prepping yourself to look fine in ancient Rome isn't as different to now as you might think beauty back then was as relevant as it is now but what was deemed attractive back then and would you have been a beauty would any of us so while I'm getting ready let's talk about how the Romans would do it among the things that matter to Romans were blusher eyeliner perfume and face masks face masks were big maybe even bigger than they are now but you wouldn't find a charcoal and collagen mask in Rome BC instead crocodile dung was
all the rage if he could afford it and the commonly our belief was that it could permanently lighten your skin and the use of crocodile dung didn't originate in Rome apparently the ancient Egyptians were using crocodile dung in their mud baths way before the Romans cottoned onto the trend let's start with the base the complexion Romans used base makeup like how we use foundation but there's had ingredients like chalk powder and white lid white lid was effective and widely used but it also caused lead poisoning which led to hair loss infertility damage to your central
nervous system and organs and ironically skin damage it's actually lead carbonate a compound and complex salt containing carbonate and hydroxide ions you see lead is absorbed into the body over time and stored in our blood bones tissue and teeth our bodies absorb it like it's calcium although lead has none of the same benefits in fact high concentration of lead in our bodies can lead to lead poisoning which affects the brain and nervous system by breaking down the communications between nerve cells muscles and hormones that calcium usually performs so I think we'll put the lead to
bed I'll stick with setting powder for now so you've got your base done now it's time to get those rosy cheeks blushes and ancient Rome were popular and there was a wide selection available but this wasn't like choosing between cream and powder you had to use wildly different substances what you used to read in your cheeks was based on what you could afford and oddly the more price of your selection the more likely it was to poison you wealthy Roman women applied either Vermillion red to their cheeks a pigment made by breaking down the mineral
cinnabar or they used red led cinnabar is a mineral comprised of toxic mercury sulfide and red LED is also known as lead oxide both of these are poisonous substances and they were known to be at the time but they stayed on trend because they were rare effective and exotic if you were a bit low on money you had other options the non-toxic red ochre was a possibility if you were really strapped for cash however you could always use the dregs of your wine mixed with mulberries I might have to remember that one in the art
of beauty written between 1 BC and 8 ad the poet Ovid wrote I have seen a woman pound up poppies soaked in cold water and rub her cheeks with them so it's all starting to come together we've got our foundation and we've done our cheeks so what's next it's time to frame the windows to the soul eyeliner was a sign of beauty adopted from ancient Egypt the substance widely used was called coal which is a substance made by breaking down coal stone also known as Galena go Galena gag and Galena well this was another lead-based
compound a coal liner like this one is still used today in ancient Egypt Cleopatra and even her servants were wearing eyeliner even the men now for the hair fashionable hairstyles changed often having a complicated hairstyle was popular for the same reason as having pale skin it demonstrated that you had enough time to do your hair coveted styles usually involved a mix of braids knots and ringlets and were held up using ornate pins comprising jewels gold and ivory wealthy Roman women even had their own personal hair jessa but she was a slave called ornatrix her dying
was as common as is today after the conquest of Gaul a country that comprised France Luxembourg Belgium and parts of Germany blonde hair became popular before that darker hair was desired for darker daya's the combination included boiled walnuts charred eggs leeks and leeches this was left to ferment fermented leech juice was nothing compared to what you had to do to dye your hair blonde for that your hair was covered in pigeon poo or doused in urine the ammonia acted as a bleach which made the whole process practical as well as thoroughly disgusting as ever there
was an alternative option for the rich if you were wealthy enough you could literally sprinkle gold into your hair talk about flashing the cash henna a natural dye that is still used today was also an option open to you for darker hues as a citizen of ancient Rome it works by penetrating your hairs cuticles and into the cortex layer where the hairs color is formed since it lasts for a long time this would be the ideal choice for any citizen concerned about hair care men were also concerned about their hair especially if they were losing
it a full head of hair was linked to vitality in his play the twelve Caesars historian described the emperor Domitian as having the despicable of baldness however there was one group in ancient Rome who managed to sidestep this bull training become a philosopher and baldness is no longer a sign of lost vitality but a clear indicator that you have a lot to say and you have dedicated yourself to Rome so you've got the look but have you got the smell perfume was definitely a part of Roman life in fact the term was coined by them
perfume which means through smoke used in worship at temples and at home having a good owner was linked to having good health archaeological evidence supports that it was used throughout the Roman Empire and used a wide array of ingredients including rose water saffron and lilies there were even celebrity brands with the sweat of famous gladiators being scraped off the skin and sold outside arenas so if you wanted to be considered a beauty in ancient Rome you'd better be prepared to satisfy the time you'd need to have a pale unblemished face which was achieved by layering
on creams that would poison you you'd also need to have rosy cheeks by using a blusher that would also poison you and in a shocking twist eyeliner which could also poison you your hair would not only need to be the latest style but also whatever shade is on trend and well if that poisons you something's gone very wrong most importantly you need to put in a lot of work to make it look like you've done barely anything at all sound familiar strictly defined the definition of what's considered beautiful still lingers it is simply morphed into
a different list of desired traits but as the definition so nearly goes Rome and better definitions of beauty were not built in a day you
