Preface:
In ancient times, it was believed that "the body is the skin of the body, and the parents receive it", but at that time, people regarded hair as a part of the body, so everyone, regardless of gender, had long flowing hair.
However, there weren't that many hair care products in ancient times, so how did they wash their long hair? Are they simply washing their hair with water?
Shampoo used by the ancients
In fact, ancient people had a lot of experience and unique wisdom when it came to washing and caring for their hair.
Although there were no shampoos, conditioners or anything like that in ancient times, they had their own unique toiletries, and they were all natural, no worse than they are now.
The first is the "natural cleanser" - soaphorn, which is the most commonly used and oldest shampoo product in ancient times, and it is so numerous that most people can use it.
As early as the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, the ancients discovered and used it as a shampoo to wash their long hair.
Because of the cleansing effect of soap horn and the rich foam, the ancients discovered that it can clean oil and dirt, so for ease of use, it is often pounded into powder and then used when washing hair, or when bathing to clean the body.
Until now, there are still many people who use soap horn to wash their hair or body, and some of the toiletries we use in our daily life also contain soap horn ingredients, so it can be said that soap horn shampoo has been passed down for thousands of years.
In addition, "rice water" is also one of the choices of the ancients when washing their hair, because the rice washing water is full of vitamins and nutrients, so the ancients found that after washing their hair, they can not only clean the hair, but also make the hair soft and bright.
The use of rice washing water has been recorded in the Book of Rites, which roughly means that in ancient times, if people's hair or face was dirty, they could use rice washing water to clean, which has a good cleaning effect.
In the ancient royal family, rice washing water is the secret recipe for the royal family to wash their hair, of course, the shampoo of the royal family is not only ordinary rice washing water, but also contains the secret recipe of medicine, so the royal family is not only able to clean the hair after washing, which also has a medicinal effect.
In addition, the rice washing water used by the royal family must be the best rice grains, and after repeated cleaning and filtration, and then let the palace ladies rub it repeatedly, so that the rice washing water can become the shampoo of the royal family.
There is also a shampoo tool, that is, "plant ash", the benefit of using plant ash to wash hair is not only to clean the hair of oil and dirt, it also has some medicinal properties.
Of course, the choice of plant ash is also very elegant, generally the ancients will burn wormwood or tea into plant ash, because wormwood and tea itself have a fragrance, so after washing the hair, not only can the hair have its own fragrance, but also can achieve the effect of insect prevention to a certain extent.
If ordinary people can't find these two things, they will use straw to burn into plant ash, which can also achieve a certain degree of cleaning, but there is no other additional effect.
In addition, there are some people who will use tea dry shampoo, as well as flour shampoo, which are good shampoo products, tea dry can not only achieve the purpose of cleaning, but also can play a role in sterilization, hair maintenance.
Flour also has a decontamination effect, washing hair with it can play a role in cleaning the hair from oil, making the hair refreshed, and because of its natural nature, it will not cause irritating damage to the scalp.
Hair care products used by the ancients
In addition to cleaning their hair, the ancients also took great care of their hair and paid attention to the maintenance of their hair to ensure that their long hair could remain soft and beautiful.
And this concept runs through all levels of society, whether it is the royal family, officials or ordinary people, they cherish their long hair very much, and come up with various ways to ensure the health and softness of the hair.
In "Dream of Red Mansions", there is a chapter describing some people using flower oil, eggs, etc. to wash their hair and care their hair, and the flower oil is made of jasmine, osmanthus, etc., which is similar to our current essential oils, but the flower oil is pure and natural.
In addition, the egg washer head can also play a role in hair maintenance, however, the effect of the egg washer head is not significant, the ancients used the egg washer head, because there are not too many kinds of ways to maintain hair, and when the egg washer head, if the water temperature is too high, it will also make the hair contaminated with the fishy smell of eggs.
Epilogue:
All in all, the ancients had amazing wisdom and experience in washing and caring for their hair, and the methods they used were very healthy and environmentally friendly, some of which we still learn from and use today, and are widely acclaimed.