Before the advent of modern moisturizers , the great unwashed came up with a set of creative ( and often horrify ) ways to weaken their skin . Here are some of the strangest thing people have ever slathered on in the quest for smoothness .
Coal Tar Residue
There ’s nothing like a sprint of carcinogens to spice up your skin tending act . In 2011 , researchersexamineda cosmetic flask they believe belonged to the distaff Egyptian pharaohHatshepsut . Inside , they found ghost of harmless moisturizers like ribbon and nutmeg oils . But the ampule also contained the residue of an redolent yet pernicious chemical call benzo(a)pyrene , one of the most dangerous carcinogens in cigaret smoke and a by-product of burning coal tar . Repeated program of the substance , which can be absorb through the skin , “ has been establish to induce skin tumors in guinea squealer , rabbits , rats , and mice,”according to the EPA . Researchers believe Hatshepsut died of Crab in 1458 BCE . They say it ’s possible her unsafe skin emollient played a role .
Chicken Blood
citizenry in ancient China cook up a number of skin - break concoction . One strange recipecalled fordried peach blossoms and the blood of a black wimp . Mashed into a paste and applied as a case mask , this gruesome variety supposedly nourished and lighten up the skin . It was reportedly a favored beauty intervention of Princess Taiping , who lived during the Tang and Zhou Dynasties in the mid 7th and early 8th centuries CE .
Crocodile Dung
Elegant peeress inancient Romekept their face looking wise with a few pat of crocodilepoop . “ exquisite women extremely prize the muck of land crocodiles,”wrote Galen , a 3rd C CE Romanist physician and philosopher . “ For such women it is not enough that there are countless other cosmetic by which their typeface are made unruffled and shiny . ”
Bread and Milk
Some women inancient Greecerelaxed before bedtime with a facial of mashed wampum and milk , which was think to keep the skin cushy and youthful . Many Roman woman also made face masks from dinero crumbs soaked in milk . Sometimes theyleft the masks onall daylight , and only washed them off if they had to run an errand .
Wine Dregs
When they were n’t pamper in cabbage crumb human face mask , some womanhood in ancient Rome enshroud their skin in the settlings ofwine VAT . They believed this fermented goo made their skin smooth .
Mercury
A 19th - centuryBritish encyclopediaof medicinal remediation contains a recipe for a skin ointment shout out Gowland ’s program , intended as a “ beautifier of the skin color . ” The recipe call for crushed almonds , water , and powdered “ corrosive sublimate”—also known as mercurous chloride , thevery poisonouschemical compound of mercury and chloride . It seems the encyclopedia ’s author , Arnold James Cooley , was somewhat aware of this program ’s toxicity ; he did n’t recommend leaving it on the skin for too long . “ It is apply by wetting the tegument with it , either by mean value of the corner of a napkin or the fingers dipped into it , ” he explained . “ It is then mildly wiped off with a dry cloth . ”
Honey
Hippocrates , the ancient Hellenic Dr. known as the father of modernmedicine , swore by the humidify powers of honey . He claimed it “ assures a new and jovial look ” when applied to the case . He was n’t the only one slapping on the sticky nub ; at the meter , honey was a popular moisturizer and exfoliator throughout the Mediterranean region .
Animal Fat
In 2003 , archaeologistsunearthed a canisterof white skin cream at an ancient Roman temple in Southwark , London . Incredibly , the ointment inside was still besotted , and it turn out the fingerprints of the person who had used it during the 2nd one C CE . A chemic analysis of the cream unveil that it in the main consisted of beast fat from either cattle or sheep . Once they have sex the chemical breakdown of the emollient , a team of scientists at the University of Bristol whip up a new quite a little of the moisturizer to try for themselves . “ This cream had a pleasant texture when rub into the skin , ” theynoted .
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A rendering of this story was published in 2016 ; it has been updated for 2025 .
