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Hairstyle fashion in Rome was ever changing, and particularly in the Roman Imperial Period there were a number of different ways to style hair. As with clothes, there were several hairstyles that were limited to certain people in ancient society. Styles are so distinctive they allow scholars today to create a chronology of Roman portraiture and art; we are able to date pictures of the empresses on coins or identify busts depending on their hairstyles.

Barbery was introduced to Rome by Publius Titinius Menas, who, in 209 or 300 BCE, brought a barber from the Greek colonies in Sicily. During earlier parts of Roman history, most people acted as their own barber. Due to the difficulty in handling the tools of barbery the craft became a profession. This profession prospered most during the Imperial period.

Significance

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Much like today, hair for the Romans was as much an expression of personal identity as clothes. Hairstyles were determined by a number of factors, namely gender, age, social status, wealth and profession. A woman’s hairstyle expressed her individuality in the ancient Roman World. How one dressed one’s hair was an indication of a person’s status and role in society.

Hair was a very erotic area of the female body for the Romans, and attractiveness of a woman was tied to the presentation of her hair. As a result, it was seen as appropriate for a woman to spend time on her hair in order to create a flattering appearance. Hairdressing and its necessary accompaniment, mirror gazing, were seen as distinctly feminine activities. Lengthy grooming sessions for women were tolerated, despite writers such as Tertullian and Pliny commenting on their abhorrence for time and energy women dedicate to their hair.^[1] However, the numerous depictions of women hairdressing and mirror-gazing in tomb reliefs and portraiture is a testament to how much hairdressing was seen as part of the female domain.^[2]

For more than just attractiveness, hairstyling was the leisure pursuit of the cultured, elegant woman. Hair was seen as much as an indication of wealth and social status as it was of taste and fashion. But unlike modern-day hairstyles, comfort and naturalism for the Romans took a back-seat to hairstyles that displayed the wearer’s wealth to a maximum. In other words, having a complex and unnatural hairstyle would be preferred to a simple one, because it would illustrate the wealth of the wearer in being able to afford to take the time to style their hair.^[3] For women to have a fashionable hairstyle showed they were part of the elegant Roman culture.

A ‘natural’ style was associated with barbarians, who the Romans believed had neither the money nor the culture to create these styles. “Natural” showed a lack of culture, and grooming of the hair went hand-in-hand with being part of a sophisticated civilization. The association with barbarians was why Roman men kept their hair cut short.^[3] It was the job of slave hairdressers, called ornatrices, to create their master’s hairstyle new each day, as well as pulling out any grey hairs.^[4]

Apart from society, hair was used symbolically to mark rites of passage; for instance, loosened hair was common at a funeral, and the seni crines was the hairstyle worn by brides and Vestal Virgins; divided and plaited into six braids, and in the case of the bride, it was parted with a spear.^[5] A bride’s hair was parted with a hasta recurva or hasta caelibaris, a bent iron spearhead and crowned with flowers. In addition to ceremonies hairstyle defined the age of a woman.^[6] There was a marked difference in hair acceptable for preadolescent girls and sexually mature women. Preadolescent girls would often have long hair cascading down the back where as women would have equally long hair but it would be controlled through wrapping and braiding.

Medical and religious

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It was common for sailors to shave their eyebrows and dedicate the hair to the gods, to earn their protection. The Vestal virgins would hang leftover hair on trees as a religious service and to consecrate a person. In Martial’s Epigrams a character named Encolpus dedicates their hair to a character named Phoebus.^[7] The Romans also believed that shaving one’s head was necessary for diagnosing certain illnesses. Pliny the Elder suggested many possible cures and remedies for balding hair.^[8] It was a popular custom to dedicate the hair from someone’s first haircut to the gods. Usually, the time a Roman would perform this act was when they reached the age of 20 or donned the toga virillis.^[9]

Headgear

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Veils

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Perhaps due to its erotic association, hair was often linked with Roman ideas of female modesty and honour. We know that veils were important in this case, as they protected against (or encouraged, according to Seneca the Elder) solicitations by men.^[10] The palla was the mark of a married, respectable woman. It was a piece of cloth wrapped around the body with one end over the shoulder. There is significant evidence for the palla being draped over the back of the head as a veil.^[11]

The palla supposedly signified the dignity and sexual modesty of a married woman, but due to its encumbering nature as a veil, there has been much debate whether it was only worn in public by the aristocracy, or if at all by working women of lower classes.^[12] Vittae were woollen fillets that bound a married woman’s hair. They were another indication of a wife’s modesty and purity and were seen as part of the clothing and presentation of a matron.^[13] Vittae could be inset with precious stones, or in the case of the Flaminicae, they would be purple in colour.

Wigs

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Due to the nature of hair and the relatively wet climate in the upper reaches of the Roman Empire, there are very few examples of wigs that survive to this day. Women wore wigs whether they were bald or not. So too did men; Emperor Otho wore a wig, as did Domitian.^[14] Wigs allowed women to better achieve the kind of ‘tall’ styles that particularly punctuated the Flavian and Trajanic eras (e.g. the periods of 69–96 and 98–117 AD). So tall were these hairstyles, that ancient writer Juvenal likens them to multi-storey buildings.

So important is the business of beautification; so numerous are the tiers and storeys piled one upon another on her head!

— Juvenal, Satires^[15]

Wigs were made from human hair; blonde hair from Germany and black from India were particularly prized, especially if the hair came from the head of a person from a conquered civilisation.^[16] The blond hair of various Germanic peoples symbolized the spoils of war. In cases where wigs were used to hide baldness, a natural look was preferred, therefore a wig with a hair colour similar to the wearer’s original was worn. But in instances where a wig was worn for the purpose of showing off, naturalism did not play much of a part. Obviously fake wigs were preferred, sometimes intertwined with two contrasting hair colours with blonde hair from Germany and black from India.^[17] Gold dust also gave the appearance of blond hair and enhanced already blond hair. Emperor Lucius Verus (r. 161 – 169 AD), who had natural blond hair, was said to sprinkle gold dust on his head to make himself even blonder.^[18]

A convenience of wigs used by Romans is that they could be directly pinned onto the head of the wearer, meaning a style could be achieved much faster than if it had been done with the wearer’s own hair. Further, it would lessen the inconvenience of having to grow one’s own hair too long. It has been suggested that the necessary length to be able to create these hairstyles daily would be well below the shoulder, perhaps to the waist.^[19]

There were two types of wig in Roman times: the full wig, called the capillamentum, and the half wig, called the galerus.^[20] The galerus could be in the form of a fillet of woolen hair used as padding to build an elaborate style, or as a toupee on the back or front of the head. Toupees were attached by pins, or by sewing it onto a piece of leather and attaching it as a wig. Further, glue could be used to affix it to the scalp or alternatively, as a bust from the British Museum illustrates, the toupee could be braided into the existing hair.^[21]

Janet Stephens is an amateur archaeologist and hairdresser who has reconstructed some of the hairstyles of ancient Rome, attempting to prove that they were not done with wigs, as commonly believed, but with the person’s own hair.^[22][23]

Detachable marble wigs

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Busts themselves could have detachable wigs. There have been many suggestions as to why some busts have been created with detachable wigs and some without. Perhaps the main reason was to keep the bust looking up-to-date. It would have been too expensive to commission a new bust every time hair fashion changed, so a mix-and-match bust would have been preferable for women with less money.^[24] Perhaps another reason was to accommodate the Syrian ritual of anointing the skull of the bust with oil.^[24]

Or further, in cases where the bust was a funerary commission, it can be safely assumed that the subject of the bust would not have had an opportunity to sit for another portrait after their death.^[25] Although exactly how these marble wigs were attached is unknown, the likely difficulty of changing the ‘wigs’ effectively would have probably put many women off choosing a detachable and reattachable bust in the first place.^[26]

Profession

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Dyes

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Dyeing hair was popular among women, although frequent dyeing often made it weaker. Tertullian discusses a hair dye that burnt the scalp and was harmful for the head.^[27] Artificial colors were applied as powders and gels. Henna or animal fat could be applied to make the hair more manageable.^[28] To prevent graying, some Romans wore a paste at night made from herbs and earthworms; in addition, pigeon dung was used to lighten hair. In order to dye hair black, Pliny the Elder suggests applying leeches that have rotted in red wine for 40 days.^[29]

Dyeing hair red involved a mixture of animal fat and beechwood ashes^[30] whilst saffron was used for golden tones.^[31] Ovid mentions several vegetable dyes.^[32] To cure diseases such as hair loss, Pliny suggests the application of a sow’s gall bladder, mixed with bull’s urine, or the ashes of an ass’s genitals, or other mixtures such as the ashes of a deer’s antlers mixed with wine. Further, goat’s milk or goat’s dung is said to cure head lice.^[33]

Suetonius, in his The Twelve Caesars states:^[34]

These he reserved for his parade, compelling them not only to dye their hair red and to let it grow long,

— Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars

Roman prostitutes dyed their hair yellow to indicate their profession. Usually, they would just wear a wig dyed yellow. To dye their hair yellow they used a mixture of the ashes of burnt nuts or plants. Romans would make a black dye by fermenting leeches in a lead vessel.^[35]

Curling irons, pins and hairnets

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The calamistrum was the name for the Roman curling iron. It consisted of a hollow metal outer cylinder and a smaller solid cylinder inside it. The hair would be wrapped around the solid cylinder and inserted into the metal outer. The metal outer would be heated in a fire, making the hair curly. It has been reported that because of the frequency and temperature that hair was curled at, thinning and damaged hair was common amongst women.^[36]

While gel and henna, as mentioned above, were used to manage hair, hairnets and pins were in common usage too. Poorer women would have used wooden pins, while the aristocracy used gold, ivory, crystal, silver or painted bone. The pins were decorated with carvings of the gods, or beads and pendants.^[37]

Society

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Most barber shops were located in tabernae. Many shops clustered around the Temple of Flora and the Circus Maximus.^[38] It is possible that only barbers with connections to wealthy people were allowed or able to practice in tabernae, while most others would have been forced to practice in the open. They would be identified of signs depicting scissors or mirrors located outside the shop’s premises. Plautus, an ancient Roman playwright, wrote about characters going to the barber’s shop. Whilst there, they would often discuss gossip and talk about news.^[39] This resulted in Roman barbers gaining a habit of excessively talking about the latest news and gossip to their customers. Oftentimes barber’s shops became incredibly crowded. Emperor Domitian regulated barbershops, prohibiting razors from being drawn in the middle of a dense crowd, and barbers from practicing in public places. Another emperor, Trajan, once pondered how the Lex Aquilia, a law concerning liability, would conflict with this law. Trajan cited an example of a slave who had their throat slit by a barber because the barber, who was practicing in a public space, had their hand moved by a ball. There were also barber labor unions.^[9][40]

Process

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To begin the haircut the customer would step on a low stool. Then the barber would place a wrapper around them in order to protect their toga. He would proceed to comb through the customer’s hair while asking them what he should do with their hair. Most Romans liked their hairs to be of even length.^[40] Sometimes the head or eyebrows were even shaved.^[41] Aside from cutting hair Roman barbers would also clean and pare the nails of their customer using special knives.^[40] The corns were also cut, stray hairs plucked, and warts removed.^[40] Shears were used to cut the hair on the crown of the head. At the end of the barber’s work they would place a mirror up to the customer’s face so that they could judge the quality of their work.^[41] The barber would also use a curling iron, tweezers, and razors.^[41] Each razor had its own case.^[42] Some barbers made enough money to own 20 slaves and 20 horses.^[40]

Styles over time

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Roman hairstyles changed, but there were several constant hairstyles that were used continuously, such as the tutulus, or the bun. The beehive, helmet, hairbouquet or pillbox are modern day names given to Roman hairstyles.

Tutulus

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The tutulus was originally an Etruscan style worn commonly in the late 6th and early 5th century BCE^[43] was a hairstyle worn primarily by the materfamilias, the mother of the family.^[44] It remained in constant use even when fashion changed. To achieve it, the hair was divided and piled high and shaped into a bun, after which it was tied with purple fillets of wool. By the end, the hair would be conical in shape. It was also the hairstyle worn by the flaminicae.^[44]

Republican period and Augustan era styles

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The nodus style was particularly common in the Republican period. In Imperial iconography the nodus coiffure was associated predominately with the women of Augustus’ household. The nodus style saw the hair parted in three, with the hair from the sides of the head tied in a bun at the back while the middle section is looped back on itself, creating an effect not unlike the (comparably modern) Pompadour style.^[45] Livia, wife of Augustus, and Octavia, sister of Augustus, particularly favoured the nodus style, both continuing to use it well into the Imperial Period.^[46]

Other styles in the Julio-Claudian era were designed to be simple, with hair parted in two and tied in a bun at the back. This was perhaps done in order to juxtapose Roman modesty against Cleopatra and her flamboyance.^[47]

Flavian and Antonine hairstyles

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Flavian and Antonine hairstyles differed greatly between men and women in real life and in the physical appearance of hair for male and female sculptures. In ancient Rome hair was a major determinant of a woman’s physical attractiveness; women preferred to be presented as young, and beautiful. Therefore, female sculptures were known to have dramatic curls carved with strong chiaroscuro effects. On the other hand, most men in the Flavian period of the late first century CE have their hair trimmed short on the crown like the portrait of Domitian for example (pictured) that implied an active role in society, while a woman’s connoted passivity.

Flavian and Antonine hairstyles are perhaps the most famous, and extravagant, of Imperial Rome’s styles. During this time the aristocratic women’s style became the most flamboyant (Cypriote curls). The styles were lofty, with masses of shaped curls and braids. The high arching crowns on the front were made using fillets of wool and toupees, and could be attached to the back of the head as well as the front. Typically, as in the case of the famous Fonseca Bust (pictured), this particular hairstyle appears to have been popular during the Flavian period. The hair was combed into two parts; the front section was combed forwards and built with curls, while the back was plaited and coiled into an elaborate bun (orbis comarum).^[48] This fashion was described by the writer Juvenal as the hairstyles that made women appear tall from the front but quite the opposite from the back.

The later Antonine period saw curls at the front of the head brought to a lower level than the Flavian period. The braids coiled at the back of the head were brought further forward, instead often resting on the top of the head. Another style of the Antonine period saw the hair separated into rivets and tied at the back.^[49]

Furthermore, whether Roman portraits faithfully translate the actual hairstyles worn by the sitters is problematic because of the scarcity of surviving hair which leaves little basis of comparison. The second problem is the physical accuracy of the Roman portraits itself. However, as a result of the many sculptures that have some reference to hair, ethnographers and anthropologists have recognized hair to play a key role in identifying gender and determining societies in which individuals belonged.^[49][50]

Severan dynasty

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Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, had a particularly notable hairstyle. Julia Domna was the wig’s most influential patron. She wore a heavy, globular wig with simple finger-sized waves with a simple center parting. Julia Domna was the daughter of a high-ranking priest from Syria, and it has been suggested that her style was indicative of her foreign origins.^[51] Despite being from the East, she adopted a wig to project a familiar Roman guise and particularly in order to imitate her predecessor, Faustina the Younger.^[52] In 2012 Janet Stephens‘s video Julia Domna: Forensic Hairdressing, a recreation of a later hairstyle of the Roman empress, was presented at the Archaeological Institute of America’s annual meeting in Philadelphia. Foreign women often wore their hair differently from Roman women, and women from Palmyra typically wore their hair waved in a simple center-parting, accompanied by diadems and turbans according to local customs. Women from the East were not known to commonly wear wigs, preferring to create elaborate hairstyles from their own hair instead.^[52] As time progressed, Severan hairstyles switched from the finger-waved center parting style, to one with more curls and ringlets at the front and back of the head, often accompanied by a wig.^[53]

Men’s hairstyles

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Roman hairstyles for men would change throughout ancient times. While men’s hair may have required no less daily attention than women’s, the styling as well as the social response it engendered were radically different. Lengthy grooming sessions for men were looked at as taboo. For example, the emperor Augustus employed two to three barbers to simultaneously trim his hair, in order to speed up the process.^[54] Women’s hair was carved according to different techniques based on the sex. For example, one of the primary features that is seen in many women but never in men is long hair divided by a center part. It is apparent men never wore this, since there is no biological difference in hair growth between sexes; how hair is parted is a practice determined solely by culture. Eyebrows of both sexes were tended to be treated in the same manner.^[55]

During the days of the Roman Kingdom and Early Republic, it is most likely Roman men wore their hair long with beards, in the style of Greeks. With the introduction of barbers called tonsors in about 300 BC it became customary to wear hair short. In Ancient Rome, household slaves would perform hairdressing functions for wealthy men. However, men who lacked access to private hairdressing and shaving services or those who preferred a more social atmosphere went to a barbershop (tonstrina). Barbershops were places of social gatherings and a young man’s first shave was often even celebrated as a passage to manhood in the community. The barbers usually shaved the customers faces with iron razors and applied an aftershave with ointments that may have contained spider webs.

Among the Patrician class and Equites, a clean shave and a closely trimmed head of hair would become the rule in Rome beginning in the second century BC. Shaving one’s beard became popularized and then normalized by General Scipio Africanus and his legions during the time of the Second Punic War. Scipio both sought to emulate the style of Alexander the Great, who shaved to prevent enemy soldiers from grabbing his beard in battle,^[56] as well as to signal to the conservative Roman senate that new ways of thinking were needed to defeat Hannibal.^[57] Among those Roman men who wished to keep some facial hair, it was acceptable to shave one’s mustache but not the remainder of one’s face, a style then popular in Greece and seen as Hellenic.^[58] Roman men who wore beards would not be admitted into the senate unless they shaved.^[59]

Despite rigid class expectations, there were exceptions to social custom when it came to men’s hairstyles. For example, beards were permitted if the wearer was in mourning. Numismatic evidence demonstrates Emperors and other prominent figures wearing beards during periods following the death of a close family member or military defeat.^[56] A notable exception to trimmed hair in the early Imperial period was the Emperor Tiberius, who wore his hair longer in the back than on the front or sides of his hair, so that it covered the nape of his neck. The historian Suetonius notes this as a family tradition of the men of the Claudian family. The Claudians were one of the oldest families in Rome, and could trace their lineage back to the first days of the Republic, when longer hair was in style and favored especially by the Patrician class.^[60] Tiberius’ successor, his great-nephew Caligula, carried on this hairstyle, even after he had begun to go bald, as did other male members of Tiberius’ family.^[61]

In Ancient Rome it was desirable for men to have a full head of hair. This was a problem for Julius Caesar. Being bald was considered a deformity at the time, so Caesar went to great pains to hide his thinning hair, combing his thin locks forward over the crown of his head. Suetonius wrote: “His baldness was something that greatly bothered him.” Caesar was allowed by the Senate to wear a laurel crown with which he was able to mask his receding hairline.

During the Roman times it is easy to know how the emperors wore their hair. For example, one constant feature of Augustus‘s portraits is his hairstyle, with its distinctive forked locks of hair on his forehead.^[62] The emperor was most often looked at as the trendsetter during these times. This is shown by the emperor Nero (54–68 AD), who adopted elaborate hairstyles with curls and was the first Emperor to have facial hair, specifically a neckbeard.^[63][64] In imitation of Nero, men began to curl their hair, although there is no evidence they began wearing beards in his style. Following Nero, in the Flavian period, most men had hair trimmed short on the crown and lacking strong plasticity.^[55] During the next few decades a straight hair cut with forehead bangs was popular with Trajanic men.

Following Trajan, his adopted heir Hadrian (117–138 AD) became the first emperor to wear a full beard, kicking off a trend among emperors. Every emperor for the next 100 years wore a full beard, with the exception of Caracalla‘s co-regent Geta, who only ruled for 11 months alongside his brother and was murdered at 22.^[65] Hadrian’s decision to grow a beard has usually been seen as a mark of his devotion to Greece and Greek culture. One literary source, the Historia Augusta, claims that Hadrian wore a beard to hide blemishes on his face, although most historians consider the book’s reliability dubious.^[66]

A hairstyle, hairdo, haircut, or coiffure refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head but sometimes on the face or body. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.

The oldest known depiction of hair styling is hair braiding, which dates back about 30,000 years. Women’s hair was often elaborately and carefully dressed in special ways, though it was also frequently kept covered outside the home, especially for married women.

Prehistory and history

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People’s hairstyles are largely determined by the fashions of the culture they live in. Hairstyles are markers and signifiers of social class, age, marital status, racial identification, political beliefs, and attitudes about gender.

Some people may cover their hair totally or partially for cultural or religious reasons. Notable examples of head covering include women in Islam who wear the hijab,^[1] married women in Haredi Judaism who wear the sheitel^[2] or tichel, married Himba men who cover their hair except when in mourning, Tuareg men who wear a veil, and men and women in Sikhism who wear the dastar, whether baptized or not, as a symbol of their faith and cultural identity.^[3]

Paleolithic

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The oldest known reproduction of hair braiding lies back about 30,000 years: the Venus of Willendorf, now known in academia as the Woman of Willendorf, of a female figurine from the Paleolithic, estimated to have been made between about 28,000 and 25,000 BC.^[4] The Venus of Brassempouy counts about 25,000 years old and indisputably shows hairstyling.

• The Venus of Willendorf with braided hair
• The Venus of Brassempouy

Bronze Age

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In the Bronze Age, razors were known and in use by some men, but not on a daily basis since the procedure was rather unpleasant and required resharpening of the tool which reduced its endurance.^[5]

• Reconstructed headgear of Puabi, the First Dynasty of Ur, circa 2500 BC, Early Dynastic period III
• Golden helmet imitating hairstyle, the First Dynasty of Ur, circa 2500 BC, Early Dynastic period III
• Sumerian portrait statuette of a woman
• Sumerian statue from Khafajah, female worshiper
• Egyptian women with braided hair and ornamental headdress, circa 1350 BC

Ancient history

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In ancient civilizations, women’s hair was often elaborately and carefully dressed in special ways. Women coloured their hair, curled it, and pinned it up (ponytail) in a variety of ways. For waves and curls, they used wet clay, which they dried in the sun before combing out, or they used a jelly made from quince seeds soaked in water. Additionally, various kinds of curling tongs and curling irons were popular tools for hair styling.^[6][7]

Hairstyles in ancient Korea and Japan were influenced by Chinese hairstyles.^[8] For instance, the chu’kye style worn in Koguryo was similar in style and head placement as the chu’kye style in China. The hairstyles were characterized by the large topknots on women’s heads. Also, hairstyles were used as an expression of beauty, social status, and marital status.^[8] For instance, Japanese girls wore a mae-gami to symbolize the start of their coming-of-age ceremony. Single women in Baekjae put their hair in a long pigtail and married women would braid their hair on both sides of the head. The hairstyles displayed their marital status to those around them.^{[citation needed]}

• Female figure with elaborate coiffure and hairpins, West Bengal, India, 1st century BC
• Female figure with elaborate hairpins in coiffure, India, 2nd-1st century BC.
• Lady with a coiffure and mirror, China, 25-220 AD.
• Painted scroll with hairdressing scene, China, 6th-8th century.
• Mayan royal woman with elaborate headdress, Mexico, circa 795.

Roman Empire and Middle Ages

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Between 27 BC and 102 AD, in Imperial Rome, women wore their hair in complicated styles: a mass of curls on top, or in rows of waves, drawn back into ringlets or braids. Eventually noble women’s hairstyles grew so complex that they required daily attention from several enslaved people and a stylist in order to be maintained. The hair was often lightened using wood ash, unslaked lime and sodium bicarbonate, or darkened with copper filings, oak-apples or leeches marinated in wine and vinegar.^[9] It was augmented by wigs, hairpieces and pads, and held in place by nets, pins, combs and pomade. Under the Byzantine Empire, noblewomen covered most of their hair with silk caps and pearl nets.^[10]

From the time of the Roman Empire^{[citation needed]} until the Middle Ages, most women grew their hair as long as it would naturally grow. It was normally styled through cutting, as women’s hair was tied up on the head and covered on most occasions when outside the home by using a snood, kerchief or veil; for an adult woman to wear uncovered and loose hair in the street was often restricted to prostitutes. Braiding and tying the hair was common. In the 16th century, women began to wear their hair in extremely ornate styles, often decorated with pearls, precious stones, ribbons, and veils. Women used a technique called “lacing” or “taping,” in which cords or ribbons were used to bind the hair around their heads.^[11] During this period, most of the hair was braided and hidden under wimples, veils or couvrechefs. In the later half of the 15th century and on into the 16th century, a very high hairline on the forehead was considered attractive, and wealthy women frequently plucked out hair at their temples and the napes of their necks, or used depilatory cream to remove it, if it would otherwise be visible at the edges of their hair coverings.^[12] Working-class women in this period wore their hair in simple styles.^[11]

• Romano-British hair piece with jet pins found in a lead coffin in Roman York
• Late 1st century BC portrait of a Roman woman with an elaborate hairstyle found on the Via Latina in Rome
• 130 AD bust of Vibia Sabina with a hairband and center parting

Early modern history

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Male styles

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During the 15th and 16th centuries, European men wore their hair cropped no longer than shoulder-length, with very fashionable men wearing bangs or fringes. In Italy, it was common for men to dye their hair.^[13] In the early 17th century male hairstyles grew longer, with waves or curls being considered desirable in upper-class European men.

The male wig was supposedly pioneered by King Louis XIII of France (1601–1643) in 1624 when he had prematurely begun to bald.^[14] This fashion was largely promoted by his son and successor Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) that contributed to its spread in European and European-influenced countries. The beard had been in a long decline and now disappeared among the upper classes.

Perukes or periwigs for men were introduced into the English-speaking world with other French styles when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, following a lengthy exile in France. These wigs were shoulder-length or longer, imitating the long hair that had become fashionable among men since the 1620s. Their use soon became popular in the English court. The London diarist Samuel Pepys recorded the day in 1665 that a barber had shaved his head and that he tried on his new periwig for the first time, but in a year of plague he was uneasy about wearing it:

3rd September 1665: Up, and put on my coloured silk suit, very fine, and my new periwig, bought a good while since, but darst not wear it because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it. And it is a wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to periwigs, for nobody will dare to buy any hair for fear of the infection? That it had been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague.

Late 17th-century wigs were very long and wavy (see George I below), but became shorter in the mid-18th century, by which time they were normally white (George II). A very common style had a single stiff curl running round the head at the end of the hair. By the late 18th century the natural hair was often powdered to achieve the impression of a short wig, tied into a small tail or “queue” behind (George III).

Short hair for fashionable men was a product of the Neoclassical movement. Classically inspired male hair styles included the Bedford Crop, arguably the precursor of most plain modern male styles, which was invented by the radical politician Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford as a protest against a tax on hair powder; he encouraged his friends to adopt it by betting them they would not. Another influential style (or group of styles) was named by the French “coiffure à la Titus” after Titus Junius Brutus (not in fact the Roman Emperor Titus as often assumed), with hair short and layered but somewhat piled up on the crown, often with restrained quiffs or locks hanging down; variants are familiar from the hair of both Napoleon and George IV. The style was supposed to have been introduced by the actor François-Joseph Talma, who upstaged his wigged co-actors when appearing in productions of works such as Voltaire‘s Brutus (about Lucius Junius Brutus, who orders the execution of his son Titus). In 1799, a Parisian fashion magazine reported that even bald men were adopting Titus wigs,^[15] and the style was also worn by women, the Journal de Paris reporting in 1802 that “more than half of elegant women were wearing their hair or wig à la Titus“.^[16]

In the early 19th century the male beard, and also moustaches and sideburns, made a strong reappearance, associated with the Romantic movement, and all remained very common until the 1890s, after which younger men ceased to wear them, with World War I, when the majority of men in many countries saw military service, finally despatching the full beard except for older men retaining the styles of their youth, and those affecting a Bohemian look. The short military-style moustache remained popular.

Female styles

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From the 16th to the 19th century, European women’s hair became more visible while their hair coverings grew smaller, with both becoming more elaborate, and with hairstyles beginning to include ornamentation such as flowers, ostrich plumes, ropes of pearls, jewels, ribbons and small crafted objects such as replicas of ships and windmills.^[11][17] Bound hair was felt to be symbolic of propriety: loosening one’s hair was considered immodest and sexual, and sometimes was felt to have supernatural connotations.^[18] Red hair was popular, particularly in England during the reign of the red-haired Elizabeth I, and women and aristocratic men used borax, saltpeter, saffron and sulfur powder to dye their hair red, making themselves nauseated and giving themselves headaches and nosebleeds.^[9][19] During this period in Spain and Latin cultures, women wore lace mantillas, often worn over a high comb,^[11][20] and in Buenos Aires, there developed a fashion for extremely large tortoise-shell hair combs called peinetón, which could measure up to three feet in height and width, and which are said by historians to have reflected the growing influence of France, rather than Spain, upon Argentinians.^[21]

In the middle of the 18th century the pouf style developed, with women creating volume in the hair at the front of the head, usually with a pad underneath to lift it higher, and ornamented the back with seashells, pearls or gemstones. In 1750, women began dressing their hair with perfumed pomade and powdering it white. Just before World War I, some women began wearing silk turbans over their hair.^[11]

Japan

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In the early 1870s, in a shift that historians attribute to the influence of the West,^[22] Japanese men began cutting their hair into styles known as jangiri or zangiri (which roughly means “random cropping”).^[23] During this period, Japanese women were still wearing traditional hairstyles held up with combs, pins, and sticks crafted from tortoise, metal, wood and other materials,^[11] but in the middle 1880s, upper-class Japanese women began pushing back their hair in the Western style (known as sokuhatsu), or adopting Westernized versions of traditional Japanese hairstyles (these were called yakaimaki, or literally, “soirée chignon”).^[23]

Inter-war years

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During the First World War, women around the world started to shift to shorter hairstyles that were easier to manage. After WWI women started for to bob, shingle and crop their hair, often covering it with small head-hugging cloche hats. In Korea, the bob was called tanbal.^[24] In Europe and the US the bob was seen as a step towards women’s liberation.^[25] Women began marcelling their hair, creating deep waves in it using heated scissor irons. Durable permanent waving became popular also in this period:^[26] it was an expensive, uncomfortable and time-consuming process, in which the hair was put in curlers and inserted into a steam or dry heat machine. During the 1930s women began to wear their hair slightly longer, in pageboys, bobs or waves and curls.^[10]

During the 1920s and 1930s, Japanese women began wearing their hair in a style called mimi-kakushi (literally, “ear hiding”), in which hair was pulled back to cover the ears and tied into a bun at the nape of the neck. Waved or curled hair became increasingly popular for Japanese women throughout this period, and permanent waves, though controversial, were extremely popular. Bobbed hair also became more popular for Japanese women, mainly among actresses and moga, or “cut-hair girls,” young Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the 1920s.^[23]

During this period, Western men began to wear their hair in ways popularized by movie stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Rudolph Valentino. Men wore their hair short, and either parted on the side or in the middle, or combed straight back, and used pomade, creams and tonics to keep their hair in place. At the beginning of the Second World War and for some time afterwards, men’s haircuts grew shorter, mimicking the military crewcut.^[27]

Post-war years

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After the war, women started to wear their hair in softer, more natural styles. In the early 1950s women’s hair was generally curled and worn in a variety of styles and lengths. In the later 1950s, high bouffant and beehive styles, sometimes nicknamed B-52s for their similarity to the bulbous noses of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, became popular.^[28] During this period many women washed and set their hair only once a week, and kept it in place by wearing curlers every night and reteasing and respraying it every morning.^[29] In the 1960s, many women began to wear their hair in short modern cuts such as the pixie cut, while in the 1970s, hair tended to be longer and looser. In both the 1960s and 1970s many men and women wore their hair very long and straight.^[30] Long, natural hair was also worn due to the emergence of counterculture movements such as that of the hippies who used such styles to symbolize their opposition to the norm. From the 1950s onward, various groups have pushed the norms for hairstyles as symbols of their unique ideology or identity. The Skinheads, who opposed the hippies, shaved off much of their hair. The punks of the later 1970s, meanwhile, wanted to cause outrage, styling their hair in unique ways (such as the mohawk) and dyeing it in unnatural shades.^[31] Women straightened their hair through chemical straightening processes, by ironing their hair at home with a clothes iron, or by rolling it up with large empty soda cans while wet.^[32]

Since the 1960s and 1970s, women have worn their hair in a wide variety of styles. Part of this came from the “Black is Beautiful” movement which promoted the natural beauty of the Black population as opposed to what some considered a Eurocentric model. Some critics argue that straightening or relaxing African hair is trying to conform to a white standard of beauty. However, there are those that disagree with this belief. Nevertheless, Malcolm X advised against Black people straightening their hair for such reasons.^[33] Black hair then became not only an act of beauty but an act of revolution.^[33] The Afro, specifically, was both fashionable and political in the 1960s onward.^[34] However, the Afro, or “the natural”, as it was first called, was not originally a political choice, but a style favored by both artistic and intellectual Black communities in the 1940s and 1950s.^[34]

Contemporary hairstyles

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The challenges to social norms for hair in the 1960s onward alongside the more accessible hair dyes allowed for a variation in hairstyles to emerge.^[31] In the contemporary world, women and men can choose from a broad range of hairstyles. But they are still expected to wear their hair in ways that conform to gender norms: in much of the world, men with long hair and women whose hair does not appear carefully groomed may face various forms of discrimination, including harassment, social shaming or workplace discrimination.^[35] This is somewhat less true of African-American men, who wear their hair in a variety of styles that overlap with those of African-American women, including box braids and cornrows fastened with rubber bands and dreadlocks.^[36]

In the 1980s, women pulled back their hair with scrunchies, stretchy ponytail holders made from cloth over fabric bands. Women also often wear glittery ornaments today, as well as claw-style barrettes used to secure ponytails and other upswept or partially upswept hairstyles.^[11]

The 1980s in America also were a time of noted turmoil between hair choices. Tensions arose particularly between hair choices from women of color, and the workplace as noted by court cases such as Rogers v. American Airlines which upheld employers rights to ban certain hairstyles in the workplace, notably braided hairstyles. Additional instances of USPS, hotel chains, police departments and another industries banning hairstyles common within the Black American community such as braids, colored hair, and dreadlocks from the workplace during this period.^[33]

Defining factors

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A hairstyle’s aesthetic considerations may be determined by many factors, such as the subject’s physical attributes and desired self-image and/or the stylist’s artistic instincts.

Physical factors include natural hair type and growth patterns, face and head shape from various angles, and overall body proportions; medical considerations may also apply. Self-image may be directed toward conforming to mainstream values (military-style crew cuts or current “fad” hairstyles such as the Dido flip), identifying with distinctively groomed subgroups (e.g., punk hair), or obeying religious dictates (e.g., Orthodox Jewish have payot, Rastafari have Dreadlocks, North India jatas, or the Sikh practice of Kesh), though this is highly contextual such that “mainstream” look in one setting may be limited to a “subgroup” in another.

A hairstyle is achieved by arranging hair in a certain way, occasionally using combs, a blow-dryer, gel, or other products. The practice of styling hair is often called hairdressing, especially when done as an occupation.

Hairstyling may also include adding accessories (such as headbands or barrettes) to the hair to hold it in place, enhance its ornamental appearance, or partially or fully conceal it with coverings such as a kippah, hijab, tam or turban.

Hairstyling techniques

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Hair dressing may include cuts, weaves, coloring, extensions, perms, permanent relaxers, curling, and any other form of styling or texturing.

Some of these techniques are described in detail below;

Washing

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Stylists often wash a subject’s hair first, so that the hair is cut while still slightly damp. Compared to dry hair, wet hair can be easier to manage in a cut/style situation because the added weight and surface tension of the water cause the strands to stretch downward and cling together along the hair’s length, holding a line and making it easier for the stylist to create a form. It is important to note that this method of cutting hair while wet, may be most suitable (or common) for straight hair types. Curly, kinky and other types of hair textures with considerable volume may benefit from cutting while dry, as the hair is in a more natural state and the hair can be cut evenly.

Cutting

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Hair cutting or hair trimming is intended to create or maintain a specific shape and form. There are ways to trim one’s own hair but usually another person is enlisted to perform the process, as it is difficult to maintain symmetry while cutting hair at the back of one’s head.

Cutting hair is often done with hair clipper, scissors, and razors. Combs and hair grips are often employed to isolate a section of hair which is then trimmed.

Blending

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Blending is a technique used to create a seamless transition between different lengths or textures of hair. This process ensures that there are no harsh lines or visible distinctions where one section of hair ends, and another begins. Stylists typically use thinning shears, razors, or specific scissor techniques to soften the edges of a haircut. Blending is especially important in layered cuts or when merging short and long sections, as it gives the hairstyle a cohesive and natural look.

Brushing and combing

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Brushes and combs are used to organize and untangle the hair, encouraging all of the strands to lie in the same direction and removing debris such as lint, dandruff, or hairs that have already shed from their follicles but continue to cling to the other hairs.

There are all manner of detangling tools available in a wide variety of price ranges. Combs come in all shapes and sizes and all manner of materials including plastics, wood, and horn. Similarly, brushes also come in all sizes and shapes, including various paddle shapes. Most benefit from using some form of a wide tooth comb for detangling. Most physicians advise against sharing hair care instruments like combs and clips, to prevent spreading hair conditions like dandruff and head lice.

The historical dictum to brush hair with one hundred strokes every day is somewhat archaic, dating from a time when hair was washed less frequently; the brushstrokes would spread the scalp’s natural oils down through the hair, creating a protective effect. Now, however, this does not apply when the natural oils have been washed off by frequent shampoos. Also, hairbrushes are now usually made with rigid plastic bristles instead of the natural boar’s bristles that were once standard; the plastic bristles increase the likelihood of actually injuring the scalp and hair with excessively vigorous brushing. However, traditional brushes with boar’s bristles are still commonly used among African Americans and those with coarse or kinky textures to soften and lay down curls and waves.^{[citation needed]}

Drying

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Hair dryers speed the drying process of hair by blowing air, which is usually heated, over the wet hair shaft to accelerate the rate of water evaporation.

Excessive heat may increase the rate of shaft-splitting or other damage to the hair. Hair dryer diffusers can be used to widen the stream of air flow so it is weaker but covers a larger area of the hair.

Hair dryers can also be used as a tool to sculpt the hair to a very slight degree. Proper technique involves aiming the dryer such that the air does not blow onto the face or scalp, which can cause burns.

Other common hair drying techniques include towel drying and air drying.

Braiding and updos

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Tight or frequent braiding may pull at the hair roots and cause traction alopecia. Rubber bands with metal clasps or tight clips, which bend the hair shaft at extreme angles, can have the same effect.

An updo is a hair style that involves arranging the hair so that it is carried high on the head. It can be as simple as a ponytail, but is more commonly associated with more elaborate styles intended for special occasions such as a prom or weddings.

If hair is pinned too tightly, or the whole updo slips causing pulling on the hair in the follicle at the hair root, it can cause aggravation to the hair follicle and result in headaches. Although some people of African heritage may use braiding extensions (long term braiding hairstyle) as a form of convenience and/or as a reflection of personal style, it is important not to keep the braids up longer than needed to avoid hair breakage or hair loss. Proper braiding technique and maintenance can result in no hair damage even with repeated braid styles.

Curling and straightening

[edit]

Curling and straightening hair typically involve using a curling rod or a flat iron to achieve the desired look. These tools use heat to shape the hair into various waves and curls, or to temporarily straighten it by reversing natural curls. However, frequent use of heat styling tools can damage hair, especially when combined with chemicals used to maintain the style. Some irons are designed to style damp hair, but they require higher temperatures, ranging from 300 to 450 °F (149 to 232 °C). To minimize heat damage, it’s advisable to use heat protection sprays and hair-repairing shampoos and conditioners.

Industry

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Hair styling is a major world industry, from the salon itself to products, advertising, and even magazines on the subject. In the United States, most hairstylists are licensed after obtaining training at a cosmetology or beauty school.^[37]

In recent years, competitive events for professional stylists have grown in popularity. Stylists compete on deadline to create the most elaborate hairstyle using props, lights and other accessories.

Tools

[edit]

Styling tools may include hair irons (including flat, curling, and crimping irons), hair dryers, hair brushes and hair rollers. Hair dressing might also include the use of hair product to add texture, shine, curl, volume or hold to a particular style. Hairpins are also used when creating particular hairstyles. Their uses and designs vary over different cultural backgrounds.

Products

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Styling products aside from shampoo and conditioner are many and varied. Leave-in conditioner, conditioning treatments, mousse, gels, lotions, waxes, creams, clays, serums, oils, and sprays are used to change the texture or shape of the hair, or to hold it in place in a certain style. Applied properly, most styling products will not damage the hair apart from drying it out; most styling products contain alcohols, which can dissolve oils. Many hair products contain chemicals which can cause build-up, resulting in dull hair or a change in perceived texture.

Wigs

[edit]

Care of human or other natural hair wigs is similar to care of a normal head of hair in that the wig can be brushed, styled, and kept clean using haircare products. Wigs can serve as a form of protective styling that allows freedom of control of the hairstyling.

Synthetic wigs are usually made from a fine fiber that mimics human hair. This fiber can be made in almost any color and hairstyle, and is often glossier than human hair. However, this fiber is sensitive to heat and cannot be styled with flat irons or curling irons. There is a newer synthetic fiber that can take heat up to a certain temperature.

Human hair wigs can be styled with heat, and they must be brushed only when dry. Synthetic and human hair wigs should be brushed dry before shampooing to remove tangles. To clean the wig, the wig should be dipped into a container with water and mild shampoo, then dipped in clear water and moved up and down to remove excess water. The wig must then be air dried naturally into its own hairstyle. Proper maintenance can make a human hair wig last for many years.

Functional and decorative ornaments

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There are many options to embellish and arrange the hair. Hairpins, clasps, barrettes, headbands, ribbons, rubber bands, scrunchies, and combs can be used to achieve a variety of styles. There are also many decorative ornaments that, while they may have clasps to affix them to the hair, are used solely for appearance and do not aid in keeping the hair in place. In India for example, the Gajra (flower garland) is common there are heaps on hair.

Social and cultural implications

[edit]

Gender

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At most times in most cultures, men have worn their hair in styles that are different from women’s. American sociologist Rose Weitz wrote that the most widespread cultural rule about hair is that women’s hair must differ from men’s hair.^[38] In western societies – particularly the US, UK, and Canada – hair on the head is more strongly tied to feminine gender expression. Long hair is seen as not only feminine but also more sexually appealing for women. Women are also more likely to style their hair in a variety of ways, including using accessories. Meanwhile, men’s styles tend to be uniform amongst one another. Masculine gender expressions tend to gear towards facial hair rather than head hair, likely due to how many men experience baldness.^[31] An exception is the men and women living in the Orinoco-Amazon Basin, where traditionally both genders have worn their hair cut into a bowl shape. In Western countries in the 1960s, both young men and young women wore their hair long and natural, and since then it has become more common for men to grow their hair.^[39]

During most periods in human history when men and women wore similar hairstyles, as in the 1920s and 1960s, it has generated significant social concern and approbation.^[40] In the west, groups such as hippies and punks caused outrage for their overlaps in masculine and feminine presentation. Around the 1950s onward, feminists in the US opposed traditionally feminine beauty standards of long hair and little or no body hair. They argued that those standards take much effort to maintain and were symbols of oppression, though the specifics of what sort of hairstyles or other beauty norms are “oppressive” was highly debated. Typically, many have aimed towards styles which take less maintenance. Meanwhile, there are also non-political examples of challenging gender presentation with performers presenting as cross-dressing or with androgynous appearances.^[31]

Religion

[edit]

Hair in religion also plays an important role since women and men, when deciding to dedicate their life to faith, often change their haircut. Baldness is likely chosen as a common spiritual symbol of dedication because it is perceived as a sign of aging and thus, undesirable. Cutting or shaving one’s hair is a rejection of worldly pride and vanity.^[41] There may be another layer of giving up sexuality as well, as hair is seen as a sex symbol, so the inverse of little or no hair could be a symbol of celibacy – a common oath for holy people.^[31] Catholic nuns often cut their hair very short, and men who joined Catholic monastic orders in the eighth century adopted what was known as the tonsure, which involved shaving the tops of their heads and leaving a ring of hair around the bald crown.^[39] Many Buddhists, Hajj pilgrims and Vaisnavas, especially members of the Hare Krishna movement who are brahmacharis or sannyasis, shave their heads. Some Hindu and most Buddhist monks and nuns shave their heads upon entering their order, and Korean Buddhist monks and nuns have their heads shaved every 15 days.^[42]

Conversely, there are also practices of keeping the hair long and/or uncut. One such example are adherents of Sikhism are required to wear their hair unshorn. Women usually wear it in a braid or a bun and men cover it with a turban also known as a dastār. Other religions also have various kinds of head coverings. The three Abrahamic religions, for instance all have some sort of religious writing on head coverings, particularly for women. In Islam women wear the hijab for modesty and covers the hair as well as chest.^[43] In Judaism (mostly orthodox), married women wear coverings such as the tichel, and in some branches men wear the kippah mostly in prayers.^[44] Meanwhile, due to the varied branches of Christianity, not all Christian women wear coverings and there are various kinds of head covering.^[45]

Marital status

[edit]

In the 1800s, American women started wearing their hair up when they became ready to get married. Among the Fulani people of west Africa, unmarried women wear their hair ornamented with small amber beads and coins, while married women wear large amber ornaments. Marriage is signified among the Toposa women of South Sudan by wearing the hair in many small pigtails. Unmarried Hopi women have traditionally worn a “butterfly” hairstyle characterized by a twist or whorl of hair at each side of the face.^[46] Hindu widows in India used to shave their heads as part of their mourning although that practice has mostly disappeared.

Life transitions

[edit]

In many cultures, including Hindu culture and among the Wayana people of the Guiana highlands, young people have historically shaved off their hair to denote coming-of-age. Women in India historically have signified adulthood by switching from wearing two braids to one. Among the Rendille of north-eastern Kenya and the Tchikrin people of the Brazilian rainforest, both men and women shave their heads after the death of a close family member. When a man died in ancient Greece, his wife cut off her hair and buried it with him,^[39] and in Hindu families, the chief mourner is expected to shave his or her head 3 days after the death.^[47]

Social class

[edit]

Upper-class people have always used their hairstyles to signal wealth and status. Wealthy Roman women wore complex hairstyles that needed the labours of several people to maintain them,^[48] and rich people have also often chosen hairstyles that restricted or burdened their movement, making it obvious that they did not need to work.^[49] Wealthy people’s hairstyles used to be at the cutting edge of fashion, setting the styles for the less wealthy. But today, the wealthy are generally observed to wear their hair in conservative styles that date back decades prior.^[50]

Middle-class hairstyles tend to be understated and professional. Middle-class people aspire to have their hair look healthy and natural, implying that they have the resources to live a healthy lifestyle and take good care of themselves.^{[citation needed]}

European-influenced working-class people’s haircuts have tended to be somewhat simple. Working-class men have often shaved their heads or worn their hair close-cropped. While working-class women typically with long hair often have their hair cinched back away from their faces and secured on their scalp.^{[citation needed]}

Health

[edit]

Hair, when it is natural and meets certain criteria, is one of the indicators of a person’s good or poor health. This is one of the explanations for the significant role that hairstyles play in both sexual and emotional attraction.^[51][52]

In the past, certain products used for hair graying (such as lead oxide or lead combs) have been a source of lead poisoning. Hair is sensitive to air pollution, particularly to various metallic pollutants in the environment (such as lead, mercury, or arsenic^[53]). These metals can also be absorbed through food and beverages, as hair bioconcentrates and stores them from the bloodstream to the skin.^[54] Additionally, certain medications can lead to hair loss, and this may be worsened by specific hairstyles.^[55][56]

According to a study^[57] published in 2016 by the American Academy of Dermatology and notably reported by The Root^[58] and Science magazine,^[59] certain tightly braided hairstyles that exert significant and constant tension on the scalp can contribute to a specific form of alopecia known as traction alopecia (TA). This article categorized hairstyling practices into high, moderate, and low-risk categories of induced alopecia, enabling dermatologists and physicians to provide more precise advice to affected patients.^[57][60]

This is the case with common hairstyles among African-American women, including extensions, braids, and dreadlocks. This may explain why approximately one-third of black women suffer from hair loss. Hair damage can be further exacerbated by the use of chemical products used for chemical straightening. The study’s findings support recommendations to wear looser hairstyles and avoid keeping braids and extensions for more than a few months.^[61]

Certain products (hair dyes, hairsprays, bleaches, etc.) may contain allergenic ingredients. Several studies suggest that certain hairstyles or the use of bleaching or dyeing products may increase the risk of certain cancers (melanomas, as well as carcinomas^[62]); thus, long and dark hair that shades the skin and protects it from excessive ultraviolet exposure could be a protective factor against certain skin cancers (such as ear cancers).^[62][63]

Haircuts in space

[edit]

Haircuts also occur in the International Space Station. During the various expeditions astronauts use hair clippers attached to vacuum devices for grooming their colleagues so that the cut hair will not drift inside the weightless environment of the space station and become a nuisance to the astronauts or a hazard to the sensitive equipment installations inside the station.^[65][66][67]

Haircutting in space was also used for charitable purposes in the case of astronaut Sunita Williams who obtained such a haircut by fellow astronaut Joan Higginbotham inside the International Space Station. Sunita’s ponytail was brought back to earth with the STS-116 crew and was donated to Locks of Love.^[68][69]