Ancient Egyptians

Ancient Egyptians, are known by many as a symbol of ancient beauty, vanity, and hygiene.

Appearance was very important, the way people looked, was a symbol of their wealth, status, and role in society.

The desire for a beautiful body influenced fashion, but the climate and medical issues, also formed a unique style, all of its own.

Ancient Egyptian hairstyles varied with social status, gender, and age.

A slave could never have the same hairstyle as a free person, and the lower class could never have the same style of hair as the upper class.

However, there were some similarities between them.

Like nowadays, most people tried to follow the same fashion.

The elite wore wigs for both fashion, and function.

To avoid lice, many Egyptians shaved their heads but wore wigs made of human hair, coated in beeswax.

They wore their wigs for special occasions–including their own funerals.

In the case of women, hairstyles were more advanced and unique.

They often liked to have their hair smooth, or with a natural wave. Women in ancient Egypt also liked to have long curls, but in the Old Kingdom period, they preferred short, or chin length bobs.

Egyptians improved the technique of making their wigs, to perfection.

The most expensive royal wigs would look like real hair.

They were made of vegetable fiber such as linen, sheep’s wool, other types of animal hair, and human hair stiffened with beeswax.

The cheapest ones, were made of vegetable fiber, but royals only used the ones made of human hair.

For both real hair and wigs, ancient Egyptians used fragrant oils like fir oil, almond oil, rosemary oil, and castor oil.

They believed that the oils stimulated hair growth.

Popular in ancient times, the seeds of fenugreek, are still in use as a remedy for hair growth, today.

Egyptian wigs were usually made in a structure, similar to the helmet.

Some of them were brightened blue, red or green, and decorated with precious stones and jewelry.

People who belonged to the upper class liked to possess many wigs.

The more wigs they owned, the higher their status was.

Decorated with hair bands ending in tassels, with added braids and curls, over time the wigs gradually became bigger and bigger.

Since they couldn’t be washed, wigs would be perfumed instead, using scented petals, essential oils, and wood chips such as cinnamon bark.

The most classical style of wigs, is a Nubian wig.

This was a headdress worn in many periods in history, but especially popular during the 18th Dynasty and all the New Kingdom Period.

In those times, wigs with luxurious decorations were a powerful symbol of fertility, related to the one wore by the goddess Hathor.

The wigs, known from tombs, reliefs and statues of Kiya, Nefertiti, Tiye, and other women of this period, partly resemble the modern Afro hairstyle.

During the Third Intermediate Period, wigs were quite massive and heavy.

In 900 BC, Queen Isimkheb wore a wig which weighed so much, that the queen needed help from her attendants to stand up.

Nowadays, her wig is a part of the Cairo Museum collection.

It was made of brown human hair, held together by beeswax.

After death, people were often buried with their best wigs. They wanted to appear as wealthy, and with beautiful hair, in the afterlife, as they did in life.

Because of this practice, many wigs have survived until now, and they are parts of exhibitions around the world.

Legendary queens like Nefertiti (who had a fondness for dark blue wigs) Cleopatra, and Nefertari, were proud of their wigs, and were regarded as great beauties.

Many of them had shaved heads, and their famous locks were partly made, by the people who created the most impressive wigs of their kingdom.

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https://www.ancient-origins.net/.../changing-beauty-use...

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Egyptian Mummy, wearing her 'best hair'