The Queen's Condition: Marie Antoinette's Hair Loss

Marie Antoinette's hair was the focus of much attention from the moment of her arrival at court in 1770. Its beautiful ashen-blonde colour was made the inspiration for a new colour tapestry while it would later set the fashion in the ever-rising coiffures of the 1770's. 

Generally speaking, the queen's hair was said to have been one of her strengths. Its colour and thickness was envied by many and she was understandably proud of it. During her time, Marie Antoinette would suffer two different but marked issues connected to her royal locks: 

1. Hair Loss

By 1780, Marie Antoinette was experiencing a new issue regarding her appearance: hair loss. The towering hairstyles favoured by the court in the 1770's meant that the hair had been exposed to everything from ironing and "frizzling" to prodigious amounts of grease and hair powder. As can easily be imagined, this would have left its fair share of damage to any person's hair - and the queen was not exempt. Apparently, she had already experienced some balding spots due to the excessive hair-dos of her younger days.

Léonard, the queen's infamous hair-dresser, naturally fretted over what could be done. He tasked the royal perfumer Fargeon with providing a concoction to be massaged into the royal scalp. In response, Fargeon sent plenty of oils of violet, jonquils and jasmine as well as powder meant to thicken the queen's hair. Alas, despite their best efforts, it was in vain.

Not to be deterred, Fargeon then suggested another powder - this time of crushed irises which were to be mixed with a pomade of essential oils of lemon, jasmine, tuberose and jonquils. Surprisingly, it seemed to have actually had an effect but the queen was not completely rid of her bugbear. 

Fearing that the effect would be but short-lived, Léonard took a drastic decision: the queen's locks would have to be cut short - very short. Thus, Marie Antoinette found herself sporting a very short hairstyle which was immediately emulated by her contemporaries. It was given the name of "coiffure à l'enfant" or the "child's hairstyle" - luckily, the name had a dual purpose. On one hand it referenced the short her of very young children while still referring to the queen's condition.

Undoubtedly, the coiffure à l'enfant must have come as a relief to both the fashion conscious - and those paying their bills. It was far easier to maintain and the lack of any expensive adornments meant that costs could be kept low. On a more practical level, it must have been far more comfortable than the enormous towers of hair covered in grease, powder and everything the heart could desire. 

Marie Antoinette in 1781

2. "Marie Antoinette Syndrome"

Alopecia Areata - such is the latin term for the condition in which a person suddenly loses colour from their hair. Historically speaking there are plenty of anecdotes of people whose hair became unexpectedly - and suddenly - either completely grey or white. Marie Antoinette is amongst the most famous people who  allegedly endured such a thing.

The story goes that the queen's hair - which had already starting to grey due to the stress of the revolution - turned completely white during the night before her execution. It should be kept in mind that the queen was just 37 years old and as such could have had some naturally grey hair but were slightly too young to be experiencing a "whitening" of that scale.

Nevertheless, Madame Campan described the hair of her mistress as having become "as white as a woman of seventy". While medical professionals argued against the idea of hair turning colour over night, more recent medical research have provided a different explanation. In the article "Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells" it was discovered that mice exposed to considerable stress at different points in the hair growing process lost the pigment in the stem cells that gave their hairs their colour. 

This could be the explanation for what has become known as Marie Antoinette Syndrome. For instance, it was pointed out by the authors that acute stress had a clear and marked impact on the stem cells - and the condemned queen can certainly be said to have suffered from acute stress.