Jean Harlow, the sultry sex goddess of 1930's Hollywood, is quoted as saying, "If it wasn't for my hair, nobody would know I'm alive." If you've never heard of Jean Harlow, she's the original Platinum Blonde and Blonde Bombshell.
I got to thinking about Jean Harlow yesterday as a used bleach to do a load of laundry. I would never dye my hair, but I did chemically straighten it for decades. For the past year I've "gone natural" because I decided I was sick of chemicals. But check out the toxic regimen Jean Harlow subjected herself to each week to maintain her platinum tresses while a super star at MGM Studios:
"I used to bleach her hair and make it 'platinum blonde,'" Alfred Pagano, hairdresser to the stars, once said. "We used peroxide, ammonia, Chlorox, and Lux flakes! Can you believe that?"
Although I do believe that, it's mighty hard to think that Harlow would subject herself to such a painful process. And Chlorox, when mixed with amonia produces noxious gas and hydrochloric acid. I'm not a chemist, but that sounds pretty deadly to me.
Jean Harlow was plagued with a multitude of health issues and died in 1937 at twenty-six, while at the peak of her career. That hair regimen certainly didn't do anything to increase her longevity.
Harlow's medical records became unsealed in the late 1990s, so if you care to read up on what actually caused her death, click here.
Had you ever heard of Jean Harlow? If so, what's your favorite Jean Harlow movie? Mine is Dinner at Eight.
Thanks for visiting and have a great week!
Originally posted 2/22/16
Originally posted 2/22/16
2 comments:
I liked her in Libeled Lady.
I've never seen that one but I'd like to;). She was so funny and pretty.
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