The hair should be taken down and well brushed every night, This removes dirt and makes it glossy.  Use a brush with bristles as stiff as you can use without irritating the scalp too much, and keep it clean.  Don’t drag a fine comb through the hair.  The proper comb has regular and even teeth, rounded, not sharp.  If a tooth becomes split, remove it; it will break the hair.  Wire brushes are nothing more or less than combs, and are not as good for the hair as good bristle brushes.  Keep combs and brushes clean.

Use of pomades.—­Hair that is dry and brittle really requires some oleaginous preparation, used in moderation.  Yellow vaselin is good.  Part the hair and rub it into the scalp with the tips of the fingers.  A sufficient amount will find its way to the hair itself to relieve the dryness.  Cocoanut oil is also good.  Never apply anything of this kind to the hair itself, which is simply made greasy.  The benefit should be to the roots.  The application of vaselin may be made a couple of days before the monthly washing, or if the hair is very dry, may follow it.  Remember not to overdo the matter.  It does not follow that because a little is good, more is better.

A specialist on the hair who makes biennial trips abroad to advise himself as to the most recent methods and treatment, in a moment of confidence admitted to a customer that after all pure cold water was as good a hair tonic as he knew of.  “Do not wet the hair.” he said.  “Dip the tips of your fingers in cold water and rub the scalp, wetting it and at the same time massaging it.  Do this as faithfully as you would apply a tonic, and in all but certain exceptional cases it will be as beneficial.’

Clipping the hair.—­It is a good plan to clip the ends of the hair once a month to keep the growth even.  If the hair splits, trim to a point above it, as the tendency is for the split to extend further up the hair-shaft.

Dandruff.—­Dandruff is the scaling off of dead cuticle.  In excess, it becomes a disease, forming so thick a scale as to kill the roots of the hair and cause it to fall out.  It is rightly called “itch dirt.”  Cleanliness therefore helps a cure.

An old-fashioned recipe for dandruff calls for five ounces of bay rum, one ounce of olive oil, one ounce tincture of cantharides.  Dr. Leonard advises free applications of sweet oil for the purpose of softening the scales, then a washing with warm water and castile soap, or the “green soap” of the pharmacy.  If the disease is bad, or obstinate, apply a little oxide of zinc ointment.

[Beauty and the toilet 795]

Washing the hair.—­One suspects that those who advise washing the hair once a week have more of all eye to the increase of their business than to the welfare of their customers’ hair.  The egg shampoo has been advised.  Use a soap made of vegetable oil if possible.  Never rub soap in the hair, and be very careful to rinse thoroughly, to get all the soap out using hot water for washing, then graduating the temperature till the final douche of cold.  Do not use ammonia, soda or borax on the hair.