Make-Up Artist Mark O'Neill

The Beehive

Hairstyles come and go throughout the decades. Some make a mark in history and others fade into oblivion never to be thought of again. The bouffant surfaced in the late 1950s and started a new trend of styling that will forever be looked back upon with a smile and curiosity.

To create these styles, hair was wound around rollers that produced a fuller rounder look than the flat pin curls of the previous decades. The client was then placed under a hooded dryer and, depending on the length of her hair, she might sit there for an hour. After drying, the hair was "teased" or "backcombed" to give it maximum height. This conglomeration was held together with a new retail product called aerosol hairspray. The main ingredients were alcohol and lacquer. By 1964, hairspray soon became the number one beauty aid, far surpassing lipstick. Some stylists would make their own concoction of water and sugar, and used this as a final spray on fancy hairstyles. Hairdressers that worked during that time period talk about how sticky the floor was at the end of the day. The lacquer from the hairspray would be all over their skin and clothes.

Friday hair appointments were a valuable reservation, since it guaranteed perfect hair for weekend social engagements. Beauticians aspired to book as many "standing" appointments weekly, to ensure a steady income. The beauty parlour became a social affair and women would cancel dental and doctor appointments, but NEVER their hair. Some of the most beautiful hairstyling came from this time period and was truly a work of art. To preserve these styles, women would wrap toilet paper around their heads before bedtime. They purchased satin pillowcases to allow their hair to "slide" on the pillow and not crumple their much sought after styles. The windows were never rolled down in the car and heaven forbid you should be asked to attend a swim party.

Around 1964, high school girls took the bouffant to new heights. It was called the "beehive". Girls would set their hair every night in huge rollers, with a gel solution called Dippity Do and proceed to sleep in them. Girls with extremely curly hair would collect large frozen grapefruit cans and use those in place of the smaller rollers. Any woman who went to high school between 1963 and 1967 will tell you they probably never had a good night's sleep!

Hairpieces became a component to add to your beehive to make it even bigger. Postiches, cascades, and falls were worn with adornment to add a quick fix to hairstyles. Synthetic hair surfaced and was name tagged Dynel. A woman would go to a wig or department store and a wig technician would blend the Dynel to match their own. It was then braided, wound around a stuffing, and pinned on top of the head. It was a big fashion rage in 1966.

A famous Urban Legend surfaced at this laughable time in hair history. A high school girl had the biggest hair style in school. She would sit in class and use her pencil point to itch inside her hairdo. Unknown to her, lurking inside this massive hairstyle was a black widow's nest. She poked the spider with her pencil, it bit her, and she died from the bite in history class!

The Blond

The mystique of the blonde has been eternal with both men and women since the beginning of time. Poems and myths have been written about the golden haired woman. The word blonde comes from the Latin blondus (yellow).

It has been recorded throughout history that women have agonized to achieve blonde tresses with bad results. Highly alkaline soaps were applied to the hair and then the women would sit in the sun for hours to bleach it. An easier way was to powder the hair with pollen and crushed yellow flower petals. Costly wigs were made from imported blonde hair from the Netherlands.

It wasn't until 1907, that a French chemist named Eugene Schueller began manufacturing hair dye in his Paris flat. His main chemical ingredient was called paraphenylenediamine. He called his company L'Oreal, which is still a leader in it's field today.

The blonding process was quite dangerous at this time, with the chemicals inflicting headaches and scalp burns. It was not unusual for the hair to break off during the process. A common formulation for bleach was peroxide with ammonia, added to ivory soap flakes to make a paste. This formula was used into the 1930s.

Hollywood soon realized how great a blonde looked in their black and white films and conceived Mae West and, soon to follow, Jean Harlow. Jean Harlow died in her late 20s and the rumor was that she died because of her hair dye. The truth is she had kidney problems.

In 1931, an American chemist, Lawrence Gelb, introduced the first oil shampoo tint. After eight more years of research, he established the first home purchased hair dye. He named his currently famous company Clairol.

Up until World War II, a woman who dyed her hair was considered "fast". Hollywood depicted the blonde as being dumb, naughty, and immoral. Because Clairol wanted more women to purchase their home hair dyes and also frequent the beauty salon, they came up with some of the most famous advertising slogans of all time.

DOES SHE OR DOESN'T SHE?

ONLY HER HAIRDRESSER KNOWS FOR SURE!

DO BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN?

IF I'VE ONE LIFE...LET ME LIVE IT AS A BLONDE!

Naming famous blondes could go on forever. Marilyn Monroe certainly is at the top of the list. Blondes sell more merchandise in TV commercials and are employed more in commercial print. Forty-five percent of people, including men, prefer to be dyed blonde.

Is it true blondes have more fun? The ageless brunette Cher is now seen sporting a blonde wig. Shall we venture to ask?

The Breck Girl

Edward Breck was the son of the founder of Breck Shampoo of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1936, he hired commercial artist Charles Sheldon to draw women for their advertisements. Sheldon's early portraits for Breck were done in pastels, with a soft focus and haloes of light and color surrounding them. He created romantic images of feminine beauty and purity. He preferred to draw "real women" as opposed to professional models.

In the late 1950s, Ralph William Williams succeeded Sheldon as the Breck artist. Unlike Sheldon, he often used professional women. Some of the famous "Breck Girls" are Kim Basinger, Brooke Shields, Erin Gray, Cheryl Tiegs, Jaclyn Smith and Cybill Sheperd.

Breck ads ran regularly in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, Seventeen, Vogue, Glamour and Harpers Bazaar. They were most often on the back cover of the magazine.

After Williams' death in 1976, the advertising tradition stopped. The Breck Girls ads are now in the advertising history records in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Brides Revisited

The union of two people in what we call matrimony has been a celebration in almost every culture since recorded time. Up until the middle 1800s, this event was recorded either in commentary or in paintings and drawings. The invention of photography in the 1830s changed all of that.

If you notice, most photographs before 1900 depict people very stoic, with not a glimmer of a smile on their face. The reason for this was the long exposure time required to capture the image in a photograph. It was impossible to hold a smile and look natural for that long.

Wedding hairstyles tended to be elaborate at the turn of the century, especially during the Edwardian time. During the 1920s, when the flapper emerged, wedding looks changed dramatically. Since women cut their hair short, into a bob, they focused on their headdresses instead.

Below are some wonderful pictures of vintage brides preserved forever by the new invention "photography". Gazing at these women make us realize that we still hold some of the same wedding traditions.

Astrology and astronomy are two different calculations. Astrology is a tool to time events according to the astrological placement of two luminaries (the Sun and the Moon) and eight planets of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. Astronomy, on the other hand, is the charting of the actual placement of the known planets, taking into account the precession of the equinoxes.

Astrologers believe that a person's personality is formed by where the planets are aligned at the time of birth. The influence of these planets also determine good times to sign contracts, start a new relationship, etc.

Astrologer Susan Larsen, explains when to cut your hair for maximum benefits:

"If you choose to grow your hair long, cut hair during the first phase of the moon when the light is increasing. To further enhance the growth of your hair, cut it when the moon is in Cancer, Taurus, Scorpio, Capricorn, or Pisces. To increase thickness, cut during these times but also during the Leo moon. If you hate cutting your hair every 4-6 weeks, then choose the second phase of the moon when it is decreasing in light. Cutting when the moon is in a fire or air sign like Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius, also prevents excessive growth."

In 1920, a major shift in women's hairstyling occurred. The waist length locks were shorn to chin level and the "bob" was created. Women's lifestyles were also changing and the need for a more simple style to accompany their liberation was born.

A famous hairstylist from Paris named Antoine, was very influential during this time and people from all over the world looked to him as a trendsetter. He designed many hairstyles and wigs for the famous Parisian singer, Josephine Baker.

Not everyone looked good with a flat, sleek, bob so waves and curls were incorporated into the craze. A gel was applied to the hair and then, while using the fingers in unison with a skilled comb, waves were sculpted into the hair. The ends of the hair were then wound around the finger and pinned, thus named "the pincurl". Long metal clamps were applied to the waves to keep them in place while the client sat under the dryer. For a fancier evening look, colorful combs, barrettes with beads and feathers, and headbands were placed within the hair.

A recipe for a gel was to use 1/4 cup of flax seed to 1 cup of water -- Boil on the stove until thickened, and strain the liquid into a jar; add 3 drops of rosemary oil, and refrigerate. Josephine Baker was one of the first to have a commercial gel that was promoted as "pour se bakerfixer les cheveux".

Not every woman's hair would finger wave successfully. The development of the permanent wave brought a lot of women into the salon to achieve these wondrous waves. This craze also opened the door for women to become hairstylists. At the turn of the century in London, only one in ten hairdressing professionals was a woman. Now there are far more women in the profession than men.

Cosmetology schools still require students to learn the fine art of finger waving. There is not a student alive that doesn't complain about this assignment. The fear of every student is how they are going to score at the state boards with their finger waving. "Why do we have to learn this?" "What is the point?" are sentences continually being stated year after year.

We should respect our roots and give tribute to all those hairstylists that paved the way for us to have a great profession. And who knows? History always repeats itself, and one day finger waves might make a comeback! Better get out that comb and gel!

Hollywood was a huge inspiration during the Forties for women's hairstyles. Veronica Lake was famous for her blonde hair, seductively trailing down across one eye. During the Second World War, many women who copied her were working on wartime production lines and were getting their hair caught in the machinery. The United States government made a plea to Paramount Pictures to change her style. The movie Gone With The Wind inspired a new look for women's hair. The hair was pulled back and contained in a woven net called a snood.

Haircolor was still a very precarious adventure. Peroxide was mixed with ammonia, and Ivory soap flakes were added to make a paste. The hair often wound up on the beauty salon floor.

The 1940s was a time of glamour. False eyelashes, bright red lipstick, penciled eyebrows, and hair either curled or styled up was popular. The "Pin Up" girl emerged, both in drawings by Vargas and the famous photographer Bernard of Hollywood.

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The "bob" haircut emerged on the fashion scene in the late 1920s with much debate and outrage. Women’s hairstyles had been worn long, and mostly styled up, for over 100 years. The bob is a great example of how fashion follows history. Clothing designers generally copy whatever is happening historically at the time; then hairstyles copy clothes.

The Victorian Era, at the turn of the century, was a very prim and proper time. Clothing was worn high on the neck, sleeves completely covering the arms, and skirts to the ankle. Bustles were worn under skirts to give a fullness to the fabric. Hair followed suit, and was worn up with horsehair pads to give it fullness. The Gibson Girl was the trendsetter of the time.

After World War I, many women kept their wartime jobs or opted for another career. They saw a need for an easier hairstyle to accommodate their busier lifestyle. Suffragettes bobbed their hair to celebrate their emancipation. Women started to smoke cigarettes and apply lipstick in public. Until then, tobacco was locked in a cabinet, unavailable to them.

Speakeasies sprouted up, along with the trendy dance, the Charleston. Dresses were shortened to the knee and hairstylists began cutting the tresses short to match the skirts. The automobile became a common purchase. Clothing designers made slacks for women and small hats to keep their hair in place while riding in the open wind. Yet another reason to bob the hair. The famous cartoon character Betty Boop sported a bob, and the beauties of Hollywood promoted it on the silver screen.

The bob is still in fashion today. It is layered, and highlights of various colors are added to give the style texture. The bob is what the industry calls a "classic haircut". It really never goes out of style.

Problems were many during this time. Women developed backaches from the weight of these monstrosities. They traveled for miles by carriage to these parties, bent over in the coach because their hair would not travel upright. The combination of being corseted and wearing bustiers added to the discomfort! The pomades to hold these styles together were made of beef lard and bear grease. Because these women paid a high dollar amount for the hairdos, they kept them for a week or two. The hair became rancid and would often attract vermin while the mistress slept. That is where the term, her hair is a "rats nest" originated. French perfumes became renowned to cover the smell of the rotting pomades.

The word "shampoo" comes from the Hindu word champo which means "to massage" or "to knead". The first successful retail shampoo was developed by John Breck in the 1930s. He was the first manufacturer to present the public with a shampoo line for dry and oily hair. His advertisements featuring the "Breck Girl" became very popular, and many famous Hollywood starlets posed for his ads. It wasn't until the 1970s that much gentler PH-balanced shampoos entered the market. Today, the consumer has literally hundreds of shampoos, mousses, gels and conditioners from which to choose.

Farrah Fawcett

Throughout recorded history, certain men and women have had what I call a "signature hairstyle". In other words, they become known and tagged because of the hairstyle that they wear. In some cases the hairstyle is named after them. The term Pompadour is still used to describe a fully rounded hairdo which was made popular by Madame de Pompadour in 1756. Most recently is Farrah Fawcett, Dorothy Hamill, and of course who could forget Jennifer Aniston?

I have compiled some photo's to validate that truly your hair is your most important accessory. As you browse through these shots, you will notice how many of these people are known and recognized for their hairstyle. Some are beautiful and some are "over the edge".

Hair is an art form that we wear on our body. How we wear it tells others what our personality is and how adventuresome or conservative we are. The next time you look into the mirror, what does your hair say about you?

Elvis

The Beatles

Bo Derek

The Rocker Pink

Jimi Hendrix