How To Care For Your Hair The Victorian Way

My dear friends, 

I have wanted to do this post for quite some time. However, all things accordingly tend to give way at the surface edge in perfect timing, yes?

Mermaids don't live by watches, as the human folks do. {Smile} We do, however, use sands of an hourglass. 

Might I remind you that if you have Amazon Prime, there are copious shows to watch for free {? Well, technically, if you pay for prime shipping $65/year, it's not entirely free.} I love that all the PBS shows that I adore are on Amazon Prime. I am currently watching all of the seasons of Poldark and Downton Abbey. I put the kettle on and make an entire day of it. It's quite a delightful way to pass the time. I view it as somewhat of a research experiment as well. Last evening I made pumpkin spice cookies with cream cheese frosting. 

As a landlocked Mermaid, I have the same hair regime since I first began working professionally as a Mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs. Rest assured if you genuinely would like to know if you should be inclined to take my advice; I am very well experienced on this subject. {wink, wink}

As a performer, I would spend a minimum of 4 to 5 hours in the water daily. You may think that swimming in natural spring water doesn't have such an effect because it doesn't have chemicals in it. This may be true to a degree.

Nonetheless, the damage to my hair came from when I would swim shows, but then have to rush to blow dry my hair as we mermaids back then had to work the bird shows, and mermaid poses for guests. Hence, we had to pull double often times triple duty. Excessive Blow drying and being in the sun, even if it's virgin hair (never had artificial colouring done to your mermaid locks) will cause you to have severely damaged hair. So, the ways I'm going to share with you here are tried and true to sustain healthy mermaid hair. Not only are these practices that I do most positive for my hair health, but it's also what the victorian women did. The things I do to keep my hair healthy is exceptionally inexpensive. One bar of Kirks is $1.20. I use it for shampoo, soap, cleaning and shave it down for laundry purposes. I shall share a post for that presently.

MERMAID HAIR AND SKIN THE VICTORIAN WAY FROM A REAL MERMAID 

I. Firstly, In two weeks time frame, I wash my hair only twice. That may sound dreadful to you.

However, rest assured it's much healthier for your hair. All the while, when I was a young girl, I would wash my hair every single day, so when I thought about changing my routine of not washing my hair daily, I expressed to my sister in law {a hairdresser}that my hair would be grotesque and oily, so wash I must. Too much washing, truthfully, is why our hair becomes quickly oiled. If your skin follicles have become accustomed to being stripped, it's your bodies way of replenishing the oils in your skin. By washing our hair every day, our body begins to adapt, our cells are alive, and they are constantly renewing. If you are stripping those natural oils from your body/scalp daily, your body chemistry/cells go to work to replenish what's lost. It will take at least a week or two of basically retraining your follicle cells to a new hair washing cycle.

II. When you can, I would suggest picking up these few products. A wooden brush and comb, rosemary oil, rosemary plant from your garden, MSM, and kirks bar soap. I want to explain how each of these products gives you extraordinarily healthy hair. It's true, some landlocked folks that have long hair, are incredibly blessed with thick hair {it's hereditary}, that grows like Rapunzel's. Many of the women you may have observed with long hair, is not their real hair. Hair braided extensions are a huge fashion statement nowadays. Don't become discouraged when you see folks with hair down their backs, it's mainly purchased. I bear no bones about wearing clip-ins on occasion when it's called for, such as a photo shoot. 

I am especially fond of Kirks becasue there is no animal testing. Which means it's Cruelty-Free/bunny approved.

III. However, I am very much an advocate for growing out your own hair. I have had several friends get extensions, but after years and years of having them, it caused them baldness. Your real hair begins to become weak, damaged and then breaks off.

There are times Oliver calls for a little washing about his bum area, and I use Kirks. It is made in the USA, cruelty-free, originated in the victorian era and still as vigorous as ever. These are a few of the beautiful things about this soap. 

IV. Firstly, I brush my hair through with my wooden comb or brush to remove all the tangles before washing. I then wet my hair, and lather Kirk's in my hands, applying it only to my roots. I never spend too much emphasis on my ends. The hair at your root follicles is where dirt collects most. Another reason for this way of washing is that it prevents too much breakage on your ends. I lather and then rinse. I then pour a watered bath of rosemary from a canning jar over my scalp. After my hair has been pin curled and set for the evening, I will add a few drops of doterra rosemary oil {I sell doterra wholesale if you are interested in buying from me for a savings}to my scalp. Rosemary promotes hair growth, and it's most excellent for ridding away dandruff if one is so unlucky to have. No more worries, just a wee bit of Rosemary and it'll be gone hotfoot. 

For a wee bit of fun, I use the moon calendar {astrology} and trim my dead ends. It is not confirmed by science, but I have been following it for several years now, and I believe it wholeheartedly. It's much the same for anything in the universe. If you have faith and find it to be accurate, it will reveal itself. Snip anywhere from 1/8 to one inch to seal your ends, and yield healthy, beautiful hair.

I hope this encouraged you to renew your love of long locks and healthy hair pursuits. 

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx