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The Journey to be an Italian Beauty;

An exploration in hair bleaching and dying.

The women of Italy were known for their beauty. One of their most prized accessories was their fine blonde hair. It is common in modern times to change your hair color on a whim. All you need to do is travel to the local beauty parlor or buy a do it yourself kit. In the renaissance however, it was not so simple. The mixing, grinding of minerals and cooking of plants was a process coveted by alchemist and apothecaries for centuries. When the proper mixture was achieved, it was passed down from generation to generation. Their hair became a true fascination, not only in the Republic of Venice, but also in most of the provinces in Italy during the 16^th century. Hair altering, whether bleaching or dying became so popular that best selling books and palettes were written and sold to every maiden in the county. They all strived to be a classic beauty that was passed down orally and literary. Beauty standards of the time followed a formula, which women went to great lengths to achieve. What started out as basic: white skin, blond hair, red lips and checks, black eyebrows, in earlier centuries. Soon became an extensive list by the 16^th century.

Three long: Hair, hands and legs.
            Three short: teeth, ears, and breasts
            Three wide: forehead, chest, and hips
            Three narrow: waist, knees, and “where nature places all that is sweet”
            Three large: (“but well proportioned”) height, arms, and thighs
            Three thin: eyebrows, fingers, and lips
            Three round: neck, arms and buttocks
            Three small: month, chin, and feet
            Three white: teeth, throat, and hands
            Three red: cheeks, lips, and nipples (when shown)
            Three Black: eyebrows, eyes and “what you yourself should know”    [1]

Although this standard does not mention blond hair, it was still considered the preferred standard. Where the standard began, I cannot say, it seems to have been passed down for generations.

The quest began when I found a reference of hair altering was a passage from an 18^th century historian Jacob Burckhardt’s “The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy”.

“The Ideal colour sought for both natural and artificial hair was blond. And as the sun was supposed to have the power of making the hair this colour, many ladies would pass their whole time in the open air on sunshiny days. Dyes and other mixtures were also used freely for the same purpose.” [2]

If an 18^th century historian wrote about this practice there must be other who witnessed this ritual. And they did, other gentlemen wrote about their endless hours perched on rooftop in the hottest part of the day. They would sit for hours to achieve the golden locks that one so coveted. Using products unsafe by today’s standards, they put their lives and beauty at risk. Venetian woman would arm themselves with a list of supplies they needed to perform this act: A wide brim hat called a “solana” to protect their face from the sun and from the product they were about to use, a lightweight gown made of silk or other lightweight fabric called a “schiavonetto”, a small sponge attached to a stick, to apply the concoction and a comb and a mirror, and of course, the sun, which in the Mediterranean countries was plentiful. This attention to detail was a practice for the middle to upper class ladies, for no working women would have the time or luxury to sit for hour attending there hair.

How safe was this practice? How much evidence still reminds from this time period? What was the process was needed to achieve the look? How much was the sun a factor? Did any of the concoctions really work? I personally have not tried any of the receipts in this text, to date. I’m not sure that I want to, but I hope to come to a conclusion that they would work.

The History

From ancient time, women have strived to make themselves beautiful. It is believed the ancient Egyptian were the first known culture to use make-up and hair-dye. Henna dye was used not only for hair but also for finger and toenails. The Roman culture also adored their women with perfume and eye dressing. It took great skill and patients to achieve these methods. Alchemist and Chemist must have been kept very busy in ancient times to cater to their clients and produce a safe product. But were they safe? Lead based make-up and lye base hair dye are quite dangerous. Most of the receipts may have been handed down from Arabic, Turkish and Asia nations brought to the Mediterranean region by the Crusader and Byzantine rule.[3]

Literary passage of the 16^th century that gave me a guide to my first look at how women achieved there hair altering. Driven by the standards of the time period, they seem to have stopped at nothing. They also seem to have trouble making up their minds as to which color of blonde was preferred. “The hair, should be fine and fair, in the similitude now of gold, now of honey, and now of the bright and shining rays of the sun; waving, thick and abundant”[4] All beautiful colors but what was the preferred color?

Thomas Coyate, a world traveler in the 16^th and 17^th century, wrote about all the cultures that he visited. One of the countries was Italy, among them, the Republic of Venice. He writes in great length about the Venetian’s. The women did not escape his watchful eye.

“All the women of Venice every Saturday in the afternaunt did sun their haire with style, or some other things so the end so make it looks faire, that is whiteish. For that colourer is most affeched of the Venician Dourness and Lioness. And in this manner they do it: first they past as a reaches hat, without any crown at all, but brimness of exceeding breath and largeness: then they sit in some sun shinning place in a chamber or some other secret roome, where having a looking glasses before them, they sophisticate and dye their haire with the foremaid drugs and after cast it backe round upon the brim of the hat, till is be thoroughly dried with the heat of the sunne:”[5]

Here is the first mention of the ritual of dying/bleaching hair. The color he used was a whitish color. He also mentions the crownless hat, the solana.

Lucrezia Marinella wrote in her masterpiece novel “The Nobility of Excellence of Women, and the Defects and Vices of Men” that ‘her golden hair enhances her beauty’[6] giving us a good insight of the color that women preferred. She also mentions later in this book that men were also subject to vanity of beauty and indulge in dying their hair. It seems that Lisocrates spent the day ’bleaching his hair in order to make himself more handsome’[7].

Cesare Vecellio, an Italian citizen, often wrote about the people in his life. Vecellio, descriptions were the most vivid. One of which he illustrated in his “Vecellio's Renaissance Costume Book”.

“Venetian women dyeing their hair blond. It is customary, in Venice, to erect square, wooden, open loggias on to of houses, called altane. There the greater part of the women of Venice devoted themselves intensely to the art of dyeing their hair blond, employing different kinds of washes and rises especially devised for this purpose.They choose the hottest moment of the day to sit there,enduring great discomfort in order to achieve the desired result. Dressed in a particular sort of gown of silk or very thincloth that is called a schiavonetto, (a Dalmatian-style dress fashionable in Venice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries). Wearing, to protect themselves from the sun, a lightweight straw hat called a solana with a hole on the top, through which they pull the hair. The women wet their locks with small sponges attached to a slender stick, while admiring themselves in a mirror.”[8]

“The houses in Venice are commonly crowned with little constructions in wood, resembling a turret without a roof. On the ground these lodges or boxes are formed of masonry, floored like what are called terrazzo at Florence and Naples. It is in these that the Venetian women may be seen as often and indeed oftener, than in their chambers. It is there that, with their head exposed to the full ardour of the sun during whole days, they strain every nerve to augment their charms and during the hours that the sun darts its most vertical and scorching rays, they repair to these boxes and condemn themselves to broil in them unattended. Sated there they keep on wetting their hair with sponge dipped in some elixir of youth, prepared with their own hands or purchased. They moisten their hair afresh as fast as the sun dries it and it is by unceasing renewal of this operation that they become what you see them – blondes.[9]

Vecellio gives us a full description of this ritual. He also gives us the tools that they needed, the hat, the dress, and the balcony. But neither author gives us the details about what style of the dress, except that it is of Dalmatian style. I have come to the conclusion that is may be a dress that the Dalmatic immigrants brought to the region at the beginning of the century. This would have been a working class dress, so the only evidence that is found is the illustration of Vecellio’s. The hat is well described and should be little trouble to duplicate. Both authors dwell on the fact that they spend hours in the sun. How much of this sun worshiping adds to the bleaching of this hair? These three passages also do not tell us how hair dying was achieved other then sitting in the sun and using “some elixir”.

I used this title because after doing the research, that’s exactly what it is, poison by today’s standards. After review receipts, elixirs and concoctions, it became clear just how fortunate we are today. It became apparent that these ‘receipts’ fall under two categories. Elixirs that use the sun as a catalyst or lye base products. Most of the lye-based receipts do not need the sun to do it dirty work and women could sit in comfort inside while they dyed or bleached their hair.

“The Trotula, an English Translation of the medieval Compendium of Women’s Medicine” was one of the publications that noted a collection of the ancient secret of women’s medicine and beauty secrets. It was first translated and published from its original state in 2001. This is the oldest printed collection I have come across to date. This marvelous book is believed to be the collection of remedies founded by the first female professor of medicine in the 11^th or 12^th century, Salerno, Italy. Originally, there were at least three volumes and this collection was highly coveted in the medical profession. In the 16^th century, the collection was printed into one edition. Before the publication was printed, It was widely believed that several authors wrote these remedies. Under the watchful eye of Renaissance editor, Georg Kraut and scribes they came to the conclusion that this may be the writings of one person. Kruat reorganized the text into similar remedies. The collection was then used as the primary source for the treatment of women’s diseases and cosmetic needs. Over many years there was a continued debate of the author's gender, but the conclusions stand firm. In the pages of “The Trotula” there are medical remedies and cosmetic mixtures. Hair dying and bleaching are included in this text.

“The Elixirs of Nostradamus”[10] by none other then the great man himself, is a book of his best concoctions. This was a very popular book going though many editions[11]. Sadly, only a few original copies remain today. One is housed in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. It was carefully edited and published in 1996. This book has several recipes on hair color altering with titles such as “How to Introduce Gold Highlights in the Hair’ and one for ‘making the hair of the beard blond or golden’.

Other recipes were found in collections of beauty remedies for cultures such as England, Spain and the Middle East. I found them in cookbooks and household accounts. There became such a collection of receipts that I will present only a few receipts for examination. In Appendix I, are the rest of the receipts that I have collected. Some of them have the original text and with their translations.

The following are the recipes from “The Trotula” [12] First in it original text followed by the translation which was given;

“Ad colorationem capillorum ut flaui fiant. Recipe corticem nucis exteriorem

pera et gallas, et cum istis distemperatis caput prius lotum linies folia super-

ponendo et dum fascia ligando per duos dies poteris colorare, et pectina caput

que fit de crocoorientali, sanguine draconis, alcanna, cuius maior pars distem-

perata cum decoctione brasi lii, et sic remaneat per. Iii. Dies mulier, et abluatur

“For coloring the hair so that it is golden. Take the exterior shell of a walnut and the bark of the tree itself and cook them in water, and with this water mix alum and oak apples, and with these mixed things you will smear the head (having first washed it), placing upon the hair leaves and trying them with a bandage for two days; you will be able to color {the hair}. And comb the head so that whatever adheres to the hair as excess comes off. Then place a coloring which is made from oriental crocus, dragon’s blood, and henna (whose larger part has been mixed with a decoction of brazil wood), and thus let the women remain for three days, and on the fourth day let her be washed with hot water, and never will {this coloring} be removed easily.”

This receipt was very interesting to me and found its contents in a timely manner. I will examine this in depth later in the paper. It does not require the sun as so many of the passage speak of. This one is from “The Elixirs of Nostradamus” [13]

“How to Introduce Gold Highlights in the Hair. Take a pound of finely pulverized

liquorice, a similar amount of swollow wort and yellow poppy seeds, two ounces

of the leaves and flowers of glacus, a herb which grows in syria and is akin to a poppy,

half an ounce of saffron and half a pound of paste made from finely ground wheat

flour. Put everything into a lye made with sieved wood ashes, bring it partly to the

boil and then strain the whole mixture. Now take a large earthenware pot and bore

ten to twelve holes in the bottom. Next take equal parts of vine ash and sieved wood

ash, shake them into a large wooden vessel or mortar, whichever you think better,

moisten them with the said lye, thoroughly pulverize the mixture, take almost a whole

day to do this-but make sure that it becomes a bit stiff. Next pound rye and wheat

straw in with it until the straw has absorbed the greater part of the lye. Shake these

pounded ashes into the said earthenware pot and push an ear of rye into each small

hole. Put the straw and ashes in the bottom, so that the pot is filled, though still leav-

ing sufficient space fir the reminder of the lye to be poured over the mixture. Towards

evening set up another earthenware pot and let the lye run into it through the holes

with the ears of rye. When you want to use the lotion, take the liquid which ran out,

smear your hair with it and let it dry. Within three or four days the hair will look as

Again the sun is not used in this description. It does gives a lovely account of how to make period lye. This one is from “Natural Magick” (Magiae naturalis) by Giambattista della Porta,[14]

"To make their hair yellow," Thus, they put into a common Lye, the Citron Pills, Oranges, Quinces, Barley Straw, dried Lupines, Feny-Graec, Broom flowers, and Tartar coloured, a good quantity. And they let them there lie and Steep, to wash their hair with. Others mingle two parts of Soap, to one part honey, adding Ox-gall one half part. To which they mingle a twelfth part garden Cumin, and wild Saffron. And setting them in the sun for six weeks, they stir it daily with a wooden staff. And this they use. Also of Vinegar and Gold Litharge, there is made a Decoction very good to dye the hair yellow as Gold. Some there are, that draw out a strong water with fire, out of Saltpeter, Vitriol, Salt Ammoniac, and Cinnaber, whereas the hairs dyed, will be presently yellow. But this is often found to burn the hair.”

This looks like it has up to three receipts. One that uses a common lye and one that uses a pre-made soap. This would make it hard to duplicate in order to get the proper balance of chemicals, you would need to have this information. This next one is from “Manual of Women in which is contained many and diverse very good recipes (Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas) Translation of an anonymous 16th century cookbook from Spanish into English. [15]

Half a celemín of sifted vine-shoot ash, and an almozada of the ash of Spanish broom. Put a pot of river water or fountain water to the fire and, once it is boiling, throw that ash inside, and leave it to boil twice, and then separate it and leave it to rest until it is clear. And take as much of that lye as an azumbre, and get out a glass jug, and put in it seven ounces of white burned argol and lid the jug. Grate an ounce and a half of Valencian soap and throw it inside, and stir it until the lees separate. And comb or skim the hair with this lye in the sun, and then wash with other lye. And when it is combed it is with sesame oil.

These terms were unfamiliar to me so I had to go searching for them. celemín: half a peck azumbre: 2 liters. This is needed information for duplication. But wait there is more. From Giovanni Marinello’s ‘Gli Ornamenti delle donne’[16]

“You will obtain reddish- brown hair if you boil in pure water vine ashes together with barley shafts, twig-bark. Peeled and chopped licorice wood, and lime. Make a concoction of these ingredients: pour it off. Wash your hair, let it dry, then apply this liquid. Your hair will be shiny strand of gold.”

"To make the hair yellow as golde. Take the rine or scrapings of Rubarbe, and stiepe it in white wine, or in cleere lie; and after you have washed your head with it, you shall weatte your hairs with a Spoonge or some other cloth, and let them drie by the fire, or in the sunne; after this weatte them and drie them againe."

All but the very last Marinello receipt is lye base. So why do the literary writers of the time talk about them sitting in the sun? It could be that these concoctions make them blonde and the sun worshipping and a milder elixir kept their hair the golden color. A maintenance program would need to be introduced to continue these elusions. Was this a social thing? I think it is both. Even today, women use lemon juice and the sun to lighten their hair.

Common denominators started to appear after comparing the different receipts. All of them had the same component, no matter what the region. They all contained a tannic acid, sometimes called tannin, for stripping the hair of color. It also doubled as a cleaner for the hair. The tannic acid strength or ph can change depending on what bark or plant was used. This process also improves the absorption of the hair follicles. Lye, a process in which you strain water though ashes from a tree or bush, was commonly used to get the proper ph. What is an affective ph? Anything with a very high alkaline of 11.0 to 24.0.

The second part of the receipt contains some kind of color to get the desired affect. Saffron or Crocus, will give a yellow color. Henna will give it a lovely red-brown color. Although, I do believe these colors can be manipulated, depending on the difference ph components for stripping the color.

First let me tell you I am NOT a chemist. In fact that was not one of my strong subjects in school and it has been a number of years since I attended. It was suggest to me, that when working with Lye, I use a commercial grade for my first projects. This way I will know the strength of the lye. Since different bark and vine ash will give you different strength of lye, it would be hard to control the project.

However, I did attempt to make my own experiment. Using the wood from a lilac tree, I burn the wood, stiffed it and using a hand made wooden box, drilled holes in the bottom and strained distilled water though the ashes. What started out as 7.0 ph distilled water ended up 11.0 ph lilac lye water. I did do several things wrong with this experiment. The first thing that I did wrong was I didn’t use a waterproof wooden box. In fact it wasn’t even nailed. It held during the first pour, but during the second, it started to seep though the sides. I did manage to catch it in time but I learn not to rush a project. The other things that I would like to do differently are to use rocks in the bottom of the container. (I used a piece of silk) and perhaps try an earthen vessel, like Nostradamus describes.

Before I attempt to make one of these products, I needed to know what the ingredients were and how they relate to each other. I started by picking apart idem #254 of the “Trotula”;

“For coloring the hair so that it is golden. Take the exterior shell of a walnut and the bark of the tree itself and cook them in water,

This seems simple enough, walnut shells and the bark can be purchased. Distilled water should be used for consistency. Walnut has a ph 10

Oak apples have a tannic acid in it to help with stripping the present color. Between the three products, it would produce a good strong astringent to prepare the hair for color.

and with these mixed things you will smear the head (having first washed it), placing upon the hair leaves and trying them with a bandage for two days; you will be able to color {the hair}. And comb the head so that whatever adheres to the hair as excess comes off.

OK… does this mean there will be more then color on the hair? Like critters? Well, there is enough acid to kill just about anything.

Then place a coloring which is made from oriental crocus, (saffron) dragon’s blood, and henna (whose larger part has been mixed with a decoction of brazil wood),

This last passage with Henna and Brazil wood perplexes me a little. Brazilwood is Henna. Decoct means: ‘to extract the flavor of by boiling’. So is recipe must be telling us how to make the Henna. Using the Brazilwood in a decoction, as directed, and adding the saffron and dragon’s blood, the mixture came out a golden orange color. Which should give the user a strawberry blond.

and thus let the women remain for three days, and on the fourth day let her be washed with hot water, and never will {this coloring} be removed easily.”

Wow, that’s a 5-day process. Just like modern times, women had to plan there beautification time.

The second trial that I attempted was the Giovanni Ruscelli’s White wine and Rhubarb. Taking the scraping of the rhubarb, I place them in enough white wine to cover the scrapings. The recipe did not say how long it let the potion sit or if it should sit at all. Being a semi- stumbling cook, I believed that the potion should sit for a couple of weeks to allow the rhubarb to break down and the mixture to gain some potency. I waited three to four weeks and for a nice hot summer day. Taking the lock of hair out to a nice sunny spot, I lay it on a wood surface and dowsed the lock with the potion. The first day I saw little change. The second day, I tried again. This time a little more of the color change, and more on the third day. I believe that this product can work over time, with little damage to the hair itself.

The journey that I took with this project was absolutely fascinating. I believe that all of these receipts and concoctions will work. You would need to find the right combination of ingredients, the correct ph of the lye and the multitude of other factors that goes into the situation. Did they have dying and bleaching method? I believe answer is yes with this evidence. Did the Venetians in the 16^th century sitting in the sun bleaching their hair? The evidence from the literature says they did, however the majority of the receipts, doesn’t support it. So I believe that the sun worshiping was to maintain their golden locks, possibly with the rhubarb and wine or with lemons. Lemons were available in period, however I did not find a period source. The fact reminds that women use lemons in present day to lighten their hair. The gathering in the ‘altane’ (balcony) supposable bleaching there hair may have been a sly way to be seen in public. A Courtesan could use it for advertisement and a noblewoman could use it as a social interaction. The actual bleaching or dying was done inside, away from watchful eyes, to conceal the process and if anything may go wrong.

Bibliography

Coryat Thomas “Coryat’s Crudities”, 1611, © Reprinted 1907, Microfish, West Carolina University.

Larsdatter, Karen. 2005, ‘Anonymous Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas ‘ (Manual of Women in which is contained many and diverse very good recipes Translation of an 16th century cookbook from Spanish into English.) {cited November 2004}Available from http://www.geocities.com/karen_larsdatter/manual.htm

Davis, Scott "Omar":2005 ‘Natural Magick (Magiae naturalis) by Giambattista della Porta, 1584 (Transcribed from 1658 English Edition, Printed for Thomas Young and Samuel Speed at the Three Pidgeons, and at the Angel in St Paul's Church-yard) {cited November 19, 2003}.Available from http://homepages.tscnet.com/omard1/jportat2.html

Herald, Jacqueline. 2005. ‘Dellaluna, Vangelista di Antonio: Glossary of Renaissance Dress and Textile Terms From Dress in Renaissance Italy, 1400-1500,” Humanities Press: NJ, 1981{cited November 19, 2003.} Available from www.florentine-persona.com/glossary.html

Kremer Pigmente, 228 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012. For purchase of Artist's Pigments pigments http://www.kremer-pigmente.de/englisch/homee.htm

Adjective dyes – needs a mordant to develop the color. This is so the color will fix permanently to the fibers. Most natural dyes fall in this group.

Agrimony- Agrimonia eupatoria – sometimes known as church steeples. The flowers are borne throughout the summer, have an apricot scent. Its name is thought to be corruption of the Greek Argemine, It contains Tannin which as well recommended for dressing leather is good for skin eruptions, and it yields a yellow dye.

Alum - aluminum potassium sulfate - A white transparent mineral salt Ambergris. It is used as an astringent, as an emetic, and in manufacturing if dyes, paper, and baking powder.

Ammoniac – gum resin from a plant growing in Libya. From the parsley family. Used in perfume porcelain cement and medicine.

Barley Chaff – from the Food “ash” pH Chart. Barley Grass has a pH of +28.7

Beechwood - (birch) - Silver Birch yields the color of oranges/red/browns. The sliver birch is a native to most of Europe. Tannins in the bark have been used to tan leather.

Brazilwood – first mentioned as a dye in 1321. The source for this wood comes from East Indies and India. Henna is also known as Brazil Wood.

Boxwood – Buxus sempervirens – Slow growing, fairly hardy evergreen tree. Dense branches bear leathery, glossy, oval, dark green leaves with paler undersides with small pale yellow flowers appear from midspring. The bark has been found to contain tannic and gallic acids, resin, gum, extractive, oil, wax, red colouring matter, lignin, potassa, lime, magnesia, iron, and a neutral, crystalline glucoside called Cornin. Either water or alcohol extracts the virtues of the bark

Broom – Cytisus Scoparius – common broom is a deciduous perennial shrub that could once be found extensively growing wild. In late spring and early summer the branches are covered with a mess of yellow, fragrant flowers, followed by black seed pods. The tannin in its bark was once employed to tan leather and the seed have been used as a substitute for coffee.

Cabbage Ash – Cabbage ash both green and white has a +3.3pH. Red has +6.3pH and Cabbage leaves fresh has +14.1 pH. + is a alkalinity.

Celandine - also know as Greater Celedine or swallowwort It is so named because Pliny (Greek naturalist) said swallows used the sap to clear their eyes. And the item that I think clinches it as your swollow wort is it has an orange sap that produces yellow stains. This is probably the coloring agent in the dye. The lye bleaches out your color and this supplies the yellow color.

Cerotum- in Latin, also known as cerotic – a wax salve designating or of either of two fatty acids of which found in beeswax and others.

Cinnaber – Cinabare –a heavy, bright red mineral, the principal ore of mercury.

Crocus – Crocus sativus- also known as saffron, A bulbous perennial, narrow, grass like, grey-green leaves. Funnel shaped, rich purple flowers appear in autumn. The stigmas is used to flavor and color rice, meat and fish dishes, soups, breads, cakes and biscuits. In herb liqueurs, it flavors and stimulates the appetite. Saffron’s strong yellow dye is water soluble and is used to tint hair and to scent perfumes.

Cumin – Cuminum cyminum – Tender annual. Leaves are slightly fragrant and tread like; white or pinkish flowers appear in summer and are followed by aromatic seeds. Powerfully flavored seeds, whole or ground, are added to many Middle Eastern and Indian dishes. The seed oil is employed in perfumery and in veterinary medicine.

Dragon’s Blood or Bloodroot – Sanguinaria Canadensis, reddish orange.This name applied not to a lake pigment but to a dark red resinous substance that is obtained from certain trees indigenous principally to eastern Asia, named Calamus draco. It was known in ancient times, and the fact that the dry resin looks similar to dried blood probably gave rise to the legend that the substance was mingled blood of dragon and elephant. Appearing under its Latin name sanguis draconis.

Glacus - the leaves and flowers of glacus, a herb which grows in syria and is akin to a poppy. Could it be ? Glaucium flavum Crantz (Yellow Horned Poppy)

Hayseed - seed shattered from hay or clinging bits of straw or chaff from hay. Alfalfa grass has a pH of +29.3. Barley seed has a pH of + 28.7

Henna – Lawsonia inermis – Perennial tropical shrub. Bushy, with narrow, grey-green leaves and small, sweet-scented pink or cream flowers, which give way to clusters of blue-black berries. Dried leaves produce a strong red dye and have been used for centuries on the East to color hair, skin and nails. Dried leaves also have astringent properties. (Brazil wood)

Ivy –Hedrea helix – There are many attractive leaf forms available. The ancient Greeks though ivy prevented intoxication.

Lime - a caustic highly infusible solid that consists of calcium oxide often together with magnesium oxide, that is obtained by calcining forms of calcium carbonate (as shells or limestone), and that is used in building (as in mortar and plaster) and in agriculture. Also called also quicklime.

Liquorice- The plants are graceful, with light, spreading, pinnate foliage, presenting an almost feathery appearance from a distance The plant is described as being cultivated in Italy by Piero de Cresenzi of Bologna, who lived in the thirteenth century. As a medicine, the drug was well known in Germany in the eleventh century, and an extensive cultivation of the plant was carried on in Bavaria in the sixteenth century.

Lye - made from wood ash is potassium hydroxide, not sodium hydroxide -- there's 10 times as much potassium as sodium in wood ash.

Madder – Rubia tinctorum – A perennial climber with prickly, weak stems. Root is thick, fleshy and reddish brown. Small yellow green flowers appear from early summer to early autumn. Followed by spherical black fruits. Root and leaves of this traditional dye plant yield pink red and brown dyes, depending on the mordent used, for cloth and leather.

Mordant – A substance that acts as a bond between the dye and the fiber. From the Latin word mordere meaning to “bite” or “fasten”. The most common mordents are metallic compounds of aluminum, iron or copper.

Oak Apple – Quercus robur – Hardy tree, grow 110 feet with lobed oval leaves, long male catkin and small green-yellow flowers in spring, Autumn brings oblong cupped fruits (acorns) and sometimes oak galls – ball like growths that result from gall wasp larvae.

Oxalic acid - a poisonous strong acid (COOH)₂ or H₂C₂O₄ that occurs in various plants as oxalates and is used especially as a bleaching or cleaning agent and as a chemical intermediate. Oxalic acid which can beused as a natural mordant. Oxalic acid is toxic.

Poppy Seed (Yellow) – see Glacus the leaves and flowers of glacus, a herb which grows in syria and is akin to a poppy. Could it be ? Glaucium flavum Crantz (Yellow Horned Poppy)

Rubarbe - The plant's original title, rheum rhabarbarum, derives from Rha--an ancient name for the Volga River--and barbarum--the Roman name for any of the "barbaric" regions occupied by non-Romans.Rheum may have come from the Greek "rheo" ("to flow"), in reference to rhubarb's laxative effect. The common or garden rhubarb grown today is rheum officinale or rhaponticum. Rhubarb leaves have oxalic acid renders the greenery somewhat poisonous. The stalks are high in oxalates, persons with a tendency to gout or kidney stones shouldn't eat rhubarb.

Saffron – see Crocus

Saltpetre- literally, rock salt, or stone salt; so called because it exudes from rocks or walls. Potassium nitrate a crystalline salt is a strong oxidizer and is used in medicine. Sodium nitrates a deliquescent crystalline salt, an oxidizing agent and is used in curing meat

Substantive dyes - they fix to the fibers without the assistance of any other substance. They are rich in tannins and included Barks, leaves and fruit of trees such as walnuts and staghorn sumac.

Twig Bark - Most tree backs have one form or other of tannic acid. Since some recipe have an entry of this kind. You could come to the conclusion that use a twig bark from a tree that is known for high concentrate of tannic acid, such as oak, hemlock, chestnut, and mangrove.

Vat dyes - Are also Substantive dyes, from wine casks or vats of fermenting grains or fruit. They include Indigo, woad, and Imperial Purple. These dyes need the environment to produce there color, such as air or light.

Vitriol - a sulfate of any of various metals (as copper, iron, or zinc); a glassy hydrate of such a sulfate. Copper is referred to as “blue vitriol”. Iron is referred as “green vitriol”.

Walnut – Juglans regia – This tree can reach a height of 100 feet. It bears both male and female flowers in late spring. The boiled green husks of the nuts give a yellow dye, and a brown hair dye can be obtained from the leaves and outer shells.

White wine dregs - is the reminds from the grapes after the wine juices have been abstracted. The grape hulls and reminds contain tannic acid.

Tannin - various soluble astringent complex phenolic substances of plant origin used especially in tanning, dyeing, the making of ink, and in medicine. Tannin is used in dying to improve the absorption of alum or copper mordants. It can also be used, as it’s own natural plant mordant.

Tannic acid - is contained in the galls, bark, leaves, roots and fruits of various plants. The greatest concentration of gallotannic acid is found in galls from oak, oak-apple and pistachio trees A lower proportion of gallotannic acid may be extracted from the bark of various trees, including oak, chestnut, mountain ash and cherry. Various other sources for tannin include pomegranate rinds, horse chestnuts, hemlock and pine bark. However, the active tannins in these materials are different.

“The Trotula, an English translation of the medieval compendium of women’s Medicine”

Item #255. “Cook down dregs of white wine with honey to the consistency of a cerotum (an wax-based ointment) and anoint the hair, if you wish to have it golden.” (11) Pg. 172.

“Fecem uini albe coque ad spissitudinem ceroti cum melle et unge capillos, si uis eos flauos habere.”

Item #260 “For making the hair golden. Take the middle bark of boxwood, flower of broom, crocus, and egg yolks, and cook them in water. Collect whatever floats on top, and {with this} anoint the hair.” (12) Pg. 172.

“Ad capillos aureos faciendos. Recipe medianum corticem buxi, floem geneste, crocum, uitella ouorum, coque in aqua et quod supernatauerit collige, et unge capillos.”

Item #264“In order that the hair might be made blond, cook greater celandine and root of agrimony and shaving of boxwood, and tie on oat straw. Then {take} ashes of oat or vine and make a cleanser, and wash the head. (13) Pg. 174.

“Vt capilli fiant flaui, decoque celidoniam et agrimonie radicem, et rasuram buxi, et superliga stamen auene. Deinde cineres auene uel uitis et fac lexiuiam, et caput laua.”

Item #266 “Likewise for the same. take root of greater celandine and madder, grind each and with oil in which cumin and boxwood shavings and greater celandine and a little bit of crocus have been carefully cooked, anoint the head. And let it stay anointed day and night, and wash it with a cleanser of cabbage ash and barley chaff.”(14) Pg. 175.

“Itemad idem. Recipe radicem celidonie er rubee moioris, ana tere, st cum oleo in quo diligenter ciminum et rasura buxi et celidonia et parum croci sint cocta, caput unge, et uncrum maneat die ac nocte, et laua de lexiuia cineris caulis et palee ordei”

“Another way of making the hair of the beard blond or golden. Take two pounds of saltpetre and a pound each of alum and vitriol, mix them and distil the mixture in a glass retort in the following manner. Place the retort containing the said ingredients in a large earthenware vessel or pot and well and truly cover it with ashes, so that ir does not break because of the fire. Then cover the cooking vessel and seal it thoroughly with egg-white, quicklime or clay, so that there is no way that air can reach the contents. When the seal has then dried, begin with a small fire and build it up until everything is distilled. You will then have a water which may be compared with aqua regis, but to tell the truth there is a slight difference, for this water will break down all kinds of metals and separates gold an silver, which we do not need in this instance; we merely wish to deminstrate that it dyes hair and does not dry it out, as some might maintain, but also produce gold highlights.

"To Make the Hairs Yellow," Draw Oil from Honey by the art of Distillation, as we shall show. First, there will come forth a clear water, then a Saffron colored. Use this to anoint the hair with a Sponge, but let ittouch the skin. For it will dye it Saffron color, and it is not easily washed off. This is the principal above others, because the Tincture will last many days. And it will dye gray hairs, which few others will. Or make a Lye of Oak ashes, put in the quantity of a Bean of Rhubarb, as much as Tobacco, a handful of Barley Straw and Feny-Graec. Shells of Oranges, the Raspings of Guaiacum, a good deal of wild Saffron and Liquorish. Put all these in an earthen pot, and boil them, till the water sinks three fingers. The hairs will wash excellently with this. Hold them in the sun, then cast Brimstone on the coals, and Fume the hairs, and while it burns, receive the smoke with a little tunnel at the bottom, and cover your head over with a cloth, that the smoke will fly not away.

Manual of Women in which is contained many and diverse very good recipes (Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas) Translation of an anonymous 16th century cookbook from Spanish into English.

Lye to turn hair blond -Take four celemines of vine-shoot ash, and one pound of ash of the lees of white wine. And add in a pot of rainwater, and put it over a fire that boils. And when it boils, take it off the fire and leave it to sit. And as it is sitting, add a flask of that lye, and put with it licorice and French soap, and put it to the fire that boils. And skim the head with this lye. And wash with the other from the pot, or if not, it is the lye to wash the vine-root ash and elm ash. And if you want to the hair to grow quickly, throw in with those other ashes, ashes from ivy roots.

Giovanni Marinello’s ‘Gli Ornamenti delle donne’ (The Decorations of the Women) Venice, 1562.

“Burn ivy bark, then sprinkling the ashes into boiling water, and pouring it off when it has reduced itself by half. Boil in this liquid hayseed and endive flowers, then stain”

“Take the dried dregs of white wine and chop them up into olive oil. Comb this trough your hair while sitting in the sun”

The lye solution was obtained by placing wood ashes in a bottomless barrel set on a stone slab with a groove and a lip carved in it. The stone in turn rested on a pile of rocks. To prevent the ashes from getting in the solution a layer of straw and small sticks was placed in the barrel then the ashes were put on top. The lye was produced by slowly pouring water over the ashes until a brownish liquid oozed out the bottom of the barrel. This solution of potash lye was collected by allowing it to flow into the groove around the stone slab and drip down into a clay vessel at the lip of the groove.

The hardest part was in determining if the lye was of the correct strength, as we have said. In order to learn this, the soap maker floated either a potato or an egg in the lye. If the object floated with a specified amount of its surface above the lye solution, the lye was declared fit for soap making. Most of the colonists felt that lye of the correct strength would float a potato or an egg with an area the size of a ninepence (about the size of a modern quarter) above the surface. To make weak lye stronger, the solution could either be boiled down more or the lye solution could be poured through a new batch of ashes. To make a solution weaker, water was added.

"A Lye to dye the hair." Thus, put Barley Straw into an earthen pot with a great mouth, Feny-Graec. and wild Cumin, mingle between them, Quicklime and Tobacco, made into powder. Then put them upon the Straw before mentioned, and pour on the powders again, I mean by course, one under, the other over, till the whole vessel be full. And when they are thrust close, pour on cold water, and let them stand a whole day. Then open a hole at the bottom, and let the Lye run forth, and with Soap use it for your hair. I shall teach you,

From “Manual of Women in which is contained many and diverse very good recipes” (Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas) Translation of an anonymous 16th century cookbook from Spanish into English.

Lye for washing the head - Half a celemín of vine-shoot ash, and another half (of a celemín) of oak ash, half a pound of burnt and ground-up white argol, another half pound of ground-up sesame, six maravedís of bone ash. Put this all in a pot horizontally and press it well. Add a patcher of water and leave it to rest two or three hours. And then cook it until it is strong, as much as is necessary. Put half a celemín of ash in a colander, pass this lye through it and cover the vessel into which you strained it, so that no vapors can escape. And after straining put with it an escudilla of honey. (maravedí: a coin. escudilla : a small hemispherical cup (used to measure liquid volume)

[1] Duby & Perrot, History of Women” Pg. 58 (Rodocanachi, La femme italienne)

[2] “The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy” Pg 225.

[4]Dialogo delle Bellezze delle Donne, Firenzuola, 1548

[5]Observations of Venice, pg. 398

[7] “The Nobility of Excellence of Women.” pg. 169.

[8] Habiti antichi e moderni di tutto il mondo” (Ancient and Modern Habit of all of the World) Cesare Vecellio (Venice, 1590). As translated in “Lives of the Courtesan” by Lynn Lawner.

[9] Cesare Vecellio, 1589 as translated in “ Fashions in Hair”

[10] Tranlated by Dr. Hieremias Martaus in 1572 from the original in 1552.

[11] The History Channel: “The Mysteries of Nostradamus”

[12] Pg. 170, #254

[13] Tranlated by Dr. Hieremias Martaus in 1572 form the original in 1552.

[14] Davis, Scott "Omar": Natural Magick (Magiae naturalis) by Giambattista della Porta, 1584 (Transcribed from 1658 English Edition, Printed for Thomas Young and Samual Speed at the Three Pidgeons, and at the Angel in St Paul's Church-yard) Accessed 05/2004

[15] Lejía para la cabeza; Medio celemín de ceniza de sarmientos cernida, y una almozada de ceniza de retama. Poner una caldera de agua de río o fuente al fuego y, desque hierva, echar aquella ceniza dentro, y dejarle dar dos hervores, y luego apartarla y dejarla reposar hasta que se aclare. Y tomar tanta cantidad de aquella lejía como un azumbre, y echarla en un jarro vidriado, y echar dentro siete onzas de rasuras blancas quemadas y tapar el jarro. Rallar onza y media de jabón valenciano y echarlo dentro, y menearlo hasta que se deslíe. Y peinarse o espumarse la cabeça con esta lejía al sol, y después lavarse con otra lejía. Y cuando se peinaren sea con aceite de alegría

[16] The Decorations of the Women, Venice, 1562, as published in Lynn Lawner’s “Lives of the Courtesan”