More than 3,300 years ago, in a newly built city in Egypt, a woman with an incredibly elaborate hairstyle of lengthy hair extensions was laid to rest.

She was not mummified, her body simply being wrapped in a mat. When archaeologists uncovered her remains they found she wore "a very complex coiffure with approximately 70 extensions fastened in different layers and heights on the head," writes Jolanda Bos, an archaeologist working on the Amarna Project, in an article recently published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology.

Researchers don't know her name, age or occupation, but she is one of hundreds of people, including many others whose hairstyles are still intact, who were buried in a cemetery near an ancient city now called Amarna. [See Photos of the Egyptian Skeletons and Elaborate Hairstyles]

This city was constructed as a new capital of Egypt by Akhenaten (reign ca. 1353-1335 B.C.), a pharaoh who unleashed a religious revolution that saw the Aten, a deity shaped as a sun disk, assume supremacy in Egyptian religion. Akhenaten ordered that Amarna be constructed in the desert and that images of some of Egypt's other gods be destroyed. Amarna was abandoned shortly after Akhenaten's death, and today archaeologists supported by the Amarna Trust are investigating all aspects of the ancient city, including the hairstyles its people wore.

Bos is leading the hairstyle research, and the woman with 70 extensions leaves her puzzled.

"Whether or not the woman had her hair styled like this for her burial only is one of our main research questions," said Bos in an email to Live Science. "The hair was most likely styled after death, before a person was buried. It is also likely, however, that these hairstyles were used in everyday life as well and that the people in Amarna used hair extensions in their daily life."

Many of the other skulls Bos analyzed also had hair extensions. One skull had extensions made of gray and dark black hair suggesting multiple people donated their hair to create extensions.

Hairy discoveries

As Bos analyzed a selection of 100 recently excavated skulls (of which 28 still had hair) from the Armana cemetery, she noticed the people who lived in the ancient city had a wide variety of hair types. They range "from very curly black hair, to middle brown straight," she noted in the journal article, something "that might reflect a degree of ethnic variation." [Photos: 10 Iconic Hairstyles That Took Root]

Those skulls with brown hair often had rings or coils around their ears, a style that was popular at Amarna, she found. Why people in this city liked it is unknown. "We still have no idea. This is of course one of the answers we are still trying to find from the record," said Bos in the email.

People in the city also seemed to be fond of braids. "All braids found in the coiffures were simple and of three strands, mostly 1 cm [0.4 inches] wide, with strands of approximately 0.5 cm [0.2 inches] when tightly braided," Bos writes in the journal article.

People at Amarna also liked to keep their hair short. "Braids were often not more than 20 cm [7.9 inches] long, leaving the hair at shoulder length approximately," Bos added. "The longest hair that was found consisted of multilayered extensions to a length of approximately 30 cm [11.8 inches]."

 Fat was used to help create all the hairstyles Bos found, something that would have helped keep the hair in one piece after death. More research is needed to determine whether the fat was from animals. A textile found on each of the skulls may have been used to cover part of the head.

Hide the gray?

In one case a woman has an orange-red color on her graying hair. It appears that that she dyed her hair, possibly with henna (a flowering plant).

"We are still not completely sure if and what kind of hair coloring was used on this hair, it only seems that way macroscopically," said Bos in the email. "At present we are analyzing the hairs in order to find out whether or not some kind of coloring was used. On other sites dyed hair was found from ancient Egypt."

This woman, among other ancient Egyptians, may have dyed her hair "for the same reason as why people dye their hair today, in order not to show the gray color," Bos said.

The article can be found here

The benefits of coconut oil for hair and skin

Coconut oil is full of healthy saturated fats and offers a distinctive and delicious taste making it a beloved ingredient in many foods. In recent years however, many people have also begun to celebrate the wide and varied cosmetic benefits coconut oil offers. Due to its antimicrobial properties, coconut oil has natural anti-fungal properties making it an important aid for a number of skin issues, such as acne and athletes foot. What’s more, due to its naturally hydrating properties, the oil can be used as a moisturizer and is effective at reducing dryness.

The benefits of coconut oil for hair are well-documented and varied. While it may seem counter-intuitive to apply oil directly to the hair, it doesn’t not have the heavy and greasy effect you may think: instead it naturally strengthens, cleanses and smooths the hair. Comprised of medium-chain fatty acids, the oil from coconuts is able to penetrate much more deeply into the hair shaft than other substances. As such, it can provide much needed moisture to dry hair and help strengthen the cuticle to help prevent split ends.

Different ways to use coconut oil for hair

There are a number of different ways to use coconut oil for hair. The most popular are:

• As a deep conditioning hair mask
• As a detangler
• To help fight dandruff

For anyone looking to use coconut oil for a hair mask the process is quite simple. Follow these tips for a deep and hydrating experience.

1. For cosmetic use, it’s best to pick a virgin coconut oil that has been cold pressed. This will best ensure it is packed full of the healthy nutrients your hair craves.
2. Wash your hair first to ensure it is totally clean and let it dry completely before getting started.
3. Take a small amount of coconut oil, about the size of a tablespoon, and rub it between your hands to warm it up to a liquid state.
4. Gently massage through the tips and middle section of your hair using your fingers. Try not to let too much sit on the scalp and this can block the pores.
5. Wrap your hair in a warm towel and let it sit for up to thirty minutes.
6. To wash out, use a clarifying shampoo.

 
When you shouldn’t use coconut oil for hair

The very things that make coconut oil so well suited as a treatment for some types of hair, can equally make it have more damaging effects on others. The high concentration of lauric acid that naturally occurs in coconut oil helps it to reduce protein-loss from hair strands. For hair that is very fine and benefits from added strength, this is a huge asset. However, if your hair is coarse and comprised of thick individual strands, using coconut oil for hair treatments could prove counterproductive: rather than smoothing the strands, the oil can create a protein buildup, exacerbating their stiffness.

A great alternative to coconut oil for hair is a weightless smoothing oil or serum that seals the cuticle without weighing the strands down. Try out the GLISS Oil Nutritive Weightless Oil to achieve light-as-a-feather frizz-fighting that also leaves hair feeling soft and shiny.

From Schwarzkopf.com

A math problem arose the other day while I was getting a haircut at 95 years old. I've had my hair cut seven or eight times each year that sums up to over 700 haircuts. I won't even address the cost of haircuts in my lifetime but am still blessed with hair to cut!

Barbers are becoming scarce today. There are only a few barbers in the Okoboji area; one in Arnolds Park, one in Spirit Lake and one in Milford. Otherwise men go to a hair stylist to get their hair cut. The COVID-19 virus shut the barber shops down for several months. The barbers wear a mask but we take our masks off. While I was getting my hair cut I reflected on earlier times. The barber today uses clippers, scissors and a comb. The one thing that has really changed is the price as it used to cost 25 cents and today $12 to $20 or more.

Barber shops are identified by a barber pole, red and white and even blue added. The blue stripes in America represented the American flag. Barbers in earlier times also pulled teeth and did minor surgery. One story about the barber pole says that the barber surgeons would hang their blood stained rags out on a pole to advertise their shop. The look of the barber poles is linked to bloodletting, with red representing blood and white representing the bandages used to stem the bleeding. George Washington's doctors did some bloodletting in his last days. The pole itself is said to symbolize the stick that the patient squeezed to make the veins in his arm stand out more prominently for the procedure. Men's hairstyling has come a long way since the Middle Ages, but the barber pole still preserves an iconic representation of the trade.

My early recollections of getting my hair cut were at home. Mother cut my hair until I was about 5 years old. She was pretty good with those hand clippers, scissors and comb. She also cut Dad's hair.

As a youth I believe my first encounter with a barbershop came when I was five. The barber was a personal friend of my parents so I knew him quite well. My dad dropped me off at the shop and the barber told me to sit over on the bench until he was through with the fellow he was shaving. I was familiar with shaving as I had observed my dad and uncles shave at home but to see somebody in a barber chair getting his whiskers shaved off was a new sight. I also got to observe the rest of the shop while waiting. There were three barber chairs available for getting shaves and haircuts, a shoe shine chair and little room off to one side.

That little room fascinated me and upon investigation I discovered a bathtub in the room. My first thought was that was a queer place for a bathtub but it wasn't long before some fellow came in and told the barber he wanted a bath. The barber took his money, gave him a towel and the guy went into the little room. He closed the door and I could hear water running into the tub and soon splashing so I assumed he was taking a bath. We had a bathtub in our house so I thought it was peculiar for someone to come to town for a bath. Little did I know that many houses and especially farmhouses had neither bathtubs nor running water!

While waiting for my turn I was able to watch the barber shave the man. It was quite a procedure to observe. First, the man sat down in the chair, and then the barber tilted the chair back until the man was almost lying down. Next the barber took out some very hot white towels from a steam box and applied them to the man's face. That procedure really looked hot and all I could see of the man's face was his nose sticking out from the towels wrapped around and across.

After a time the barber took off the hot towels and then with a brush and a glass mug put shaving lather all over the fellow's face and neck. Following that the barber took a long straight edge razor and ran it back and forth on a leather strap that hung to the side of the chair. I knew about razor straps as my dad had one that hung back of the bathroom door and if I did something naughty it was used on my backside to get my attention.

The barber shaved off the whiskers with long, even swipes. I admired the way he held the fellow's nose and shaved off the whiskers below his nose. What really caught my attention was when the barber shaved the fellow's neck. The guy had his head back and the barber took off those whiskers slick as a whistle. I thought to myself that I would have to be brave and very trusting before I would ever let a barber shave my neck.

When it was my turn to get a haircut, the barber put a board across the arms of the chair for me to sit on. Later in life it was really gratifying when I didn't have to have that baby board while getting a haircut. Then the barber put tissue paper around my neck and wrapped a large apron or towel around my front side and pinned it in the back. He then proceeded to cut my hair.

Those electric clippers sort of startled me as I was used to Mother's hand clippers but it went very smooth. He trimmed off some hair from the top of my head and sides, combed it nicely to see if it all matched and then dashed on some stinky hair oil. He again combed it, whipped off the apron and told me he was finished. I got up and proudly gave him 25 cents. It sure made me feel like a big boy.

That hair oil was in standard use by men in the United States for many years. The most popular brand was Fitch. Elvis Presley made it very popular with his slicked back hair, oil and the "ducktail" hairdo. I suppose it is still sold but I haven't checked lately. Barbers do not use it anymore.

While I was getting my first haircut at that early barbershop a couple of elderly men came in and sat down on the bench. Neither of them looked like they needed a haircut or a shave but what did I know? They were soon engaged in a lively discussion about some subject I couldn't follow. I did hear the words "president" and "congress" mentioned but that was beyond my comprehension. Soon another fellow came in and then it was a three-party conversation with the barber getting his "two cents" in every so often. The other barber chairs were empty but none of those fellows moved to get it. I finally figured out they only came into the barbershop to talk and read the newspaper. The barber didn't seem to mind.

The barbershop that I frequented as a youth did not cater to women and was strictly for men. One of the other barbershops in town did have a part of their shop partitioned off for women to get their hair fixed. There was an electric machine in there with all sorts of electric cords with some gadget attached that curled women's hair. I only went into that shop when I accompanied the barber's son who was a buddy of mine. I took one look at that electric hair curler and thought to myself that it looked dangerous. I do not ever remember my mother, grandmothers or aunts going to a barbershop to get their hair beautiful. Later several beauty shops opened up in town and the women went there.

I didn't know exactly what they did in those beauty shops but I did deliver a newspaper to one of the shops and had to go in each week to collect. Women were sitting under some sort of a hood or they had electric wires and clamps in their hair. It was very confusing to me and it wasn't until much later in my life that the whole procedure was explained.

Today many men go to beauty salons and get their hair styled, dyed and or curled. The beauticians cut hair differently than the barbers as they use a razor for most of the trimming. They usually wash your hair before they cut it. They do a great job but I'm old-fashioned and still prefer a barber!
 
Posted at Dickinson County News