bear fat

Bear's grease was a popular treatment for men with hair loss from at least as early as 1653 until about the First World War. The myth of its effectiveness is based on a belief that as bears are very hairy, their fat would assist hair growth in others. Nicholas Culpeper, the English botanist and herbalist wrote in 1653, in his The Physician's Library, "Bears Grease staies [stops] the falling off of the hair." Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Benedictine mystic, composer and woman of letters, also recommended the use of the substance in her Physica (repeated in her Causae et Curae). A number of cosmetics companies sold bear's grease and it was a trademark of Atkinsons of London who sold "Bears Grease Pomade".