WHAT IS A HAIRDRESSER?

A hairdresser or hairstylist is a universal term referring to someone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair colouring, haircutting and hair texture techniques. Many hairdressers are actually beauticians or cosmetologists.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HAIRDRESSER AND A BARBER? A barber (from the Latin barba, "beard") is someone, most often male, whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop, or simply the "barber's". Barbers differ with respect to where they work, which services they are licensed to provide, and what name they use to refer to themselves. Part of this terminology difference depends on the regulations in a given location.

HAIRDRESSING IN HISTORY

Razors have been found among relics of the Bronze Age (circa 3500 BC) in Egypt. Priests and men of medicine are the earliest recorded examples of barbers. In early tribes, a barber was one of the most important members, as it was believed that certain evil spirits were able to enter a person's body through their hair, and that cutting it was a way to drive them out. Due to their spiritual and religious beliefs, barbers even performed religious ceremonies, such as marriages and baptizing children. During these ceremonies, they would leave the person/people's hair hanging down until after dancing; they would then cut the hair and tie it back tightly so that no evil spirits could enter and no good spirits could escape. Before the Macedonian conquest brought the custom of clean shaving, men in Ancient Greece would have their beards, hair, and fingernails trimmed and styled by the , in an agora, which also served as a social gathering for debates and gossip. Shaving, either of the head or face, was not always a voluntary act, for it has been enforced by law in England and elsewhere. Barbering was introduced to Rome by the Greek colonies in Sicily in 296 B.C., and barber shops quickly became very popular centres for daily

news and gossip. A morning visit to the tonsor became a part of the daily routine, as important as the visit to the public baths, and a young man's first shave (tonsura) was considered an essential part of his coming of age (puberty) ceremony.

Barbers in the Middle Ages often served as surgeons and dentists. In addition to haircutting, hairdressing, and shaving, barbers performed surgery, bloodletting and leeching, fire cupping, enemas, and the extraction of teeth; earning them the name "barber surgeons". HAIRDRESSING TRIVIAS

The barber pole, featuring red and white spiraling stripes, indicated the two crafts (surgery in red and barbering in white). Barbers received higher pay than surgeons until surgeons were entered into British war ships during naval wars. Some of the duties of the barber included neck manipulation, cleansing of ears and scalp, draining of boils, fistula and lancing of cysts with wicks. In the early 1900s, an alternative word for barber came into use, "chirotonsor". Chirotonsor an alternate title for a barber. Noble rank among the ancient Gauls was indicated by long hair, which Caesar made them cut off as a sign of submission when he conquered them. The religious significance of hair is seen in the shaved heads of Christian and Buddhist monks, indicating renunciation of the world, and in the single long lock on the shaved heads of Muslim men, by which, they believed, Allah would pull them up to heaven. In 17th century England, both politics and religion were professed by the long curling locks of the Royalist Anglican Cavaliers and the cropped hair of the Parliamentarian Puritan Roundheads. Boys in ancient Greece cut their hair, and Hindu boys shaved their heads when they reached adolescence. As a sign of mourning the ancient Egyptians, whose heads were usually shaven, grew long hair, and long haired Hindu widows cut off their hair. In the 17th century, courtiers followed the lead of the balding Louis XIV, who wore a wig.

In the 20th century women of all classes eagerly followed the example of film stars with such styles as the platinum hair of Jean Harlow. US states vary on their labor and licensing laws. For example, in Maryland, a cosmetologist cannot use a straight razor, strictly reserved for barbers. In contrast, in New Jersey both are regulated by the State Board of Cosmetology and there is no longer a legal difference in barbers and cosmetologists, as they are issued the same license and can practice both the art of straight razor shaving, colouring, other chemical work and haircutting if they choose. In Australia, the official term for a barber is hairdresser; barber is only a popular title for men's hairdressers, although not as popular now as it was in the middle of the 20th century. HAIRDRESSING IN VARIOUS CIVILIZATIONS AND ERAS

ANCIENT EGYPT - In the heat of Egypt, noblemen and women clipped their hair close to the head. But for ceremonial occasions heavy, curly black wigs were donned. Womens wigs were often long and braided, adorned with gold ornaments or ivory hairpins. Mens faces were generally clean shaved, but stiff false beards were sometimes worn. ANCIENT GREECE - In classical Greece, womens hair was long and pulled back into a chignon. Many dyed their hair red with henna and sprinkled it with gold powder, often adorning it with fresh flowers or jeweled tiaras. Mens hair was short and even shaved on occasion. ANCIENT ROME - In austere Rome, there was the tendency was to follow Greek styles. The upper classes would use curling irons and favoured the gold powdered look of the Greeks. Women often dyed their hair blonde or wore wigs made from hair of captive civilization slaves. Later, hairstyles became more ornate with hair curled tight and piled high on the head often shaped around wire frames. Hairdressing became popular and the upper classes were attended to by slaves or visited public barber shops. MUSLIM MINORITIES - Amongst the Muslim community, the hair was traditionally concealed in public. Men wore a turban or fez and womens hair was hidden under the traditional veil. Both men and women visited the local public baths for grooming where the mans head and face were shaved and omens long hair was given a henna rinse. ANCIENT CHINA - Unmarried Chinese girls hair was usually worn long and braided whilst women combed the hair back from the face and

wound into a knot at the nape. The Manchu regime of the time dictated that men shaved the front of the head and wore the back hair long and braided, tied with black silk (like in Chaolin Temple students). ANCIENT JAPAN - Males in Japan also shaved the front of the head but kept the back hair pulled tightly into a short stiff ponytail. During the Medieval period, womens hair had been long and loose but by the 17th century the hair became more styled, swept up from the nape of the neck and adorned with pins and jewelled combs. Geisha womens hairdos were especially elaborate, high and heavily lacquered and often enhanced with hairpieces. ANCIENT AMERICA - Native American Indians were divided in their hairstyles those on the East Coast sporting entirely shaved heads save for a ridge of hair along the crown, whilst Plains Indians, both men and women, wore the recognized long braids adorned with feathers. Further South the Incas sported black headbands over relatively, short often bobbed hair, whilst Aztec women plaited their hair entwined with strips of coloured cloth then wound around the head. The Mayan nobility, although having shaved heads, donned high, ornate headdresses. ANCIENT WEST - In the 15th century The Renaissance period the ladies of the upper classes really took plucking to its limit. They were plucking the entire front hairline away to give the appearance of a higher forehead. The rest of the hair was tightly scraped back to show off the elaborate headdresses of the day. This was a practise common in Europe whereas the upper class ladies of Italy preferred to cover the hairline with low caps and jewelled turbans. They did, however, envy the fairer hair of Northern Europeans and sat for many hours in the heat of the sun in an attempt to bleach their hair. The bleach of the day was made using either saffron or onion skins. 16th CENTURY - By the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth was the main female icon and set the trends for the era. Her lily-white complexion and red tresses set women everywhere rushing for copious amounts of white face powder and red wigs. Those really serious about achieving a pallid complexion used the very successful but highly poisonous white lead, adding glowing cheeks with lead based rouge. Follow this with a thin layer of egg-white to bind it all together and you were ready to party.

18th CENTURY - The 18th century saw the emergence of elaborate wigs, mile-high coiffures and highly decorated curls. White powdered wigs

with long ringlets were the order of the day often tied back with a black bow for men or decorated with feathers, bows and garlands for women. Big hair was definitely the in thing and many styles were modelled over a cage frame or horsehair pads the bigger the better. Some immensely tall coiffures took hours to create and were heavily starched and powdered.
Following the decadence of the previous era, the Victorians took a much more subdued and puritanical line. Middleclass ladies, although not abandoning make-up completely, did tone things down considerably with more of an emphasis on natural beauty. A Victorian lady would play up her natural features and aimed at a healthy hygienic look. Hair was supposed to look sleek, shiny and healthy and styles were altogether more elegant and demure. The hair was often smoothed down with oils and curled into long ringlets, fringes were short and decoration was more subtle. Hairnets were often worn during the day to keep curls