As children, Stygian boys have most of their hair shaved save for a single side lock of hair that is braided and never cut until they come of age, when both the hair and their foreskin is cut off. The young girls wear their hair short except for the traditional side lock.
As adults, Stygians despise facial and body hair. As part of their decadent pride in appearances, wanting to be spotlessly clean, they carefully remove all facial and bodily hair. A smooth and hairless body is the Stygian standard of beauty. Pubic hair is considered ugly and the sign of uncleanliness and poverty. The extremely poor usually do not bother to remove hair. Thus, facial and bodily hair is looked down upon as being a ‘foreign’ or lower-class look. In addition to facial and bodily hair, many Stygians even shave their head to prevent head-lice, preferring to wear wigs instead. The wigs aid in cleanliness and in keeping the head cool from the hot Stygian sun. Facial and body hair is removed via shaving, depilatories and sugaring (sugaring is similar to waxing, only it is done with a mixture of honey and oil). The exception to hair removal lies in periods of mourning. Hair, facial and body, are grown during periods of mourning.
The hair on top of their heads is treated a flexible means of self-expression and the Stygians use that means to its fullest extent, considering their hair as an ultimate form of art with endless potential. They dye their hair, braid their hair, shave their hair and even weave charms into their hair. For those who use wigs, the same principles apply. Hair fashion is a big industry in Stygia. Hair-styles, whether natural or wigs, are often quite elaborate. Even Stygians who retain their natural hair wear wigs for variety and ornamentation and even for luxurious extension. Wigs and extensions are always made from natural hair. Wig-makers collect the hair from the customer for use in that customer’s wig or they trade or buy it from others. Women’s wigs tend to be less elaborate than men’s wigs, although there are exceptions. Braids are the most common form of hair extension. Headdresses are also worn to emphasis their hair, including scented cones that melt and cascade over the wig during particularly festive evenings.
In addition to their hate of body hair, the black-hearted Stygians also do not look upon grey hair with favour. They will go to great lengths to eliminate it – and will even order their hair dyed upon death. Henna is often used to dye the hair.
Despite the animosity Stygians seem to display toward beards, their gods and their kings often are shown with a type of beard – a long tuft like a braided pigtail with the end jutting forward. This is considered divine and the kings of Stygia express their status as living gods by appearing in public with a false beard of this sort. These beards always represent divine natures and this style is expressly forbidden to commoners.
Stygia’s obsession with hair removal is not only a hygiene issue but a political issue. Although Shemites often pluck pubic hair with tweezers, their men are almost always bearded. Stygian art usually depicts their enemies as bearded. To wear a beard is, to a Stygian, the same as appearing as a Shemite, or a foreign enemy. Stygians tend to be xenophobic and do not want to appear as their next-door national neighbours appear.
