PGC2019: Baronessa Isabel Maria's Spanish Hairstyle

Category: To refine gold to paint the lily To throw a perfume on the violet.   At your toilette: hairstyling, make up, beauty products, skincare, ointments, unguents, perfumes, etc

Purpose

Where choosing jewellery is the final touch to completing an ensemble, selecting the hairstyle is often the first decision I make after choosing my wardrobe for an event.  I like to take my time and use good tools to ensure a secure, period-plausible hairstyle.  It gives me a moment to get used to the clothing, and let things settle before adding the accessories and jewellery.

As I am also partial to experimenting with different tools, jewels, headwear and hairstyles, this is a long-term and ongoing pet project.  New hairsticks, combs, pomades, needles, and threads are regularly acquired and tested (sometimes to destruction) to recreate something I have seen in a period source.

 

Tools

• Combs of varying coarseness (for detangling and cleaning hair as well as smoothing hairstyles)
• Brush (for smoothing hairstyles)
• Needles & threads & snips (for tying off plaits, sewing hair into place, and getting it loose again)
• Pomade (for holding ends together, and flyaways in place)
• Mirror
• Gravoir (for cleanly parting hair and holding sections out of the way)
• Hairsticks (for holding and enhancing hairdos)
• Ribbons and jewels (for enhancing hairstyles)
• Lambs wool (for adding volume without much additional mass)
• Bump clips (for adding volume, in place of wool, or hair rats)

The above is a selection of my most commonly used hair related items.  As the box has limited space, the kit is contains is normally carefully curated to reflect the wardrobe packed for an event such as Canterbury Faire.

 

Methods

Please watch this YouTube video from the Known World Colegio de Iberia to see how the various tools above are used, and my new favourite Spanish hairstyle is constructed: https://youtu.be/qlCoVQYTZQU

 

Verdict

Using the tools is great for getting into the mindset before an event, or for preparing for the day while camping. (However, I really must sharpen snips for getting out of hairstyles more expediently.)

This hairstyle is secure and comfortable.  As the majority of the mass is centered over my neck, my head is not continuously pulled backwards, resulting in less fatigue and fewer headaches that my usual large, coiled plait.

 

Additional Resources

• Hous Amberherthe’s Hairdressing Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.nz/amberherthe/hair-pre-1600/  
• Hair archaeologist Janet Stephens: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCboS0faGVeMi3n5_2LsVazw 
• Silvouplaits historical hairstyles: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHZvUpJ8tQdsahhA7hOmbYGoM57-GvEmV

 

PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr's Acqua de Lavanda

Under the category of "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet", Mistress katherine kerr shares her adventures in the arts of the stillroom.

"A lady of worth should smell sweet, so it is a pleasure to use plants from the garden and spices from the kitchen to make a tisane suitable for my hair, my face and my linens.

I like having a nice-smelling spray when I'm ironing my linen garb, but the recipes for Queen of Hungary Water always seem chockful of ingredients. As a starter, I decided to try Acqua de Lavenda, from Gioventura Rosetti's Notandissimi Secreti de l'Arte Profumatoria , a book of 30 cosmetic recipes published in Venice in 1555.

I poured 2/3C of acqua vitae (in this case plain vodka) over 1/2C of dried lavender flowers from my garden, and let the mix steep in a screw-top jar for three days. (Countdown had jars with my KK sigil on them!)

To the resulting dark brown solution, I then added 1/4C of rosewater, 3 sticks of cinnamon and 6 cloves. Rosetti has the liquid distilled in an alembic, which I didn't have. So I sealed the jar tightly and placed it in a pot of gently simmering water for around 15 minutes.

The jar's metal lid showed a pleasingly indented form, indicating it was sealed with a partial vacuum. From there it went into a dark cupboard for four weeks for more steepage.

The mess was strained to remove the soggy lavender and spices, producing a dark honey-coloured tincture. The scent is on the spicey, rather than lavendery side, much to my approval. I look forward to trying it as a hair rinse or ironing spray -- probably diluted with water 1:3 or 1:4 times, as seen in the smaller bottle.

I now have a jar of Queen of Hungary Water currently steeping away in the cupboard , but I think the liquid to plant matter ratio may be wrong. I'll know in a couple of weeks."