A lecture delivered to the Hairdressers' Guild, in St. James's Hall, March, 1885, on diseases of the skin of the head affecting the hair, and diseases of the hair : with remarks as to brushing, cutting and dressing the hair / by James Startin.

  • Startin, James, 1851-1910.
Date:
[1885]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture delivered to the Hairdressers' Guild, in St. James's Hall, March, 1885, on diseases of the skin of the head affecting the hair, and diseases of the hair : with remarks as to brushing, cutting and dressing the hair / by James Startin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    supplies the place of nature’s foliage, and a pencilled eyebrow looks fairly well on the stage,” But worst of all when it falls off in cir- cumscribed round patches. Fortunately most of these latter foi’ms of baldness are curable. We now come to the important part of the subject, the primary treatment of the hair in disease and in health, viz., the Dressing^ Cutting, Brushmg, and Washing. Dressing. We must bear in mind that beauty in the hair must have an appearance of utility. It is not beauty that has a look of en- cumbrance, tightness, obstruction, or undue weight. The hair should be arranged in such a manner as to look as ornamental and as natural as possible, and to suit individual wants, not always to follow the absurd dictates of fashion. In women especially this applies. How grotesque some of the methods of the dressing of the hair in the different periods of time have been. Those of us who had opportunity must have noticed this in the costumes of the periods of different times at the International Health Exhibition. The diagram before you illustrates the present absurd fa^ihion of tightening the hair up to the scalp in close plaits and curled fringe, besides looking unnatural, it is very detrimental to the growth, as you, no doubt, will admit. Women who wish to retain a good head of hair should avoid pads, tight plaits, and heavy head-dresses as much as possible. The hair should be lo( sened, especially at nitiht, combed, and brushed gently, and gathered up loosely in a net at night. The practice of men who wear hats without ventilation is a bad one. All hats should be well ventilated, and worn only when necessity requires. Look at the blue-coat boys what strong hair they get who wear no hats at all. Now as to the question of cutting, I am convinced that cutting, and cutting the hair tolerably frequently, is beneficial to its grow'th, both in the male and female, but they should be guided by their own personal appearance; short hair suits some men but not others. Women still have the privilege of w^earing their hair its natural length, and what is more beautiful in woman than long hair; not cut close, as I have seen so many young ladies have it lately. But the hair is apt to split at its ends even with them, and requires, for health’s sake, occasional cutting, and in certain instances much improves its growth. I know I am opposed in this view by many, but I am convinced all the same it is beneficial to its growth, especially in some forms of weakness. The opera- tion in women is really one of trimming—in the men of cutting. Brushing As a general rule the scalp cannot be too much brushed. The more the head be brushed, the more healthy will be the skin and its functions—that of production and maintenance of the hair. But care should be taken in the selection of brushes. Avoid irri- tating the skin by hard brushes, and tearing the hair out, especially by hard brushes on the machine brush so much in vogue in the present day. As a general rule it is best to comb and brush the