Lucky you! Today there are so many ready-made beauty products out there for you, all smelling and looking nice. All you need to do is buy and apply and voila! You’ll turn ‘fair and lovely’ within seconds.
But people in ancient times weren’t as lucky, you know. They had to earn their beauty, by using things you wouldn’t even want to be near, let alone apply on your face. They went to extensive lengths to make themselves beautiful. So what if these products made them blind, gave them cancer, or killed them? And all you can think about is how these 11 beauty products make you gag, you selfish creature!
1. Human pee, because why not
There is a Biblical proverb ‘drink water from your own cistern’, and some people took it upon themselves to make use of this proverb. Even as recently as in 20th century, people have used their urine for cosmetic and medicinal purposes.
2. Crushed beetle to make your lips as red as ever
Remember Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen famous for her beauty and her beaus? You know what her makeup secret was? Using crushed beetles to make her lips fiery red. And she isn’t the only one, even now some cosmetics companies make use of beetles to bring out the ‘natural’ red.
3. Lead, ’cause beauty before health, people
Queen Elizabeth I of England made a makeup called “mask of youth” popular. Guess what it was made of? White lead. Oh, and ancient Roman women used red lead as rouge. And ancient Egyptians used lead in their kohl to adorn their eyes. ‘Lead’ing towards beauty, oh yeah!
4. Animal waste to bring out the inner glow
Crocodile dung had ‘super powers’ that could make one look beautiful apparently. And obviously people in ancient times, like Cleopatra, weren’t afraid to make use of it. Animal urine was also used for the same purpose, and so was cow dung, especially in India. Oh, and Japanese Geishas used to use nightingale poop in facials. No big deal.
5. And the use of animal bile and placenta for a fairer skin
That is the secret of makeup primer of the ancient Roman women. Lovely, isn’t it?
6. Seashells as hair remover
Both Samoans and Egyptians used seashells to remove unwanted hair from their skin. Ancient epilator, it seems.
7. Snail ashes to remove freckles
No Shakira’s song for the ancient Romans. They hated freckles, so much so that they were not grossed out to use ashes of snails to get rid of their freckles. Take lesson, modern human.
8. Sheep fat and blood as nail polish
Want to make your nails look red and shiny? Here is your recipe to do so from the ancient Romans.
9. Belladonna used as eye drop to make pupils bigger
In ancient times, people (in all probability, Greeks) believed that enlarged pupils made people look seductive. So they used Belladonna extensively, because who cares about going blind anyway?
10. Saliva, to keep the makeup ‘natural’
If you were in ancient Rome, and rich, you would have your own female slave called Cosmetae. They would help you with makeup, and even prepare your makeup, with their own saliva, and keep them in pretty jars. So much for prettiness.
11. Tapeworm, to keep you ‘internally’ slim
In Elizabethan era, women swallowed tapeworms as these eat away your nutrition while lying in your tummy. New slimming pill in the market, eh?
So how far can you go to make yourself beautiful?