Why I Use a Shower Cap

My hair is naturally curly and a bit frizzy, especially when it’s exposed to humidity (did I mention I live in Florida where it’s almost always humid?!). Straight haired people have always told me, “You’re so lucky to have curl in your hair,” but like so many people, I want what I don’t have – sleek, shiny, straight hair and I work hard to achieve it. After an hour-plus of shampooing, conditioning, blow drying and flat ironing my hair, it will usually look straight for at least two days so I use a shower cap to keep it dry when I bathe. A well made, waterproof, washable shower cap is an essential part of my beauty routine and I’d really be a frizzy mess without it!

This leads me to think back to the “old” days…remember what our mothers did? Women of that generation would visit their beauty parlor once a week to have their hair washed, dried, set and styled. They’d wear a hair bonnet or shower cap to bed each night and while bathing so that their hairstyle would last all week before going back to the beauty parlor the next week to begin the process all over again! Back in those days, including many years while I was growing up, most households didn’t own hairdryers, electric rollers, and certainly not flat irons. I remember as a very young girl my mother washing my hair in the utility sink in the basement every Saturday then sitting me at the kitchen table under a giant hair dryer like the one pictured below – this was high tech!

It wasn’t until I was a teenager in the late 1970’s that handheld hair dryers became commonplace and I received one for my 15th birthday – what a treat! The first hand held dryer was invented in 1971 and revolutionized the hair industry. No longer did we have to sit under a dryer for long periods of time.

So back to shower caps…how many of you have taken the complimentary shower cap from a hotel stay? And how many of you are embarrassed by how ugly these clear plastic things are? For years I searched, unsuccessfully, for a pretty shower cap until one day I decided to make one for myself. Attacking my unruly stash of fabric scraps I found the perfect, floral cotton material. I cut the fabric into a big circle, lined it with a plastic shower curtain, added coordinating bias tape, a pretty bow and voila, the perfect shower cap! I sewed a couple more models, shared them with friends and family and soon realized, if we all loved these waterproof, washable caps, others would too! Five months later, my Retro Revival shower caps are my best selling product. If you are searching for a pretty and practical shower cap check out the options I offer at www.RetroRevival.Biz. And in the meantime, leave a comment on this blog about why you use a shower cap or your early hair (retro hair dryer products, for example) experiences and you’ll be entered into my first ever GIVEAWAY. I will enter each of your comments and pick one randomly on January 18, 2010 to win this fabulously chic shower cap! If you're not a shower cap user remember that these make excellent gifts.  Can’t wait to hear from you and send you this cap (I only made two of this model from a gorgeous black fabric covered in pretty purses – fabric is long ago discontinued and I can’t buy any more)!