The first hairdressers in Lisbon

The first professional hairdressers/barbers in high boots who, in the 18th century, settled in Lisbon were probably French, although there are also references to Spanish men and women in the same field who already worked in the capital. The Royal House already had hairdressers at its service, having, for example, two private ones, one French and one Portuguese, in the same 18th century.

The blog Collection Remains reproduces an advertisement by one of these Frenchmen, a certain Gervais Firmin, boasting, in the mid-19th century, his qualities, highlighting the “high success and confidence obtained last winter among the ladies of high society, due to his good taste and elegance of hairstyles, which he presented in the first rooms of this capital”. And further on, now addressing the gentlemen: “In his beautiful hair cutting room he will serve his customers himself, with all the care and perfection”.

By this time there were also many Portuguese hairdressers and barbers of great reputation and with different clienteles, such as José Henriques da Silva, who served aristocrats such as the Baron of Quintela in his establishment in Chiado; or Manuel Lopes de Carvalho, who was a friend of Bocage and also had an open door in the same Chiado. Several of these professionals, whatever their nationality, also offered their clients creams, ointments, elixirs and other products, either made by them or imported, which were allegedly very effective in treating hair loss. This is the case of the Alibour-Villaret cream, from the French hairdresser Mr. Villaret, which not only made hair grow but also prevented the appearance of gray hair.

In 1885, there were around 20 hairdressers recognized as having a higher education level (“expensive and fine”, according to Ramalho Ortigão) who worked in Lisbon, all in the Baixa area, according to a list published in a commercial yearbook from that year. In the photo published on this page and taken in the 20s of the 20th century, we can see one of the many hairdressers that existed in the capital at the time, installed on the first floor of a building, as was customary at the time, since prestigious barbershops and hairdressers were not located on the ground floor, as is the case now, but on the upper floors.