Hair beautifiers how to

• Singeing, curling,
• "Permanent waving," bleaching.
• Titian henna blondes.

Singeing the hair is a practice that has no reason for existence, unless it may be to make money for beauty specialists and barbers. Anyone who ever saw a hair under the microscope knows that it is not a hollow tube, full of oil—or a tube through which the oil flows as sap flows in a tree.

For hair grows from the root, the new cells pushing the old cells further up, just as with the finger nails. The only place in which there is any oil in the hair is in the hair bulb or follicle at the roots of the hair, and on the outside of the hair, where it has been carried by capillary attraction. So the hair does not "bleed" nor does the "oil run out"—for the simple reason that there isn't any blood or oil to run out.

So when the barber says "Singe?" to you, tell him "No." For the singe is merely a scheme for obtaining money under false pretences, and may work actual injury to the hair—possibly making it brittle, and destroying its flexibility.

Curling and “permanent waving” good things to leave alone

Irrespective as to what any enthusiastic person may say, or what any hairdresser may claim to the contrary, any curling of the hair in which the action of heat is the chief curling agent must necessarily be harmful. This harmfulness may not be manifest immediately, but if the practice is continued long enough, dryness and brittleness of the hair are bound to develop, with the lack of lustre that drying always brings about.

Of course, the same objection does not attach to the little curl-papers and curling kids. These are harmless enough, and if they make a pretty girl any prettier than Nature made her, they are entitled to three hearty cheers.

What of bleaching

Many misguided women have been led to use soda and various caustic solutions in an effort to change their raven locks into those of more angelic hue. This is an exceedingly dangerous practice, first because of the injury to the hair itself ; and secondly, because of the injury to the scalp and the possible great damage to the eyes.

As I have said repeatedly in speaking of this subject, you might just as well try to bleach the healthy colour from your lips by unhygienic procedures and expect health to remain, as to attempt to bleach the hair with a strong caustic.

Peroxide of hydrogen is relatively devoid of this element of danger, and is quite harmless, even on repeated applications. Yet the necessity of constantly retouching the roots of the hair in order to develop the uniform golden colour is likely after a while to make the hair brittle and cause its ultimate loss.

Some women attain a gorgeous copper-coloured crown by the use of a decoction of henna leaves. The use of this preparation, authorities tell me is not attended with any great degree of danger, and apparently does not seem to injure the hair. Yet I certainly should not advise its use, because anything unnatural must eventually create abnormal conditions. If Nature gave a girl dark hair, she should accept the gift gratefully, remembering that some of the greatest beauties in history were also thus blessed.