I'm a hairstylist. I tried Medieval hair care and went a month without washing my hair

As a hijabi, I can testify there is a thing named bad-head-scarf day. It is when your scarf or tichel does not want to stay on your head like you draped it and then you have to always adjust it. Then the next day everything goes, although you draped it and pinned it exactly the same 😂 I totally loved your green Tichel-style headscarf a lot. Green looks so nice on you.

Checking out at my doctor’s office I noticed a woman with a really pretty headscarf. She noticed me looking and I could tell she was nervous about my attention, I immediately assured her, “Your scarf is beautiful, I was just admiring it!” She immediately relaxed and apologized for not knowing where she got it, she was so sweet and it was just a nice moment in the real world for two women to appreciate a little beauty. It should be completely normal to wear your hair in whatever way suits you, your culture, religion, or style. I hope we continue to get closer to that goal.

This has been a very interesting experiment. As a black woman my hair is in protective styles about 90% of the time. It’s either braided, in twists or an updo. In the spring and summer when I work in the garden a lot I wear a scarf of some sort to protect it from pollen and dirt. Growing up as a little black girl and even in college I remember white people’s horror that I didn’t wash my hair daily, or, especially as a child, weekly. A braided hairstyle can take 6+ hours, you’re not going to take it down until you have to. It’s a real timesaver for black moms to have a little girl’s hair in a braided style for several weeks. Of course classmates were convinced that my hair was dirty or that it smelled. Neither were true. With braids you usually sleep in headscarf or bonnet. And I would often wear a scarf during the day as well. Both the protective style and wearing the scarf helps with cleanliness. I’ve been told headscarves are ‘unprofessional’, even though I always coordinated the scarf with my outfit. (Thanks for your comment about that.) Headscarves have even been deemed unacceptable for zoom calls while my office has been WFH during the pandemic.

20 years ago, some SCA friends and I decided to live full time as medieval people for 7 years. I love watching videos like this disproving modern myths about poor hygiene, as we all looked and smelled fine, though as you noted, we did have a "human" smell that most modern people associate with being unwashed.

I am a curly girl, and my big issue with those historical haircare videos is that they usually have people with straight hair telling how wonderful it is to comb their hair. I loved your video and I'm going to try more protective styles to grow my hair out, as breakage is a huge issue for me. About head scarves, it is very variable. I am very pale, but have really dark hair, so with a headscarf some people could think of me as a very pale Middle Eastern woman, luckily the only thing I've had happened to me is somebody speaking arabic to me in a very polite way. I've been lucky.

I've had to do this for over a year because I was completely bedbound. So many bedbound people do this. Its not gross! Its definitely not a reason to report someone to social services or tell them to shave it all ofd (yes really!) Not being able to wash your hair regularly for energy reasons, mobility, etc is fine. Yes people should be given assistance to wash their hair every few months if they can't on their own. Much thanks to my husband and father for that. But washing it daily is completely unnecessary.

Thank you for acknowledging the struggle women of color endure while trying to protect our hair.

Tip for tying off braids securely and historically appropriate: insert the ribbon / thread a little bit above where the braid should end (or at the very top if you like the effect) and braid both ends along with the hair for a bit, then tie off. It won't slide out that way, because your hair holds it in place. If I remember correctly, it was Morgan Donner who showed this in one of her videos.

I feel you on the curly girl struggle of combing out your hair. This is such a neat experiment. The usefulness of headscarves and braids is amazing.

As a disabled person that don't always have the energy to wash my hair, I'll totally try this! I imagine it can save me a lot of energy, and still make me feel like I'm actually doing something productive. (Mind you, I do have very straight hair, tho, and it never really tangles at all, because I already sleep with it in braids or twists)

my mum lived in a city prone to smog in an area people still used coal to heat their houses. in winter when she washed her hair the water would run off black. this was 40+ years ago and the air quality has improved a lot.

I have a fine wooden comb too and the amount of lint and gunk in my hair is always surprising! I always love seeing people do these experiments because they're very interesting to me as a disabled person. I can't always wash my hair up to 21st century standards so it's nice to learn about alternatives :)

I went to a medieval market last weekend and did something different with my hair and I noticed something interesting. Normally I would wear my Brigitta cap and veil with a normal bun and my veil and cap always slip off and need to be adjusted multiple times during the day. This time I decided to wear my hair in two braids that were wrapped around my head. This held the cap in place a lot better and I have not needed to adjust my veil and cap a single time. When it I took them off they were just as secure as when I put them on. I have fine straight hair that is terrible in holding stuff so I am very pleased with this.

I recently started using a boar bristle brush and your lint situation is so relatable. My dogs sleep in my bed, and the amount of shed fur I keep brushing out of my hair... Very good motivation to sleep with braided, covered hair haha

The most powerful sentence from this video is regarding the headscarf: You're judging your own body less for how it affects your appearance. This is something a lot of people should think about.

As a hijabi woman of color this is basically my routine except I use a hair cream a bit a few times a week, and my hair never smells, itches or breaks. I also have curly frezzy east African hair and I always keep it in braids or updos and it will look healthier and and the floof is never gone. I could go weeks without having to wash my hair and there's hardly any grease of excess oils or build up.

Hi, Jackie from Rigr Crafts here! Thank you so much for featuring our combs and hair pins. I follow the historical haircare routine too (although I end up washing every 2 weeks because I'm a greasy Italian lol) and I use our hair and beard oils on the ends of my hair once or twice a week and then comb it through. It gives it a really nice scent and it helps condition the ends since my hair is waist length. I also wear head scarves regularly especially when I'm working in my jewelry studio so it stays clean. My hair has never been healthier. Now I'm off to share this video on all of our socials!

I have very long, very straight hair and I work as a gardener and landscaper. Lots of bending, twisting and sweating. I can pin my hair in a braided bun with no elastics and nothing moves all day and since the weight of my hair is distributed over all the pins, there is no discomfort. I started doing it because it was practical for me, turns out it's pretty historically accurate too. And braiding my hair loosly before sleeping saves me so much time in the morning!

i have insanely greasy hair, so during quarantine i thought it was the perfect chance to try and 'train' my hair to be less greasy -- wash once a week, do only natural stuff. it didn't change a thing, my hair still gets greasy about 10 hours after washing, and since its a light color and fine you can truly truly tell when its greasy, so i started wearing triangle head scarves more and honestly i want to try putting my hair up in a scarf more too

Far be it from me to tell anyone how they should feel about their hair or what looks objectively "best", but I actually think your hair is gorgeous combed out like that! It catches the light and just glows. It's beautiful when you have all the curl definition too, but it looks great in its combed out state as well.