Haircare may have evolved over the years but it’s been a staple self-care routine since the evolution of humans.
From hair lengths to ways of styling, trends have fluctuated throughout the decades, and that’s exactly what National Hair Day celebrates!
It’s a reminder that hair is an expression of personality, style, and cultural heritage which should be celebrated.
Plus, haircare is also a way to show ourselves self-care which hugely helps in improving our mental health, with multiple studies also linking hair loss to a negative impact on self-esteem and confidence.
In today’s blog, we’re looking at a few ways to celebrate National Hair Day, and taking a trip into the past to look at the history of hair.
Let’s get into it…
How To Celebrate National Hair Day
On a day that’s all about hair, how else would we celebrate than by giving our hair a gorgeous glow-up?!
Some of our suggestions include:
We’ve got six different haircare ranges to choose from, caring for all kinds of hair including dry, oily, sensitive, thinning and more.
The History Of Hair
Ancient Egypt (1300 BC)
Starting out in Ancient Egypt, hair was a surefire way to find out someone’s social status - you could tell a lot about someone from whether they wore a wig or not!
Women would adorn their hair with accessories like flowers, beads, and ribbons - things which Cleopatra’s iconic hairstyles may have influenced - and short hair also became popular for a brief time for the ladies of Egypt.
300 BC
Jumping forward a bit, in 300 BC Ancient Greece, women began curling their hair with bronze rods, one of the oldest examples of a curling wand.
Their innovative thinking meant they could enjoy tight, glossy curls, something which we achieve today with our Satin Overnight Heatless Curlers.
Meanwhile in Ancient Rome…
Wigs, hair colours, and hairstyles remained a great way to know someone’s status, with red dye considered extremely trendy amongst women of the upper and middle classes.
Married women would wear a Palla - a garment which was draped around the head and over the shoulders to cover the hair, signifying their status as a wife.
1400s
Jumping forward in time to the 1400s, one of the first scalp treatments was documented, with the recipe including boiled slugs, olive oil, saffron, and honey!
Whilst we’ve ditched the slugs nowadays, we still use ingredients like various oils, for example in our Four Curls range, which makes use of oils like Castor Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Rosemary Oil.
1600s - 1800s
These eras brought about a few hairstyle icons, influencing people to try new, bold things.
In Britain in the 1600s Queen Elizabeth the First was having quite the influence, with a growing popularity in dyed hair.
The wigs she wore inspired people to try out bleach blonde and red dye, and we’re sure they were taking care of their hair with products designed for high-maintenance hair…(you know, like our Aloe Vera & Coconut Oil range!)
The 1700s brought around Marie Antoinette and her icon “tower” hairstyles, some of which reached a height of four feet and often included flowers, ribbons, and feathers.
This was also the era in which English hairdressers began to produce the first shampoo (We’d love to get a comparison of that and our modern-day shampoo!)
As we hit the 1800s, the profession of hairdresser officially became established, with hairstyles beginning to evolve even more and further highlight people’s social status (think Bridgerton vibes!)
1920s - 1960s
Now we’re in the 1920s and the bob is born!
With the roaring twenties comes shorter hair, signalling a progressiveness in the way women dressed, how they presented themselves, and their independence - and who doesn’t love a good old flapper dress?!
Jumping ahead to the 60s, pop influences like Audrey Hepburn and The Beatles had people trying out beehive-esque looks and long, shaggy hair.
1980s
Ah, the 80s. The era of legwarmers, great music, and John Hughes films…and big hair, of course!
Thanks to pop icons like Madonna and Cher, the bigger the hair, the better, so it’s no shock that the first modern-day curling iron was invented in this era as curls and perms became more popular.
Whilst the progress of hair styling technology is great, it’s also important to make sure we’re protecting our hair against heat with things like our Heat Defence Sprays.
2007 - 2017
In 2007, hair extensions started gaining popularity thanks to celebs like Paris Hilton, which gave people the chance to experiment with their hair, adding volume and length.
An obvious honourable mention, 2017 is the year that National Hair Day was born, encouraging us all to celebrate and care for our hair every day.
Now
And our trip down memory lane brings us back to the present day.
Nowadays, we see a revival of different trends multiple times a year, with Y2K being a recent popular one.
The return of spiky buns, money piece hair and butterfly clips has been significant thanks to TikTok and celebs and we’ve got to say, we’ve enjoyed it!
As you can see, the history of hair goes waaaay back and we’ve got lots of moments in history to thank for the hairstyles and methods of styling and caring for our hair that we have today.
This National Hair Day, make sure to show your hair some love and care, it deserves it!