Gaulish Hair

[Charlie Noodles]

Hello ladies, I would like to know if any of you have witnessed someone who has rinsed their hair with limewater, in the fashion of the Celts? I've read about this but I've not been able to find any evidence of someone doing it today.

According to Diodorus Siculus:

The Gauls are tall of body with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so for they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in limewater and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, with the result that their appearance is like that of Satyrs and Pans since the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy and coarse that it differs in no respect from the mane of horses. Some of them shave the beard but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks but they let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth.

 

[Smuterella]

Fascinating, are you a classicist?

Well, I'd imagine its much like modern girls putting lemon juice in their hair and sitting in the sun to bleach it. Only, with leaving the lime juice in it would make the hair sticky and thick as described.

 

[JupitersDarling]

Fascinating, are you a classicist?

Well, I'd imagine its much like modern girls putting lemon juice in their hair and sitting in the sun to bleach it. Only, with leaving the lime juice in it would make the hair sticky and thick as described.

I think the limewater Charlie is referring to is actually water mixed with calcified minerals (as in the mineral limes used for corn masa and outhouses). Continental Europe is not quite the ideal climate for lime fruits, is it?

 

["Skeet" McD]

Hello ladies, I would like to know if any of you have witnessed someone who has rinsed their hair with limewater, in the fashion of the Celts? I've read about this but I've not been able to find any evidence of someone doing it today.

According to Diodorus Siculus:

The Gauls are tall of body with rippling muscles and white of skin and their hair is blond, and not only naturally so for they also make it their practice by artificial means to increase the distinguishing colour which nature has given it. For they are always washing their hair in limewater and they pull it back from the forehead to the nape of the neck, with the result that their appearance is like that of Satyrs and Pans since the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy and coarse that it differs in no respect from the mane of horses. Some of them shave the beard but others let it grow a little; and the nobles shave their cheeks but they let the moustache grow until it covers the mouth.

Welll.....I'm not a classicist, but I'm lucky enough to number an excellent one among my friends...his interests are broad, and frequently involve the more day-to-day aspects of the past. So I sent him the URL for this thread with the comment "well, the things you find in the strangest places!"

Here's his reply:
Compare (or contrast?) this quote from Pliny:

prodest et sapo, Galliarum hoc inventum rutilandis capillis. fit ex sebo et cinere, optimus fagino et caprino, duobus modis, spissus ac liquidus, uterque apud Germanos maiore in usu viris quam feminis
Soap too is useful, this being a discovery of the Gallic regions for dying the hair red. It is made from tallow and ash, the best being from beach[-ash] and goat[-tallow], in two ways: viscous and runny, both in use among the Germans more commonly by men than women.

Soap for the hair is of course shampoo. But he says they use it to dye their hair, so I'm wondering if he's confusing soap made from lye (good for cleaning), and just plain lye (good for bleaching). Or is it possible to put too much ash with too little tallow so that you get an alkaline shampoo good for both purposes?

Compare! Contrast! Don't burn your scalp (and yes, there is no doubt that Alkaline, mineralized water is what is meant in the quote from Diodorus Siculus)

"Skeet"

 

[Charlie Noodles]

Fascinating, are you a classicist?

Aside from a little reading on wikipedia, not especially. Though I have been meaning to read some of the literature of the time.

I think the limewater Charlie is referring to is actually water mixed with calcified minerals

Yes, I think it would be something similar to whitewash.

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]

Soap for the hair is of course shampoo. But he says they use it to dye their hair, so I'm wondering if he's confusing soap made from lye (good for cleaning), and just plain lye (good for bleaching). Or is it possible to put too much ash with too little tallow so that you get an alkaline shampoo good for both purposes?

Compare! Contrast! Don't burn your scalp (and yes, there is no doubt that Alkaline, mineralized water is what is meant in the quote from Diodorus Siculus)

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the Pliny quote, I had not seen that one. I did read another notable one, I can't recall where and don't have the time to find it, it was said that if one was to shake an apple tree through their hair the apples would not fall through but would become speared by the hair. Exaggeration or not that gives you some indicator of how bristly it was.

 

[Subvet642]

As I understand it, the lime was ground into a paste, probably mixed with fat and used in the hair to hold it in form, much like gel or mousse would be used today. It was typically used in battle, along with woad to make them look terrifying to the enemy, with white hair and blue skin markings. I imagine over time, that it would have a bleaching effect on the hair. I've read that the Irish hero, Cu Chulainn's hair was dark at the root, red in the middle and blond at the ends; most probably from repeated use of this in battle.