Red hair

“ Lady Merrenden is so nice—one of those kind faces that even a tight fringe in a net does not spoil. She is tall and graceful, past fifty perhaps, and has an expression of Lord Robert about the eyes. At luncheon she was sweet to me at once, and did not look as if she thought I must be bad just because I have red hair, like elderly ladies do generally. ”

“ The ancient civilized nations passionately admired red hair. Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Turks, and Spaniards have given it to their warriors and beauties. Somehow among the Anglo-Saxon race it has a bad reputation. Both in novels and plays it is common to give the rascal of the plot “villanous red hair;” and in the English school of painters, the traitor Judas is generally distinguished by it. In the East, black is the favorite color, and the Persians abhor a red-haired woman. Light brown or golden hair is the universal favorite. The Greeks gave it to Apollo, Venus, and Minerva. ”

“ Persons with red hair are ardent and vivacious, especially if, with it, they have hazel eyes, in which case they have a bright and quick intelligence, for reddish hair and bright brown eyes are the signature of Mercury. They have a great deal of natural facility for study and good memories, but they are selfish and rather cruel.
Red hair, with blue eyes, shows the same warmth of character, but not so much intelligence, and if, with blue eyes and red hair, the eyebrows and eyelashes are white—as is often the case—it is an indication of a weak and capricious nature. ”

“ Very red hair is characterized by the presence of the red constituent unmodified by any other coloring substance; golden hair has less of the red and more of the yellow pigment; in sandy-brown hair the black and red constituents are associated with a large proportion of the yellow; in dark-brown hair the black pigment is present in larger quantity, while in black hair this dark substance predominates over the rest. Singularly enough, Mr. Sorby found in the hair of a negro about the same proportion of the red pigment as in the very red hair of a European. ”

“ Her hair was red and her eyes were purple with fire in them; her lips were red as a flame-tree's flower, or maybe more red. She was slender without being slim and moved as easily as a pandanus leaf swinging in a little breeze. ”

“ Fiery Red Hair indicates a quick and fiery disposition. Persons with such hair generally have intense feelings—love and hate intensely—yet treat them kindly, and you have the warmest friends, but ruffle them, and you raise a hurricane on short notice. This is doubly true of auburn curls. It takes but little kindness, however, to produce a calm and render them as fair as a Summer morning. Red-headed people in general are not given to hold a grudge. They are generally of a very forgiving disposition. ”

“ In some of the tales red hair is described as a peculiar beauty of women Red paint on the face, tight-fitting bracelets and anklets of copper, nose and ear ornaments of variegated haliotis shells, and hair strewed with eagle-down, add to the natural charms. ”

“ Anything but to have a head look like a head! anything but to have hair look like hair! See this lady of 1750, her hair drawn violently back from her forehead and piled up on a cushion nine inches high. She is plainly one of those lovely, warm-toned blondes whose hair is of that priceless red that makes all other tints look poor and sad; and so she defiles its exquisite texture with grease, and blanches out its wealth of color with flour. ”

“ A brown-haired woman's hair is red, black, blue, green, purple, amber, with their thousand intermediates, according to mood and tense. Oh, give me a brown-haired woman, and surprises, improbabilities, perplexities, will never be to seek. A brown-haired woman has red hair, and red hair means a temperament and a temper. No, I honestly think our little brown-haired friend, in just so far as her hair is red, is feeling foolish about Bertram, and I look hopefully forward (unberufen) to the day when her temper or her temperament will get the better of her discretion, and let him see what's what. ”

“ I kept glancing at that shifting gleam whenever we turned the slow team so that her hair caught the sun. I have seen the same flame in the mane of a black horse bred from a sorrel dam or sire. As a stock breeder I have learned that in such cases there is in the heredity the genetic unit of red hair overlaid with black pigment. It is the same in people. Virginia's father had red hair, and her sister Ann Gowdy had hair which was a dark auburn. ”

“ Now, you’ve told me a dozen times that my hair was red, but you’ve never once told me that I had a nice nose.”
“I daresay you know it without any telling,” chuckled Mr. Harrison.
“I know I have red hair too . . . although it’s much darker than it used to be . . . ”

“ Red-haired persons should seek out-door employment, for they require a great amount of air and exercise; while those who have light, fine hair, should choose occupations involving taste and mental acumen, yet take bodily exercise enough to tone and vigorate their system.
Generally, whenever skin, hair, or features are fine or coarse, the others are equally so. Yet some inherit fineness from one parent, and coarseness from the other, while the color of the eye generally corresponds with that of the skin, and expresses character. Light eyes indicate warmth of feeling, and dark eyes power. ”

“ But that comparison tells you nothing. I can find no simile with which to describe the beauties of its shades and tints. It was red, but it also was golden, as if the enamoured sun had gilded every hair with its radiance. ”

“ The presence of red hair in all parts of Italy, although only in small quantities, is also difficult of explanation. Strange to say it is the most common in regions which are poorest in fair hair. From this we must suppose it to have some relation to dark hair, an opinion which agrees with the observation that in England dark hair in young children is sometimes interspersed with red hairs, which either change or disappear with age. ”

“ One should be used intense, and the other in a gray tone. For example, in combining color with hair, greens, particularly gray greens, are very pleasing with auburn hair. Barbara Oakes discovered that fact with her auburn hair. Violet tends to make yellow hair look more golden, so care must be taken to have a gray violet so the gold color in the hair will not be overpowered. "Red" hair is made to look brighter when a blue costume is worn. So you see one can avoid unfortunate combinations if one studies the strength of the color of the hair in relation to the colors to be used. ”

“ THE COLOR OF THE HAIR.—The color of the hair corresponds with that of the skin—being dark or black, with a dark complexion, and red or yellow with a fair skin. When a white skin is seen in conjunction with black hair, as among the women of Syria and Barbary, the apparent exception arises from protection from the sun's rays, and opposite colors are often found among people of one prevailing feature. Thus red-haired Jews are not uncommon, though the nation in general have dark complexion and hair. ”

“ Her eyes, at the distance I stood from her, appeared black, or nearly black, but when seen closely they proved to be green—a wonderfully pure, tender sea-green; and the others, I found, had eyes of the same hue. Her hair fell to her shoulders; but it was very wavy or curly, and strayed in small tendril-like tresses over her neck, forehead and cheeks; in color it was golden black—that is, black in shade, but when touched with sunlight every hair became a thread of shining red-gold ”

“ It can’t be denied your hair is terrible red; but I knew a girl once—went to school with her, in fact—whose hair was every mite as red as yours when she was young, but when she grew up it darkened to a real handsome auburn. ”

“ Really, men are very trying and tiresome, and if I shall always have to put up with these scenes through having red hair, I almost wish it were mouse-colored, like Cicely Parker's. Mrs. Carruthers often said, "You need not suppose, Evangeline, that you are going to have a quiet life with your coloring; the only thing one can hope for is that you will screw on your head."
Lady Ver and Lord Robert were already in the hall waiting for us, but the second I saw them I knew she had been saying something to Lord Robert. ”

“ So, too, dark-haired persons, like Webster are frequently possessed of great power, yet lack the finer and [Pg 31] more delicate shadings of sensibility and purity. Coarse black hair and skin, or coarse red hair and face, indicate powerful animal propensities, together with corresponding strength of character; while fine and light hair indicate quick susceptibilities, together with purity, refinement, and good taste. ”

“ The deep blue, any pure blue, in fact, from forget-me-not to ultramarine, is as rare in this commonest type as warm or bright hair—chestnut, red, or gold; or as a brilliant skin. The skin is pallid, or dusky, or dirty-looking. Even healthy girls in their teens seldom have any colour, and the exquisite roseate and carmine reds of other counties are rare indeed. The best-looking girls at the time of life when they come nearest to being pretty, when they are just growing into womanhood, have an unfinished look which is almost pathetic. ”

“ I have only seen grey hair on a few people of apparently unusual age. In colour it is almost uniformly black, a red- not a blue-black, which gives it an occasional brown glint. Some of the children are lighter-haired, but such a variation as red hair is unknown, though in the sunlight the women’s hair may take a reddish gleam. Both women and children have finer hair than the men, and with young children it is often quite downy. ”

“ The percentage of brown hair is 75% among Spaniards, 39 among French and 16 only in Scandinavia. Among the straight-haired races fair hair is far rarer; it is, however, found among the western Finns. Among those races with frizzy hair, red is almost as common as among those with wavy hair. Red hair, however, is an individual anomaly associated ordinarily with freckles. There are no red-haired races. ”

“ Red-haired persons, we are told, do not soon turn grey; their passions are more intense than those whose hair is of a different colour; and they are not unfrequently reproached with having descended from the Scots and Danes. Red-haired children are supposed to indicate infidelity on the part of the mother; they are consequently looked upon as unlucky, and are not wanted in a neighbour's house on the morning of New Year's Day. Hair on the arms is considered to betoken coming riches ”

“ Red hair may be transformed into beautiful black tresses;—baldness may be made to give place to flowing locks; and all these oils, pastes, and masks, which periodically change their name, are in fact the same villanous cosmetics which never yet restored elasticity to a withered skin, converted black to white, or bestowed curls upon a bald pate. Art is great, but Time far greater ”

“ When the wearer has black hair, or red hair, or in fact hair of any color except, white, the contrast between the wig and the natural hair sometimes excites a smile from those [568] who are not impressed with the necessity for this relic of ancient times. ”

“ She knows how to dress, and she hasn't so many freckles. Brown eyes—that means temper when associated with red hair. Must be quite a little trick to tame a girl like that. She doesn't look as though she were quite subdued. ”

“ I cannot for the life of me see the attractiveness of red hair.”
Lady Boden blushed. Her own hair was of a quite unremarkable brownish colour. Sir Hilary supposed that she took his disparagement of the novel heroine's hair as an indirect compliment to her own. She looked very pretty when she blushed; so he walked round the table and kissed her. She was accustomed to these casual demonstrations of affection, and appeared to like the kiss. Sir Hilary stroked her ear gently, and then went back to his breakfast and the book.
“The author,” he said, “dwells a good deal on the heroine's hair. ”

“ Women begin to colour their checks with red when the natural roses are faded, and the younger are obliged to follow the example, though not compelled by the same necessity. In all parts of the world this custom prevails more or less, and powdering and frizzing the hair, though not so general, seems to have arisen from a similar desire of displaying the features to most advantage. ”

“ Now, for a practical application of this knowledge.
The hair of the blond is a mixture of red, yellow and brown. As a rule
the skin is lighter, that is, it contains not so much orange, and the
tinges of red are lighter. Nature, therefore, very properly made the
blond's eyes blue, since the blue is complementary to the orange of her
hair.
The brunette's skin, on the other hand, has more orange in it, and hence
a color favorable to one would not be becoming to the other.
What would be the effect of green upon a complexion deficient in red? ”

“ Blue eyes and yellow hair are the predominant type; but there are some faces with dark hazel eyes of rare beauty and very dark hair,—still more beautiful,—which, spite of its darkness, shows glints of red in the sun. ”

“ In all such complexions the rose-color is not decided enough, and the hair would be improved by a deeper hue; and these changes can be made, in a good degree, by a suitable mingling of color in the dress. One of the most favorable colors for the fair blonde is a delicate green, as it imparts to the flesh-white of the skin a tint of red, which, mingling with the natural hue, forms an agreeable rose-tint,—a good contrast both to the face and hair, especially if the hair is golden, inclining to orange. ”