pins, no ribbons, no elastics, just friction and gravity. Some days it doesn't want to stay up longer than 5 minutes, but if you get a good top knot and don't futz with it, it CAN stay up through a good few hours of non-windy physical labor or an entire office workday. Adding pins or a hair tie makes it even more robust. Genuinely a revelation for my very thin, straight hair that could never hold any fancy hairstyles before.
Do Something similar AS a woodworker, i feel somewhat baked now when wearing my Hair Open 😂
The most powerful sentence from this video is regarding the headscarf: You're judging your own body less for how it affects your appearance.
This is something a lot of people should think about.
It's a theme in so much of historical clothing-- today we sort of expect our actual literal bodies to change shape for fashion, whereas before we expected the clothes to do all that for us.
@@SnappyDragon I'd love to bring that back! (Though not at the expense of massive variety in fashion)
@@sarahwatts7152 Yes yes! More options, not less.
i've read this like 4 times and i still don't understand the point that you were making
@@strangeclimate411 Some people are constantly insulting hijab, saying it's "oppressive" and whatnot. However, this woman wore something that resembles a hijab and had an unbiased opinion on how it positively affected her. Now that the item of clothing is not being associated with religion, out of a sudden it is "cool" and "should be worn more often". Just something to think about, don't you think? 🤷🏻♀️
I've developed an allergy to most shampoos and conditioners and I've been using similar techniques to take care of my hair for the weeks in between the "proper" washes and it's been great! I've been doing it for a solid two and a half years and my hair has stayed clean, strong, and easy to take care of. I've even been told by people that my hair smells great, despite the fact that I never use anything scented in it.
I’m so sorry you’ve had these issues with shampoos and conditioners. I can’t imagine how hard that was to live with, diagnose, and move forward for treatment. I just want you to know you are a super hero! I have other allergies (latex) and everyone constantly wants to give advice. I know they mean well, but we become our own experts. For anyone with “different” kinds of illnesses to strangle someone it’s a pure miracle lol
TBH I would love it if people *stopped* using such strongly scented stuff in their hair!
I should do that too. It is so hard to find shampoo I can tolerate. I can't handle scents and sulphates. Every once in a while my scalp breaks out and I switch to another shampoo for a while. I had a shampoo that worked fine but the company disappeared.
@@lenabreijer1311 Right now I use the Desert Essence Fragrance-Free shampoo which is the best that I've found. I still try not to use it that much, washing my hair at most once a week, usually every two weeks, as I've found that the more I use shampoo, the more likely I am to become allergic to it. I then combine that with these historical techniques and I'm able to have nice hair without too many reactions. However, if you really can't find anything that works, eggs work surprisingly well as shampoo. Just beat a few, strain them, and wash with cold water. V Birchwood has a good video on how she does it.
@@boops1192 The endless unwarranted advice is SO annoying! Right now I don't even know what I am allergic to, since I have two different kinds of reactions (immediate burning and hives, plus a delayed reaction a day or two later) and I can't find anyone who can test for them. Turns out, people in the past have better advice than most people right now! Makes sense considering they never had to deal with all the chemicals we've created.
I recently started using a boar bristle brush and your lint situation is so relatable. My dogs sleep in my bed, and the amount of shed fur I keep brushing out of my hair... Very good motivation to sleep with braided, covered hair haha
Not ha ha .that really sounds disgusting.Dogs shed & stink & u have dog hair mixed with ur hair???? Are you married?
i have insanely greasy hair, so during quarantine i thought it was the perfect chance to try and 'train' my hair to be less greasy -- wash once a week, do only natural stuff. it didn't change a thing, my hair still gets greasy about 10 hours after washing, and since its a light color and fine you can truly truly tell when its greasy, so i started wearing triangle head scarves more and honestly i want to try putting my hair up in a scarf more too
yeah I have a very oily scalp and no matter what I do, its greasy at the end of each day. you can't "train" oily scalp genetics away!
I know that I’m dealing a bit with that right now, I don’t know if my hair will ever be able to last a week without washing and still feel nice, but I know that I am planning on using a clarifying shampoo soon because I accidentally used a shampoo with silicone, and made the greasiness worse. I have definitely noticed that my hair gets greasier when I have silicones in my hair. That was a ramble, not sure if it applies, but I sort of wanted to tell someone
Yeah, ive done the same and i think theres a point past where the less frequent washing just doesnt work. I have pcos and hormone things that make me an oil bomb within hours, ill stick to my frequent shampoos
Thank you for sharing! I'm exactly the same! I feel a little left out and slightly hurt when people say it's completely unnecessary to wash every day. Makes me feel like I must be a super dirty person.
I tried one month of washing my hair only once a week. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. By the end of two days, my hair is so oily the strands start to clump together. There's just no way I can go without washing.
People need to accept that all hair/scalps are different. It should be obvious, seeing as we understand this with the skin on our faces. So some people thrive with daily washes and some people thrive with less. But none are intrinsically "better" or "worse" overall.
My hair is superdry, as is my skin, and no amount of shampooing persuades it to produce more oil. More's the pity, because product just isn't the same as natural hair oil. I do not believe that you can influence the activity of your sebum glands by simple means such as washing.
As a hijabi woman of color this is basically my routine except I use a hair cream a bit a few times a week, and my hair never smells, itches or breaks. I also have curly frezzy east African hair and I always keep it in braids or updos and it will look healthier and and the floof is never gone. I could go weeks without having to wash my hair and there's hardly any grease of excess oils or build up.
Excessiv greesing only Happens If one Always aggressivly washes Hair and scalp bone dry. I have a similar Routine with almost straight Hair and IT Looks perfektly fine a week in
@@SingingSealRianamy hair is very wavy and forms some coils 2c/3a. I wash once a week now. My hair is growing twice as fast...almost no breakage. It is so strong! I had an accident with a zipper and could pull the hairs out without breakage 😮❤ im lightly oiling my hair on wash day with sesame oil infused with brahmi i bought online. Plus i take medication that usually makes people to lose extra hairs and mine is thriving. So so happy ❤
Your hair is so pretty! As a fellow curly girl i applaud you for the bravery of committing to combing your hair out everyday for a month. If you have trouble keeping yarn or historically accurate ties in your hair when it’s braided, I think Morgan Donner cracked the code on that one. If you cut the ties a little longer and braid them into your hair a few passes before you’re going to tie-off, it’s way more secure. I don’t often find myself physically recreating hairstyles that necessitate this but for things like weaving and other crafts I’ve definitely found this method works way better than just tying around the end of the braid.
My only “hair experiment”, if I can call it that, is keeping my hair braided at all times (except when washing it, obviously) and letting it grow out. So far it’s down to my bum when I let it down, but not quite so long that I might accidentally sit on it. During the day it’s always in two braids that wrap around my head (I vary how large I make the circle, how far forward or back I pin it, to not put constant strain in the same spots on my scalp all day every day), and at night I brush it all to one side and put it in a single braid, alternating which side I brush it to. I still wash my hair with shampoo every week, but brushing and combing it every morning and evening is definitely what keeps the scalp exfoliated, judging by the dust that gets deposited in my hairbrush and comb.
Your hair is pretty majestic, so clearly this is working for you!
@@SnappyDragon
The only downside is that as more and more of my hair reaches the full thickness (each hair may not build much, but there are a lot of them) it takes longer to dry, to the point where I'm having to either blow-dry it or sit for a long time in front of a fire (or other heat source) and brush it for a long time so that it's dry before I braid it, because otherwise it remains damp all day and could get musty.
I need to get back into this. Mine is down to almost my fingertips and I used to take the time to do this. I would alternate one braid buns and two braid coronets instead of daily coronets but otherwise identical. Grad school has been rough lately and I haven't had the energy. I just let it tangle up in buns and use satin sleep hats at night, but then the tangles when it's time to wash take several orders of magnitude more than combing it once or twice a day.
ETA: My solution for drying was a trick I learned from a girl with floor length hair. I use half ups. By half ups I mean I make a little bun with 2/3 of my hair for an hour, leaving the 1/3 around the nape. Then I drop the lower half out of the half up. Then I leave it all down for the lest hour. Then it's usually 80-90% dry so I french braid it into pigtails to air the scalp a bit and it's usually dry by morning. It's a process but it lets that middle hair breathe that otherwise stays mushy and wet for 2 days.
@@tiryaclearsong421 I never heard of half ups before! Am going to try adding that into my air drying routine as my hair grows longer :)
I wear headscarves regularly and my word they are comfy! And they do genuinely keep your hair so much cleaner. I do curly girl method, don't brush my hair, and only wash 1-2x a week and I attribute part of my ability to do that to using headscarves! I can confirm that I check my scarf/reorganize it a bit probably every 2-3 hours when it's a draped style, depending on my activity level. Usually just once a day if it's a more sedentary time like at my office. When I wear it in a turban/tichel style I do typically pull it forward slightly every hour or so! Though bad "hair" days 100% occur with headscarves...the infamous bad scarf day is just as stressful!!
I've been told velvet headbands or shapers are the thing for backwards slippage-- if I ever start wearing tichels more often I may try them.
@@SnappyDragon Yes!! There are a lot of good options to stop the slipping. Though curlier hair also helps because it has more texture for grip. And using care in selecting your scarf fabric. Jersey stays put like nobody's business, viscose is pretty good too. Silky materials are much harder to keep in place!
@@TheGPFilmMaker the only issue I've come across with fabrics like jersey and cotton is that it tends to strip moisture if I don't use a cap underneath it. I live in wig caps at this point.
@@valstarkgraf They definitely can! Bamboo viscose is my favorite since I find it isn't as drying. But I also condition with a pretty heavy weight cream every night to keep my curls shiny and happy!
@@TheGPFilmMaker I've fallen in with slumming it with bandanas, as I'm an outdoorsy vanlifer and had a zillion of them around as is part of my basic gear for camping and hiking. Maybe not the prettiest option, but my utilitarian "boring clothes I wear like a uniform" is generally jeans and a licensed character shirt of some kind and backpacking boots, so it works with the aesthetic and I save the fancier scarves (which are fussier to wash and dry) for other occasions.
I had knee-length hair for over 20 years, and putting it up in a high bun and then adding a cute headscarf has long been my go-to for when it's a little dirty but I'm not ready to wash it yet. And same, I've only ever had positive comments as a white woman wearing a headscarf.
And yeah, normally I washed my hair once a week pre-pandemic, more like once every 10 days now, and shampoo only once a month (the rest of the time, CO-wash).
People would always ask 'what's your secret, how do you get your hair so long' and my answer was always "I basically do as little as possible to it" 😅
That really is the secret! I've been telling clients that for 5+ years, "Just stop fighting with your hair, leave it in peace and it will work with you".
Yeah I used to have hair past my butt too and people would ask the same thing. The only "secret" was that i hadn't cut it in 12 years.
LOL It's a great secret, isn't it... mine now stops about 2" longer than it used to ever get before I quit shampooing it (whether I trimmed split ends or not, I tried leaving it alone with no trimming for a year and it never got longer, took off a couple inches to tidy the ends, looked the same two months later), it just lives happily in its loose braid. And I remember with horses, one girl used to do so much STUFF to her horse's tail it had like twenty hairs left... My pony had a foot-wide column of hair about twice a year when I'd wash it and comb out the dreadlocks that formed naturally... and I did have to trim the end so she wouldn't end up stepping on it.
Same. I have longish hair (longer than my profile picture would suggest), and people ask me all the time how I keep my hair so lovely... I do as little as possible. I shower, shampoo and condition, put it up in a bun (still damp), then let it down the next morning and wear it down that day. Rinse and repeat. Never heat!
I've had classic length hair for many years, but I wash it often, 'cause I can't stand having greasy hair, headscarf or not. I don't want my boyfriend to caress it (I thing I absolutely love) and go "Yikes... Gross...".
As a medievalist I love this video so much, I get tired of seeing people dismissing things people in the medieval period did as backwards or dirty. So great to see someone actually showing what things looked like in practice!
Gave up vanity for 40 days once and found out how beautiful I feel without makeup, with my body and my hair covered. I encourage every woman struggling to love herself to try it, but the amount of friends, family members, and co-workers I triggered was tragically hilarious. It differently takes a strong will. I was forced to love myself because everyone hated it. They have gotten use to it now, I love the way I feel so much that I do it whenever my confidence is low.
This is amazing! I find it really interesting that secular feminists are starting to embrace the modest dress movement for *themselves* , without taking into consideration the male OR female gaze. It really is liberating.
Wow what a great way of putting it! I will share that thought with my kiddos too. It would save so much money and energy for me to quit it for good.
I have long straight hair, and it's usually in braids. I typically brush it with a boar-bristle brush, wash it once or twice a week, and if it's getting a bit oily and I'm not ready to wash it yet, work in some dry shampoo. When I was a kid and teenager, I would sometimes wear the "homeschool" headscarf--a bandana folded into a triangle and then tied around the head. I liked the way it kept my hair off my face, particularly when my mom insisted I have bangs, because I could tuck my bangs back into the bandana. I have actually had one person comment on my appearance while I was wearing a headscarf. A woman in line at the grocery store asked me where I was from, and failing, to get more satisfactory answer than "right now, I'm from here" from me since I didn't feel like getting into my immigration situation with a complete stranger (I'm white, but I think based on the headscarf and my multi-coloured outfit, she was guessing I was an immigrant from eastern Europe; I'm originally American but I've lived in Canada my entire adult life), she turned to my daughter and asked her how many languages she spoke at home. Instead she got a speech about my kid's pet snake. It didn't feel good and reminded me that people of colour get so much crap from white people.
Props to your kidlet for making this nosy stranger regret asking!
Hey, I'm from Eastern Europe and I don't get it xD triangular bandanas are common around elderly ladies doing housework and that's all, I can't think of any other differences in clothing to western people. Anyway good job brushing her off.
I've read this type of story before and it never fails to baffle me. I mean, just the fact, that it seems to be socially acceptable for complete strangers to ask you random (or not so random) nosy questions in public in America and (apparently) Canada is like 👀 to me.
As a German, I would be highly irritated, if a stranger talked to me in a checkout line without prompting/good reason. Other people would probably look as well and then do that thing, where you inch away as far as possible from someone doing someone socially inappropriate 😆.
@@raraavis7782 im German and got a loud rant about "going Back to my own country" and "destroying the Economy" from random british people while speaking to my mum on the phone. Not to my face but they sat directly behind me on the bus where i couldnt See them. Points for cowardice i guess. My bulgarian friend got this crap talking to a friend in Germany, specifically a "we speak German in this country". It never fails to amaze me how entitled people are to police what language youre speaking.
@@annafirth6738 there are a thousand other ways of making conversation.
In medieval Italy, a turban made of a couple of yards of linen was also an option, seen in a number of manuscripts (c.f. Tacuinum Sanitatis). It happens to look good on almost anyone. For northern Europe, the St Birgitta's cap shows up a fair bit, both in the daytime and in bed scenes.
I'll have to take a look at those manuscripts!
@@SnappyDragon There are four manuscripts with illustrations - Vienna, Paris, Liege, and Rome. They are wonderful sources for 14th century clothing and lifestyle details. They can be a little hard to find, but worth it when you get them. You used to be able to find each one online complete, but the libraries all seem to have taken them down. You can find lots of images online, though. It just takes a little searching.
For the past month or so, I’ve been powdering my hair with an 18th century reproduction powder (ie: dry-shampooing- I can’t remember the last time I actually used shampoo on my hair) and combing it every day… I usually have really dry, frizzy hair but by keeping the natural oils (except those absorbed by the powder), my hair is smoother and tamer- even my grandmother noticed a difference and wanted to know what new shampoo I’ve been using! No itch, no bugs, no rats- just healthier hair that smells like snickerdoodle cookies!
I use 18thC reproduction powder as my dry shampoo! It's so great.
What are you using to make your hair smell like snicker doodle? Love to know and would like to try what you are doing!
@@BLJackson
Presumably cinnamon, since that's what snickerdoodles are flavoured with.
I stopped using shampoo in my hair about 5 or so years ago because I got horrible eczema from every brand that the stores around here sell. It somehow ended up with my hair not having had any split ends at all ever since, so apparently my hair and scalp just didn't get along with the "modern" products.
Doing hair taught me that it's possible to be reactive to anything, even "basic" things in simple shampoos. Good on you for doing what works for you!
How do you keep your hair from looking greasy? I have naturally oily hair and I want to stop using shampoo but I like to show my hair when I go out and don't want to have to use a headscarf to hide the grease
@@mae8646 it takes a bit, but generally I noticed that my hair started being less oily over time because I'm not stripping it of the natural oils constantly. Dunno why, just that it seems to balance itself. for keeping it from looking greasy I'd say just make sure to comb it through properly so that any oils are evenly disburse though the length of the hair, like there is always going to be a risk of it looking greasy when you have the oils of the scalp building up.
@@mae8646 I worked in the backcountry, and was not able to wash my hair for 2 months at a time. I was able to swim on occasion though. My mid-back wavy length was controlled by braids but I would occasionally hang out with my hair looking completely fine. The key was combing it out - one to keep the tangles down and two - to distribute scalp oils. I think we (USA) have been oversold chemicals to "cure" non-existent issues. I had "city kids" that would braid up my hair and if it had been gross, they would have been very verbal about it. Mostly they would tell me how soft my hair was.
@@mae8646 I've just started using chickpea flour and a bit of water to wash my greasy hair without normal shampoo. I didn't think it would work, but it really does take the grease out and you can't get more simple and natural than that. Normal shampoos irritated my scalp and I'd loose sooo much hair every time I washed. Now I have clean, non greasy hair. I'm using a boar bristle brush to help distribute any oils throuout the days I'm not washing.
Historical myth busting...my personal fav! This was a real fun and educational video. Good job.
I haven't used regular shampoo since november 2019 - I usually use chickpea-flour mixed in water and vinegar, but occasionally I use an egg instead (then I of course have to use cold water, and preferably wash it over a container and empty it outside). The first thing I noticed was that my scalp didn't itch. Gradually, I have been able to wash my hair more seldom, though I do comb it quite often. And the comb gets dirty, which is not so strange - dust is mostly skin-cells. When I do wash my hair, I have to work more on it - massaging the "shampoo" into the scalp, and make sure I get it all over my hair, since it doesn't lather, and the removal of "dirt" is mechanical rather than chemical. One reason I started this water was that I was trying not to waste water, for environmental reasons, but I need to use quite a lot of water and soap to clean the comb. Anyway, it seems that in a great part of the world we have become more and more obsessed with hot water and soap (or shampoo), and we have a very simple concept of dirt and hygene and we are terrified of smells. Excessive amounts of water and soap is not good for our skin.
I bet the protein in the chickpea flour is great for your hair!
When you make your egg shampoo if you strain it through a seive before use it makes washing and rinsing easier.
This was lovely to watch. It is always so interesting to see people try out non washing hair care. As someone who can't wash their hair as soon as it gets "dirty" due to illness and disability, pinning it up and covering it helps so much. It takes away the "does people think my hair look dirty" anxiousness I otherwise often felt and it is another way I can use my huge collection of shawls and scarves so pluses all around.
I would recommend checking out Morgan Donners video where she quit using elastics to secure her, then very long, hair since you seemed to struggle a little with that. Abby Cox has made several videos about hair and a few go through how to pomade and powder your hair to clean it. It is quite interesting and a really fun watch.
Getting to use my scarf collection was absolutely a plus! They'd been sitting in a box for way too long.
I’ve been following the Pretty Shepherd’s hair care routine for almost a year. She has lovely waist-length hair and mine never grew much past my shoulders. Since I only wash it with modern products every 4-5 weeks it has grown to bra level in the back. When you consider that the more you wash out the natural oils, the more oil your scalp produces. I have very dry curly hair and I think I can say that I love the medieval method of no shampoo and keeping the hair braided or contained. Y’all keep your fingers crossed that I can get it to grow to waist length. It never looks or feels oily and I am now just using a comb rather than brushes.
Maximum hair length is largely determined by genetics - basically, no matter how nice you are to your hair, everyone has a different cycle length for when their hair will naturally shed out. AFAIK there's not been success yet on extending that length, so for those of us who didn't win the genetic lottery to get that gorgeous butt-length hair, we just have to cross our fingers that science will get to us eventually XD
Certainly crossing fingers for you! Everybody does have their own max length, but you can certainly try to keep as much of what you grow as possible by protecting it from breakage.
Your hair sounds a lot like mine! I suspect my lack of length is mostly generic, but now I’m going to look up Pretty Shepherd and see what she recommends! Thank you!!
Last I saw her (probably over a year ago), her hair was nearly knee length. Has she cut it?
My max length increased about two inches after I quit using shampoo a decade ago, but I'll never be able to sit on it. If I tilt my head back I can touch my waistband with the tip of the braid and it's not gotten any longer than that even though I don't remember the last time it got a trim.
For most of my professional life I have worn my hair short enough that it has been neat and tidy. I washed it daily because I worked in a job that would expose me to blood and saliva (dentistry) and wearing that home grossed me out. One of things about Covid-19 was I could not get regular haircuts, at least initially. Once I had enough a hair that I could place it in an all day style securely all day I discovered that I loved the feeling of it being up and detested it loose around my neck. I started wearing it covered at work and violia had no reason besides habit to wash it daily. I have never gone back to short hair. I love the freedom of not having to fuss with my hair all the time. I put it up in the morning and it feels great all day. Braiding at night is a necessity in keeping it untangled. Washing my hair less often has also taken care of my dry scalp and I feel great. I enjoyed the tutorial and in particular your discussion of the headscarves. Your mention of the tichel lead me down another rabbit hole which I am looking forward to exploring. Thank you.
In a lot of ways, long hair can actually be easier than short hair because you have so many options for putting it up. Explaining this to my clients who thought they could "save time" by getting a pixie cut was always fun . . .
It was so refreshing to see you open with your hair with all its natural oils. My hair gets oily very quickly, regardless of whether I wash my hair once a day or once a week. After years of thinking that my “greasy” hair is dirty, I’ve been working to reframe my oily scalp as simply natural.
You mentioned that washing your hair takes half an hour or so, which sounds like it's a lot of work. I have a suggestion: try washing it braided. I have hip-length hair, and washing it used to be an ordeal. A while ago, it occurred to me to try washing it braided. I works beautifully. First, I give it a good brushing & braid it up. Then I shampoo, applying the shampoo mostly to the scalp & behind my ears, which are the areas that get grubbiest. I work a bit of shampoo through the braids, but, since the further the hair is from my scalp, the less oily it is, the less shampooing it takes. Combing it out is a breeze; no more wrestling with mega tangles, and I lose much less hair. Dunno how it would work with your thick, curly hair - mine is super fine - but it might be worth a try.
I'm gonna have to try that. Mine is fine and brittle and down to my waist. Every time I wash it, I lose a handful of hair and it takes at least 30 to 40 minutes to comb out. I keep it braided most of the time.
I do all my detangling in the shower (my 21stC curls hate brushing of any kind), so this wouldn't work for me personally-- but a good tip for people with other methods! Half an hour start-to-finish is not that long for many of the curly- and natural-haired folks I've worked with, and I don't mind doing it once a week if I can leave my hair alone the rest of the time.
I may have to try that for a change.
My recent hair hack is aloe. If my hair is looking greasy, like it will need a wash in the morning, I brush it and spray some aloe on the roots and work it in with my fingers. Then I braid it & go to bed. When I brush it in the morning it looks fresh washed.
Edit: I tried washing it braided and it worked perfectly 🥰
I have super fine hair as well, and love this idea! The post shower brush-out is always soooo un-fun, even when I'm my most careful.
I’m going to try this, I have hip length thickish hair and it’s a tangled mess when I wash it. I wouldn’t go without washing as I swim and run a lot and it get filthy very quickly, my mister though has shoulder length curly hair which he’s only washed about three times in the 12 years we’ve been together.
"My hair is not occasionally startling me" I am so happy this happens to someone else!
Look at this point it has a life and personality of its own, it's basically like having a kraken on my head.
Headscarves are great. I always used them on unfortunate hair days. In fact my student card from 1968 university has me in a headscarf because I forgot it was the picture day and my hair was limp and greasy.
They're so useful!
Historical records shows women would sew the ends of their hair. Also with your lovely skin and green eye, you need to make a Merida style dress.
Now, I’m carved from cream cheese but I will rock a headscarf to cover my hair and I’ve had nasty comments about either having cancer or being in a cult. But I do love a head wrap to keep my hair clean when doing yard chores because I only wash with shampoo 2xs a week.
Some people are very close minded, they seem to want us to all fit into this very narrow box of conformity and anything outside of those "accepted norms" is crazy to them 🙃
Really appreciate the commitment you have to mythbusting, we need more of this in the world. Also a really important point about BIPOC who wear headscarves and how we should let people wear what they want without harassing them.
Aww, thanks! Always happy to play with my hair for the amusement of others 🤣
I love that you did this from a stylist perspective!! I'm a student stylist and people are shocked when I say I wash my hair like once a week, and I tell curly clients they shouldn't wash their hair super often
No hot water? That's a very medieval life style. I went through a year of having to heat water on the stove and it's a nuisance! No wonder people used to wash a bit at a time with a cloth!
At least I still had *running* water! If I had to haul buckets to wash, no questions I'd be washing that way too.
Honestly as someone who is on the Autism Spectrum and hates showers I plan to get one of those combs I already braid my hair and knowing there is an ok way to handle it makes me feel safer and happier. Thank you
“You’re judging your own body less for how it affects your appearance”. As an orthodox Jewish woman who wears a tichel and follows traditional tzniut/modesty laws, this was such a great way to express how covering my hair makes me feel!
This was a fascinating experiment!
In College, I lived in a dorm that rarely got hot water, so that year I started pin curling or braiding my hair most days. On the days I didn't go to class I wore scarves. I have extremely straight and fine hair and it could last half a week before it started looking limp and greasy. I never really changed my combing habits.
Oh goodness, that sounds so frustrating for the whole dorm! Where I am it's not legal to rent out an apartment or house unless there is hot water, it's considered uninhabitable.
@@SnappyDragon I lived in a rural dorm where they cut our hot water frequently for maintenance and it would still crap out basically daily. I became an expert in sink baths because I could boil water in my kettle to get a nice temperature to clean my body. I ended up stretching washes and wearing bandanas a lot to get by. I love indulgent showers now that I live in an apartment complex and I will be eternally grateful for the gift of hot water. This isn't right, but sometimes it's really hard to get anywhere the legal route because "maintenance" seems to be a fine defense even if it's constant maintenance.
Yes. Braiding before bed has a long and continuing history for long-haired european types for that exact reason of keeping maintenance manageable...lots of folks still do it.
Keeping my hair braided during the day makes an even bigger difference to my hair than braiding it before bed, but that might be due to how I tend to move while I'm awake compared to while I'm asleep.
I often braid my hair before I sleep, just because it becomes an unruly mess if I don’t (think Hermione on the first movies). I learned that trick from watching Pride and Prejudice years ago. I was watching them get ready for bed and thought, “That’s a good idea!” We can always learn useful things from period pieces, lol
surprise surprise, historical practices often work!
When I had children I was inspired by all those Victorian dramas where people plaited their hair before bed so I have always plaited their hair loosely before bed. I’m so glad I did because it saves so much time in the morning! I just have to convince my 11 year old to occasionally brush her hair through thr day so I don’t have to spend ten minutes a night detangling it. 🙄
Two years ago I went a little more into historical dressing in my "civillian" life, and started wearing hats regurarly. It's a HUGE difference, especially wearing head protection outside helped with my dust allergy, along with sleeping with braided hair, also grows great, and easier to handle. Home made hair powder keeps it soft, and smells great in the summer ^_^
That's so cool! I've also definitely realized how great it is to keep hair in braids or something when sleeping.
I have awful allergies. Please tell me more about how the hats helped!! And how did you style them?? I'd like to wear hats more often, if only because of the sun, but my usual hairstyles (most often a big bun at the top) doesn't allow such a thing.
I once tried experimenting with washing my hair every other day instead of every day. It did not go well. By the end of day two I could plaster my hair flat to my head with its own grease. I tried keeping it up for a few weeks to see if my scalp would adjust, but it did not. I am very glad I do not have to resort to medieval hair care.
No routine is going to work for everyone! People are just too different for that.
I tried lengthening the days between washes just out of the blue a year ago and had the same difficulties, although I made it to day 3 before it was "bad." Currently I am co-washing (using conditioner only) 3 times between a once a week shampooing and it's going really remarkably well by comparison. I'm alternating between Trader Joe's spa moisture conditioner and Aveeno apple cider vinegar conditioner. The Aveeno definitely seems to work better, but costs more than 2x as much, the TJs one is adequate for my needs. I've noticed the consistency of my hair oils has improved since I started this, so "really greasy" doesn't look nearly as bad as it did before, and that's even on low porosity wavy hair, which can't absorb nearly as much oils as many people's hair can. I would definitely recommend trying co-washing to see what happens. It might help your scalp calm down and produce less oils without having to endure unpleasantly oily hair for so long. Unfortunately just a few weeks is often not long enough to resolve these kind of issues. My sister had severely oily hair in HS and it took her several months of using dry shampoo many times between regular shampooings to get things to calm down.
@@shieldmaidenforchrist1310 I used the pandemic to gradually stretch out the time between washing. Working remotely was a blessing. Admittedly, I'm on the shady side of 50, but I've been able to go from every four days to every two weeks. I'm doing the braids at night, combing it out with a fine wood comb (starting with a coarse wood comb if I've been wearing it down). I occasionally use traditional shampoo and conditioner (I'm cheap enough not to throw out what I purchased two plus years ago) but I've mostly switched to something from an Amish market (a conditioning shampoo with olive oil and borax). It's been over well two years since I've seen a hairdresser and virtually no split ends. I've passed the bra line (started at just below the shoulders) and I'm shooting for waist length.
That green headscarf was gorgeous and looked fantastic on you!
Thank you for posting this, I want to try it.
I found your channel recently in one of my latest ADHD rabbithole interest sessions and I just want to say how utterly underrated I think you are!!! I'm still new to your videos but the way you present topics is just so refreshing - it manages to be accessible enough to people like me who aren't too informed about these topics overall while also going into a really interesting level of detail, but not overwhelmingly so. Your delivery is also really passionate and witty and overall just a really engaging and original style IMO! Your expertise as a hair stylist lends your coverage of these topics a really interesting and informed point of view; moreover, I really appreciate you being someone who is considerate of social issues, as an autistic demi-agender person with ADHD and a few other disabilities. It just really makes the viewing experience that much more comfortable. I sincerely hope you get even more recognition over time as you truly deserve it IMO!!! Thank you for your brilliant work ❤
This is an awesome video, I feel like it came to me at the right time as we are having some…issues…with our hot water heater! I am glad that this experiment worked out well for you and it is inspiring to me because I have fine, curly hair and I feel the need to wash it more often than I should because the feel of oil on my scalp bothers me. Now I see why they used the comb!
Oh no! I hope your water heater gets fixed more quickly than mine did.
I’ve been trying to do “no poo” for 2.5 years now. My hair still gives Snape’s hair a run for it’s money.
No routine is going to have the same results for everyone! Some people's hair just likes washing better and there's nothing wrong with that.
I can’t rinse my hair without washing it either, because that’s what happens if I try. Might be due to how hard the water is where I live.
I'm so glad I watched this today! I knew you were going to do this experiment and now the results are in! Great job. Thank you for your honesty in evaluating your experience to share with us! I've been doing this for a couple of years and can say you are right about how important the daily comb out is. When I've been lazy or having a fibromyalgia awful day I've skipped the comb out for a day...maybe three! And what did I get? Tangles, that's what! I love you using the Yiddish word schmutz! We should use it more often!
A little bit of a story time here.
Tldr: this method is great for festivals, camping or backpacking/wilderness.
But I went to 3 day metal camping festival (Download) this year, it was very hot and windy. There was soil dust, absolutely everywhere. This got into my very long hair and I couldn't even get a brush though it, I couldn't do any thing with it. I washed it with water near the water collection point and it did hardly anything. My hair felt horrible and almost waxy and staw like.
So the next festival was bloodstock and I was determined to keep my hair nice. So I washed my hair and followed hair tapping (my every year favourite summer style) I then dressed it with a satin scarf and didn't take it off for the entire 4-5 day festival My hair went 5 days without washing and it felt like it had just been washed that day, when I got home and took it out. I also always sleep in a satin bonet to avoid my fiance rolling onto my hair.
I 100% now understand why they did everything they did and following that is great for when you're camping. Both the hair and using linen/laundry.
10/10 a life saver.
I work in a 1940s tearoom and will have my hair in a land girl style wrap for at least 4 days of the week and I cannot describe how convenient it is! Might try combing it out and braiding underneath now to see if it helps with the knots.
The braids are really amazing for tangle prevention! It always surprises me how much better they work than buns.
I've done this, I guess sorta? I have curly hair, but not as curly 10 years ago. So about 10 years ago I went months with brushing, not washing, protecting for bedtime, etc. It was a tough first few weeks (month?) at the start. But it was generally very good and effective 👍😁
I stopped when I was always in water anyway for summertime.
I would say it worked pretty well, but I DO prefer modern haircare. Texture and styling options, along with being able to swim etc without major concerns for my hair, are big reasons I use modern methods. Also, I admit that I like the sensation and smells of washing etc.😁
I certainly prefer modern haircare too! I'm definitely not going to give it up in favor of this-- I just like to keep chipping away at the idea that Medieval people were dirty and smelly and didn't know anything at all.
LOVE IT V!
Thank you for sharing this fun experiment with us!
I would love to see your regular hair routine from before this. Your curls always look amazing!
I went through a phase, as a teen/young adult where I liked wearing different bandannas in my hair. I abruptly stopped when a random stranger walked up to me in the mall and asked if I had cancer -.- It's a shame because I loved all the different patterns and colours I had and buying them from Canteen was a chance to support people who DID have cancer.
Great video!! I appreciate you going to such lengths for our Hair Knowledge ☺️
My hair experiment has really just been the pandemic and working at home more making it so I didn’t need to wash it so often and since I have it up in a bun all day (though I do sleep with it down but use a silk pillowcase) it’s no trouble at all to go a week without washing anymore. I have gone two weeks but it’s really not feeling nice by the end of that. I wonder if I used a comb instead of my boar bristle brush and if I braided it for sleep if that would extend the time more easily.
Let the experiment continue lol
Honestly I don't think a comb will do much that a boar-bristle brush doesn't; I used it because it was the Medieval tool rather than because I think it's the most effective thing out there. But braiding during sleep is *great!*
Thanks so much for this. I think the full medieval hair covering is gorgeous. The light reflects onto your face and gives it a glow. It is becoming.
Oh, I'm definitely going to get one of those combs for my super thick native hair. But, would you consider sharing your usual modern hair routine? Your curls are glorious and my partner and I are always on the lookout for better options for their hair.
I love this video.
I’ve been struggling with my hair for years - it’s wavy and super fine, and generally looks straight, but frizzy, and won’t stay up unless it’s long enough to braid or uses a million pins. I’ve been wearing caps and tichel-style headscarves to keep myself sane as I grow out, and I totally agree about the potato look. I find myself overcompensating with large earrings a lot!
Pretty earrings are magical, I swear.
When I hit my late 40s my hair got super dry and broke a lot. I literally could not put enough conditioner and oil treatments in to fix it. I did not want to cut it so I bought a $$$ boar hair brush from VT Country Store that all these 70 year olds were raving about. I brush my hair thoroughly twice a day and now only wash my hair when I feel like it needs it. My hair is less curly than when I wash it but it is also much stronger and continuing to grow well. I am going to check out the comb because that seems like a good thing to introduce to my routine. I also want to get more consistent about braiding it at night. Great video and interesting experiment! Oh, and the next time I see a woman of color in a head scarf, I will be sure to tell her how great it looks. Thanks for shining a clear light on that double standard.
Awesome experiment! I think your hair looked nice all the way through :)
I have very straight and long hair and I always try to wash it as little as possible to protect the length and tips from drying out. Was down to once a week but then I moved to Helsinki and the dryer air and different water made my hair oilier so I'm washing it about every fourth day atm. Brushing it out a lot definitely helps with distributing the oils and removing dirt. Never thought about using a comb to help with that even more, I think I'll get a fine wooden comb now and see if I can push the shampooing schedule to every 6 days maybe :) Also wearing a headscarf while not doing reenactment seems to be a good idea! Only have wool ones, but I have enough linen lying around to make an easy headscarf. Thanks for the inspiration!
That's so frustrating, when a new climate throws off your routine! I've had that happen and needed to swap out all my products.
VERY interesting! Having no dog in the fight, I was surprised how interesting I found the entire process. At the same time, I was not surprised about the results. Folks had ways of taking care of themselves, even 'way back when'. Thanks for sharing!
I naturally don’t sweat much and have dryer hair. I only ever wash it 2-3 times a month. I actually add oils to my hair (Rosemary & Jojoba) for sure much needed oil. My only point is I fully understand everyone has different hair and thus, different needs. My aunt’s hair was so oily it became visibly oily in only a matter of hours. She still only washed every other day.
That's got to be one of the biggest things I learned from doing hair : People are just too different for there to be one right method, product, routine, et c for everyone. It's not about finding the One True Haircare Method, it's just about learning what works for you yourself.
I love to use rosemary on my hair. I’m using castor oil with rosemary right now and it’s divine. I use olive oil too. Love them both.
@@SnappyDragon right? And, there’s no such thing as a “holy grail” product 😒. About the time we fall in love with a hair product, formula changes, season changes, hair changes, or body chemistry changes. It’s hard for us humans to accept everything in life changes and affects everything else in life. The best we can do is be kind to our hair, be kind to ourselves, and be kind to others.
I have similar hair to your aunt. It's really annoying and I have to wash it every other day. I need to use two shampoos (HaS anti oil first) because otherwise it gets too dry and stringy. Haven't found a better solution yet.
This video was so great! Thank you!
I did attempt this method of hair care once but it only lastet a few days. About 5 years ago I stopped using scented shampoo and I don't use conditioner at all. The shampoo I use now is allergi-friendly. Last night before going to bed I braided my hair, and it was almost perfectly braided when I woke up (my hair is not the same length in front as it is in the sides/back). I think I try that each night in the next couple of weeks (hopefully that will last longer than the combing method did).
The no-wash is certainly not for everyone! I was happy to do the test but I'm also happy to be back to my usual hair.
So happy I subscribed to you, thank you for bringing a little bit of joy to a stressful morning.
aww, thanks! I hope your day becomes easier.
I really enjoy your videos so much. This was real fun to watch and learn.
The fine teeth on the comb were probably also used/ useful for parasites like head lice back in the day too. I was in a medieval music group many years back and the veils we wore were (I was informed at the time) for keeping lice and fleas off the hair as much as for convenience/ style.
I hate the misconception that people pre-1800s were just universally dirty and gross all the time a-la-Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's like we forget that they were PEOPLE and valued hygiene and smelling nice (and even understood a good bit of the health implications of taking care of one's body that way). I have met very few people over the course of my life that just were content to wallow in filth.
Thank you for yet another excellent video. I'm so glad your pluming is fixed!
It is 100% present-day society wanting to feel superior.
I’m so glad this popped up in my UA-cam recommendations. This is a fun video to watch. Your hair is so gorgeous that I was worried for a bit, but thankfully no strands of hair was damaged during the filming of this video, lol. Will you ever post your own curly girl hair routine?
okay I love the headscarf too. I feel like everything you do is actually a look
Years ago I was put in a full plaster body cast for six months and the only way I could have my hair washed was to have someone drive me down to the hairdressers to have it done professionally. This was done about once a week. I was just twenty and my hair was very oily. Keeping my hair braided at all times was the way I coped with it. It was certainly more comfortable than having my hair loose.
I've also found that a comb made of natural horn picks up more dirt than plastic ones.
Oh my goodness, what an ordeal! I definitely did have clients who came in to have their hair washed when they couldn't do it themselves.
I am so sorry that you didn't have knowledgeable people to help you. When my mother ended up bedridden her caregivers washed her hair in bed. It is tricky and time consuming but totally possible.
However I could totally understand if you preferred going to the hairdresser as an outing and opportunity to socialize.
My hair is knee-length and dead straight from its own weight. I can personally attest that pinning it up in protective styles 24/7 are most of why it got so long and why I can put up with the length while dancing, running around university, etc. No headaches, nothing. Also, yes, slapping some kind of cotton bandana over my roots during the day saves SO MUCH trouble.
Now I'm looking into getting one of those ultra-fine tooth combs you describe. Here they were used to remove lice until... about the 60s, at least
I want to try this! I don't wash my hair a lot but tend to rely on dry shampoo if it starts to get a bit funky.I have curly hair as well,if not as thickly curly as yours,it's still enough that if I don't sleep in braids,I get mats in what feels like a matter of heartbeats.I've been afraid of using a comb,but you've given me the courage to give it a shot! This video just popped up in my feed tonight,out of the blue;I'm glad I decided to watch it.
I am thoroughly enjoying your videos!
I am totally here for all of this experimental hair stuff! I kind of want to buy my own comb like that, my hair gets gross and itchy if I don't wash it every day and now I'm curious to see if that comb would prevent that sort of feeling. Also, I have a few scarves that I want to try out but just don't have the confidence-- you've made me want to wear them more often!
It's a really great comb! Highly recommend.
I picked one up, not to stretch washed but to exfoliate my scalp so it's less itchy all of the time. It really seems to help (and it did give me one extra day between washes, I was already at 2-3 times a week though so ymmv).
I recently switched out my regular shampoo and conditioner for pure olive oil soap and an apple cider vinegar rinse. I used to get quite a dry itchy scalp using normal shampoos most likely due to additives and having sensitive skin in general. This new method turned out to work really well for me.
It's so satisfying when you find that routine that works for you!
Your hair is so beautiful!!
As a wavy curly gal with a lot of fine hair I love that you experimented with this. The one thing I miss about wearing my hair straightened is running things through my hair. Fingers, brushes, combs. I miss those. I did a no poo experiment years ago and found I could easily go 3 weeks without washing by using homemade hair powder (cocoa powder, tapioca starch and activated charcoal) but the comb method intrigues me so much. I'm coming up on 2 weeks tomorrow and will have a wash day but I did comb it out with my rat tail comb tonight and there was a bit of lint on the comb. I put some good oil on and braided it up. It looks perfectly clean even now but my scalp oil has been distributed so yay! I could see doing this a couple days a week and really enjoying it even though the curls are now just waves. Really enjoyed the video.
Im glad this went so well for you!
Ive done this out of curiosity and fatigue, with shorter hair. The hair itself is fine. Even with scalp combing, after about 3 weeks, my scalp gets a serious funk and gunk. I tried rinsing with tap water, but the chlorine made my hair nasty.
Oof, yeah. Having stuff in your water certainly will not help!
I just think of my years as a camp counselor, we used braids and bandanas to keep our hair clean during days spent outside playing with kids and working in the barn with the horses. So I guess I've done this sort of thing, but with weekly washes.
It does combine really well with modern methods! Good to have options.
This was a great video! We had our hot water turned off for awhile because of a leak that was repaired, then began again, so I totally understand what you went through.
Morgan Dinner did a video on braiding your hair and putting it up without pins or hair taping. Basically you lay a long ribbon on your head and incorporate it into two braids. You make a crown and use the tails to tie them after wrapping. I didn't explain that very well but she did.
It works really well and my braids stay up while I do housework. My hair is elbow length and will curl some but not like yours. It definitely will frizz. I've started brushing it with a soft flat boars hair brush which seems to work best for me.
I was hoping I'd have time to inkle-weave myself something to tape with, but it didn't happen. Future projects!
Great video! It is nice to see this experiment in action.
I also have curly hair, and I wash my hair maybe once every two weeks? I sleep with my hair wrapped in a silk scarf, and that definitely helps keep my hair clean and neat. (I did actually try the medieval method you did in this video for a while, and I quite liked it! Might go back to doing it sometime in the future. I also found no damage to my hair caused by the process, and my hair grew more than expected during it.) Sometimes i wear my hair in a headscarf during the day, too, which I started doing when I had no hair (health problems) and have kept up since. Very comfortable, very easy, looks nice and takes next to no time at all to do in the morning once you've figured out two or three styles of wrapping it that work for you. Highly recommend for other spoonies like me.
Headscarves are just an excellent spoonie option indeed!
This is fascinating!! I also have a lot of chronic health and pain issues which generally limit me to showering/washing my hair once a week. I’ve always felt like my hair (also naturally curly) has dealt with it fine, but this gives me some extra tips and encouragement. Because you do feel weird in our society if you’re not showering every single day, even if you have valid medical reasons to not, even if you keep clean in other ways, even if your husband swears for the hundredth time that you don’t smell… it’s reassuring. Maybe I’ll get one of those combs and try this myself! Btw, if you wanted to split the difference, I have a very fine mist spray bottle that I keep full of mainly water with a cap full of apple cider vinegar, mint and rosemary essential oils in my bathroom. I spritz it on my hair as needed to help refresh it if it’s looking a little bedraggled or if I’ve been feeling sweaty but I can’t take a full shower yet. The smells are pleasant (and don’t aggravate my migraines, most importantly), the vinegar (I think) helps with any potential odor control and the oils are historically helpful for hair growth. I have that kind of curly hair that reaches just below my shoulders and decides it’s just done growing, no matter what I do, sigh. Maybe not washing it, wrapping it up and braiding it for a month could be the answer! (Although if it’s genetic, which is a strong suspect because my mom’s is the same way, it won’t matter, but at least it won’t hurt.) I wish I lived near you so I could have you cut my hair! I usually just trim it myself because A) leaving the house is a full day activity, even for a trim, and B) not everyone understands curls, but you obviously do! Thank you so much for putting your hair through this! I’m SO GLAD it wasn’t harmed by the experiment. If anything, it seems like it enjoyed the process!
I have a friend that uses a similar ACV mix to treat scalp issues!
@@SnappyDragon Oh interesting! I probably read about it somewhere online or in a book when I went curly girl method years ago; I’m sure I didn’t come up with it on my own. But I do use diluted ACV (just with water) as a skin wipe on days when I’m feeling sweaty/grimy but don’t have the energy for a shower. Supposedly the ACV kills whatever bacteria it is that produces body odor. It’s not a full substitute for a regular cleaning, but it sure does help refresh things! The vinegar smell doesn’t linger on you long.
I enjoyed this video way more than I thought (and probably should), being a bold man. Thanks for doing and sharing the experiment V!
That's quite a compliment! 🤣
Hello there! I've been watching your videos for some time now. I find each to be informative and interesting. You delve deep into topics that captivate my curiosity. I have had a few months were I gave up on regular modern hair products and switched to using vinegar and baking soda. Diluted vinegar as a rinse and baking soda mixed with plain water to scrub my scalp. My hair was healthy, clean, no bad smell and actually looked wavier than when I use commercial products. I didn't need to wash as frequently, either.
Right now I have bleached and dyed hair. I made my own dry shampoo with cornstarch and rice flour. I added a tiny bit of vanilla and violet oil for a pleasant fragrance. I only need to use the dry shampoo every week or so. My goal was to reduce washing with water and not being fearful that my scalp would have an offensive odor. Also a benefit is lower cost for products to maintain my hair.
Long ago I had watched a series that put modern people in pioneer settings with things only available during the time period. The women and teenage girls used wheat flour as a period appropriate dry shampoo. I believe the narration indicated this was a practice of people at the time.
Anyway, please keep the videos coming as you are able. I appreciate your candor, humor and expertise. As always, my best to you.
Aww, thanks!
I'm actually quite surprised you weren't already in the habit of keeping your hair braided at night. My hair is more wavy than curly but braiding it every night both protects it from tangling and reinforces the wave pattern as it gets longer & is pulled straight by its own weight.
Chinese sources I've read talk about combing one's hair "100 strokes" every night, which is probably not meant to be taken literally but I think they do mean that you should be combing it until the comb comes out clean, indicating that there's nothing left on your scalp and no dust/etc left in your hair. But this advice would have been aimed at East Asians with very straight hair so I don't know if that would be reasonable for curly-hair people.
I don't braid at night because my curl pattern is tight enough that a braid messes it up. Once my hair goes in a braid, I don't let it loose until next wash day or there will be chaos 😅
My mom grew up in a rural area and she said used to brush her hair religiously
Headscarves are really awesome! I asked my Muslim sister to show me how to drape a hijab and am so happy she showed me. I have thick curly/wavy hair that dries out quickly, scarves are an awesome protective style.
The draping of hijab styles is *so* gorgeous! I think a lot of Westerners/non-Muslims have this idea that headscarves are always dowdy and boring, but I've seen hijab draping that is more artistic than anything I know how to do with hair.
@@SnappyDragon oh my goodness no! They really dress up a plain outfit and can enhance facial features.
Also- side note, the makeup artist commenting on the color of your headscarf is a micro aggression that many of my Muslim friends have told me about. Noticing the hijab first, rather than the human under the hijab. 🤦🏻♀️ thanks for the nice vid and noting the issues women of color have d/t racism and Islamophobia.
This is really cool experimental archaeology- examining how older beauty/hair techniques would actually look is really useful to analyzing our perception of the past. I’ve been curious about this, being from Southern Europe where curly hair was the norm, and veils/coverings were the norm until the 1950s
I think headcoverings lasted longer even in the West than most people realize! It was just fancy hats and such instead of headscarves.
I’ve been thinking about trying these methods out since your first video on the topic, but now, after seeing you actually do it, I’m sure I will incorporate this into my hair routine. Also I’m a huge fan of headscarves, but I struggle to arrange them on my head in any historical way, so I’d love to see a tutorial from you about the styles you’ve been wearing for this experiment or in general :)
Thanks for the amazing content!
I was mainly using tichel-style wraps that I learned from @Wrapunzel's videos. They have great tutorials!
@@SnappyDragon thanks!! and you mentioned that the more historical material you used to tie your braids was slipping out, but have you tried braiding the strings or ribbons in the braids? i suspect this method was not very popular in western Europe (it's more of a Slavic/eastern tradition), but Morgan Donner sometimes does something like that, and it's extremely practical!
You’ve inspired me to add ‘fine tooth comb’ to my ultra-straight fine hair care routine. I have to add oil to my hair so perhaps moving beyond just brush will help! Such a mood that some of my ancestors would just add black oil to their hair and the others decided that once you got married, no time for that and you cover!
Let me know how it works! I'm on the fence as to combs vs brushes are going to be more effective tools in general, but I figure it'll also be different for everyone.
@@SnappyDragon I'm also on the fence. I have a brush with gold-plated teeth that's geared towards scalp massage, and the amount of lint that builds up on it is shocking at times. I have to brush regularly, and my hair's fine enough that I prefer brushes, as combs can be pretty painful and just take much longer.
After the initial comb out you looked like Myrtle from AHS Coven. I kinda follow something similar to this hair routine, but with modern products and I generally do use hot water and a mild conditioner to rinse my hair once a week. I usually wear my hair down, and once a week I'll change the style, usually either my natural hair or braid waves , and in working on perfecting a foam roller set so I can have vintage inspired s waves, I'm getting better at it. I brush my hair every day unless I'm wearing it natural and I do the combing at my scalp every two or three days when im not. I find the hot water helps distribute my oils more evenly
I had to google the character, but I certainly do not mind this comparison!
Yeah, I definitely saw Myrtle for a moment there too.
I have those exact teal blue towels & I love them! My aunt in-law passed away last week & I got the bundle she had never opened of 5 towels, 5 hand towels & 5 rags. Super soft & cozy.🥰
Thank you for this. I've been doing my hair this way for almost three months now and it is so much softer than it has ever been. Even my scalp has chilled out. I kinda stopped combing my (very fine, even more curly than yours) hair a couple years ago to be able to style it in its curls and once i learned how to do that it went okay, but my scalp hated me for it. (Yay exmer) Now i wear it the medieval way and only wash it for special occasions and it's lovely. Also: no breakage!