The custom of dyeing the hair is universal in the Orient; in the Occident, however, hair dyes are also frequently used, namely, to hide the grayness of the hair, sometimes to give the hair a preferred color. Hair dyes, which are very numerous, may be divided into groups—those containing the dye-stuff ready formed, and those in which it is produced in the hair by some chemical process. Some hair dyes contain substances which in their nature are decidedly injurious to the hair; such articles, of course, must be dispensed with because, if frequently employed, they would certainly lead to baldness. We shall return to this subject in connection with the several preparations.

Regarding the use of hair dyes, especially those consisting of two separate portions, we may state that it is necessary to remove the fat from the hair before applying the dye, as the chemicals in question do not adhere well to fat. The hair should be thoroughly washed once or twice with soap, and dyed when nearly dry.

When dyeing the hair the preparations should first be diluted; if the color is not deep enough, the process is repeated. If the preparation is used at once in a concentrated form, a color may result which has no resemblance to any natural tint; hair meant to be black may assume a metallic bluish-black gloss.

A. Simple Hair Dyes.

Lead Hair Dye.

The ingredients are rubbed to a very fine powder and for use are mixed with water, applied to the hair, and left there until the desired tint—light brown to black—is obtained, from four to twelve hours, when the powder is removed by washing. The lime by its caustic effect acts destructively on the horny substance of the hair. Moreover, all lead preparations without exception are very injurious to the organism; hence this hair dye is to be rejected, especially as there are harmless preparations which produce the same effect.

Karsi (Teinture Orientale).

This preparation, which really comes from the Orient, is made as follows: Reduce the nut-galls to a very fine powder and roast them in an iron pan under continual stirring until they have become dark brown or almost black. This powder is triturated with the metals in fine powder and the aromatics, and preserved in a moist place. For use, some of the powder is moistened in the palm of the hand and vigorously rubbed into the hair; after a few days it assumes a deep black, natural color. The roasting changes the tannin bodies contained in the galls into gallic and pyrogallic acids which form deep black combinations with the metals, and themselves are easily transformed into brownish-black substances.

Kohol (Teinture Chinoise).

Powder the ink and the gum, and triturate small quantities of the powder with rose water until a uniform black liquid results, which must be free from granules. This liquid is placed in a bottle and the rest of the rose water added. Kohol can be used only by persons with black hair, and is employed particularly for dyeing the eyebrows. As the coloring matter of this preparation consists of carbon in a state of fine division, the dye is perfectly harmless.

Vegetable Dye.

This hair dye produces a deep black color, but cannot be recommended, as it is injurious to the hair. Its full effects appear only after the lapse of some hours.

Potassium Permanganate.

Crystalline potassium permanganate is soluble in water, forming a dark violet solution. When brought in contact with an organic substance—paper, linen, skin, horn, hair—it is rapidly decolored and imparts to the substances named a brown tint due to hydrated oxide of manganese. The hair is washed, as stated above, to remove the fat, and the dilute solution applied with a soft brush; the color is produced at once and according to the degree of dilution this innocuous preparation can be made to give any desired color from blond to very dark brown. Of course, this preparation can be used for the beard as well as the hair.

All the hair dyes here and elsewhere given stain the skin as well wherever they come in contact with it; hence care should be taken to protect the skin during their application.

B. Double Hair Dyes.

Silver Hair Dyes.

This and similar hair dyes consist of two preparations, preserved in bottles I. and II.; the latter, containing the silver solution, should be of dark amber-colored or black glass, as the silver salts are decomposed by light. It is utterly useless to employ blue glass for this purpose, as this admits the chemical rays of light as easily as flint glass. For use, some of the liquid from bottle I. is poured into a cup and the hair is moistened with it by means of a soft brush. The liquid from bottle II. is poured into a second cup and applied with another brush.

Brown Dye.

I. (In White Bottle.)

II. (In Dark Bottle.)

Black dye.

I. (In White Bottle.)

II. (In Dark Bottle.)

The sulphide of potassium (liver of sulphur) appears in fragments of a liver-brown mass which readily dissolves in water. The solution must be filtered before being filled into bottles for sale, and, as it becomes turbid in the air, kept in well-closed vessels. When the two solutions are brought together, black sulphide of silver results and darkens the hair. After the use of this preparation a disagreeable odor of rotten eggs adheres to the hair, but can be easily removed by washing, especially with one of the previously mentioned hair washes.

The silver hair dye will be still better if the liquid contained in bottle II. is made by dropping into the solution, under continual stirring, ammonia water, until the precipitate first formed is again dissolved.

MelanogÈne.

I. (In Dark Bottle.)

II. (In White Bottle.)

Tannin Hair Dye.

I. (In White Bottle.)

Boil the nut-galls in the water, strain the boiling liquid through a thick cloth into the rose water, and fill the still hot mixture into bottles which must be immediately closed. (It is essential that the liquid be hot during the filling, to guard against the development of mould.)

II. (In Dark Bottle.)

Add ammonia water to the silver solution until the precipitate first formed is again dissolved.

Eau d’Afrique.

I. (In Dark Bottle.)

II. (In White Bottle.)

Crinochrom.

I. (In White Bottle.)

II. (In Dark Bottle.)

Copper Hair Dye.

I. (In White Bottle.)

II. (In Dark Bottle.)

Add ammonia water to the copper solution until the light blue precipitate first formed again dissolves to a rich, dark blue liquid. This hair dye gives a dark brown color.

Eau de Fontaine de Jouvence,

also called Auricome and Golden Hair Water, is no dye, but a bleaching agent which changes dark hair to a light blond or golden-yellow color. The preparation consists of peroxide of hydrogen, a substance possessing marked bleaching properties.

Peroxide of hydrogen, or hydrogen dioxide, is at the present time made on a large scale by many manufacturers, and readily obtainable in the market. It would therefore scarcely pay any one to prepare it himself unless he were out of reach of the usual channels of trade, so that he could not obtain the preparation in a fresh state. Nevertheless it may be useful to state how it is made. Barium dioxide (or peroxide), which is a regular article of commerce, and is a stable compound which will keep for any length of time if kept in tightly closed bottles, is treated with water until the dioxide forms with it a thin, smooth milk. This is gradually added to dilute sulphuric acid, cooled with ice or kept otherwise as cold as possible, until the sulphuric acid is almost entirely neutralized. The solution is then allowed to settle and the clear liquid drawn off. For bleaching purposes, this is pure enough. Only it must be ascertained that the amount of free acid present, without which the hydrogen dioxide does not keep well, is only small. Other acids can be used besides sulphuric, but the latter is the most convenient. If an alkali is added to hydrogen dioxide so that the reaction becomes alkaline, it will decompose very rapidly. Even under the most favorable circumstances (when acid, and kept in a cool place) it will gradually deteriorate, and finally be entirely converted into oxygen gas, which escapes, and plain water.

Peroxide or dioxide of hydrogen, when applied to the hair as a bleaching agent, must be used in a dilute condition at first. Those who use it for the first time should always make preliminary trials with the liquid upon odd bunches of hair (such as may at any time be procured at hair-dressers’ shops) resembling that which is to be bleached, before actually applying it to the latter.

The hair to be bleached is deprived of fat by washing with soap solution, the soap is washed out with water, and the peroxide of hydrogen applied.

Whisker Dye.

Dissolve the acetate of lead (“sugar of lead”) in the warm water, filter the solution, and add ammonia water until a precipitate ceases to form. Collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it by pouring distilled water over it eight or ten times, and while still moist introduce it into solution II. Stir repeatedly, and after twelve hours leave the vessel at rest until the solution has become clear. Then decant it from the sediment, which may be treated a second time with solution II. For use, the beard is washed with soap, and combed with a fine rubber comb dipped in the solution.

C. Depilatories.

Combinations of sulphur with the alkaline metals calcium, barium, and strontium rapidly destroy the hair; for this reason tanners use the “gas lime” from gas works, which contains calcium sulphide, for removing the hair from hides. All the depilatories used cosmetically, even rhusma employed in the Orient for removing the beard, owe their activity to the presence of calcium sulphide.

Calcium Sulphide

has usually been lauded as a perfectly harmless depilatory. This is a great mistake, however, since it has often done serious harm, through careless application by persons unfamiliar with its caustic and corrosive effects. It is absolutely necessary to protect the skin against its action; otherwise superficial irritation, or even destruction of the skin may result.

Calcium sulphide cannot be made by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen upon lime. It is usually made by heating at a low red heat, in a securely closed crucible, an intimate mixture of 100 parts of finely powdered quicklime with 90 parts of precipitated sulphur. Mix together:

The resulting mass must be filled at once into an air-tight jar, as the calcium sulphide is decomposed in the atmosphere. For use, some of the mass is moistened with water, painted on the skin, and washed off with water after thirty to forty-five minutes. This and all other depilatories act only temporarily, that is, they destroy only the hair projecting above the surface without killing the hair bulbs; after some time the hair grows again and the preparation must be reapplied.

Barium Sulphide,

which is likewise used as a depilatory, is made by heating barium sulphate with charcoal, extracting the residue with water, and mixing the resulting product with starch paste. In its effects barium sulphide equals the preceding preparation, but it decomposes more readily.

Depilatory Paste.

Sodium sulphide is made by saturating strong caustic soda solution with sulphuretted hydrogen. The other ingredients are added to the solution of sodium sulphide.

Rhusma

is a depilatory made by mixing powdered quicklime (unslaked) with orpiment (yellow sulphide of arsenic). Take of:

Mix intimately and preserve the powder in tightly closed vessels. For use, take some of the powder, reduce it to a thin paste with water, and apply it to the place upon which the hairs are to be destroyed. Owing to its poisonousness and the destructive effects of the caustic lime on the skin, this preparation should never be employed in cosmetic perfumery.

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