Hair care... back in the day....

So I got the 'other half' to read what I wrote yesterday, and interestingly enough he did... the typical response i was expecting was "ummm, women's stuff.. no thanks"... he even had something to add, so here it goes...

According to him, people used use shoe polish to slick their hair down.. I'm not sure how 'lovely' the sight or the smell was - lol! I apparently asked the dumbest of questions ie. "oh my gosh! wouldn't the polish, like, go all over their clothes..." assuming they would in the least have shoulder length hair... he was floored with laughter... quite obviously the hair care was so bad it barely made it past ear length!

Another was straightening the hair temporarily with a stone, which would be placed on the fire and then used to "iron" the hair ~ talk about risky business, no temperature control.. this would last as long as your next hair wash.

From my colleagues:

• Fabric softener on the hair to hold the curls and make them shine so beautifully.. must smell nice is all I can say about that!
• Coca~Cola if you want to create dread locks, apparently works even on relaxed hair: you boil it, let it cool a bit and pour it over your hair then 'lock' it...
• Beer! on the hair, to strengthen it and make it grow; you apparently wash and condition as usual then pour the beer over as a final rinse...interestingly enough, this, I 'googled', and found that the proteins and sugars in the beer will help strengthen the keratin and give it shine ~ any guinea pigs for this? Not sure how bad the "beer smell" would be after though!

I guess we've come a long way then... or have we..?

Any other unusual remedies you know of that you are perhaps using to this day... do tell?