Powdered hair and partners

While visiting Bath in 1798 the young Elizabeth Canning wrote to her mother.

"Well my dearest Mamma, how do you like my red locks? For here I am without a grain of powder in them, all as one as if they were of the most beautiful brown!!"

Both men and women powdered their hair or wigs throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.  Hair powder was primarily used to create colour effects without the use of damaging dyes.

Hair powder was made from a variety of materials, from the poorest quality corn and wheat flour to the best quality in finely milled and sieved starch.  It was usually white, but it could also be brown, grey, orange, pink, red, blue, or violet.  The application of white powder over dark hair produces shades of light to dark grey, not the paperwhite seen in films and costume wigs.  White powder applied over very light hair produces a heightened blond effect.  The powder was applied with a bellows or with a puff for touchups and a knife for removal.

There is a very rare survival in a house in Gay Street in Bath of a wig powering sink which can be seen from the street.

Elizabeth's change of style reflects the trend towards more 'natural' styles in the 1790s. In keeping with this look, powdering began to fall out of favour, particularly after it began to be taxed in 1795 to raise money for the war against the French.

The portrait below of a younger Elizabeth and her mother gives some indication of the difference between natural and powdered hair.