Black teeth and crocodile dung cosmetics: 6 weirdest beauty practices of antiquity

People at all times strived for beauty. Since antiquityPower C. Cosmetics, identity and consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies there are various beauty practices designed to make a person more attractive. For example, in China, Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and Rome thousands of years ago they already used the predecessors of modern lipsticks, powders, eye shadows and face masks.

But these practices were often very specific, or even completely dangerous. Let's talk about some of them.

1. Blackening of teeth

In modern society, snow-white is appreciated - up to an unnatural color - teeth. They act not only as an indicator of health, cleanliness and neatness of a person, but can also demonstrate the level of his material wealth. However, white teeth were not always held in high esteem.

Thus, representatives of a number of peoples of Southeast Asia, both Americas, as well as Japan (ohaguro) and India preferredZumbroich T.J. Teeth as black as a bumble bee's wings: The ethnobotany of teeth blackening in Southeast Asia. Ethnobotany Research & Applications

teeth are black. And they even specially painted them. The ritual that appeared, according to some calculations, about 4,500 thousand years ago, in some communities still exists.

The dyeing was done with one-component or complex natural dyes, usually during puberty. Black teeth symbolized maturity, beauty - it was believed that they distinguished a person from an animal.

Teeth had to be tinted constantly, and some dyes had a very specific odor (for example, iron acetate). But despite this, oddly enough, the custom had a positive effect on the health and strength of the teeth.

2. Bandaging the legs

In contrast to the rather harmless blackening of teeth, the practice of bandaging the feet from China was painful and harmful. Her appearance is attributedFoot-Binding. World History Encyclopedia by the beginning of the 10th century AD and is associated with the name of Yao Niang, the court dancer of the Emperor Li Yu. Dancing on tiptoe inside a golden lotus, she, according to legend, charmed the ruler.

The essence of the practice was that girls from an early age were pulledCummings S.R., Ling X., Stone K. Consequences of foot binding among older women in Beijing, China. American journal of public health the feet with cloth tapes, breaking their arch and toes. Needless to say, the procedure was extremely painful. Deforming, over time, the legs became more like a brush collected in a pinch.

This allowed already adult women to wear small shoes - as if removed from a child or a doll. Tiny feet with a length of 7.5-10 cm in Chinese culture were consideredFoot-Binding. World History Encyclopedia a symbol of female beauty and aristocracy. The smaller the leg was, the more chances the woman had go out marry the most eligible groom.

Fashion for small legs in China is sometimes compared to the general passion of European women in the Victorian era for a thin waist. With the help of corsets, they tightened the body so that they could hardly breathe, and as a result, they deformed their ribs and pelvis.

Bandaged legs, which the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire called "golden lotuses", were sometimes made of disabled girls, as they lostCummings S.R., Ling X., Stone K. Consequences of foot binding among older women in Beijing, China. American journal of public health the ability to walk independently. It was even considered a special indicator of femininity. Those who still could move had to do it in a special way - in small, quick steps. Often, women could not walk without a cane.

There were other consequences of bandaging: ingrown nails into fingers, the occurrence of infections, circulatory disorders, the development of osteoporosis and an increased risk of fractures from falls.

Bandaging persisted, especially in the aristocratic environment, until the 20th century. The last factory to make shoes for women with deformed legs closedForeman A. Why Footbinding Persisted in China for a Millennium. Smithsonian Magazine in 1999. And elderly women with "lotus legs" can be found in China to this day.

3. Lip staining with dyes with mercury

The fashion for red lips has been around for thousands of years. True, this result was not achieved in the safest ways.

So, everyone knows that breaking the mercury thermometer not worth it, because mercury is a very hazardous metal. Contact with her is harmfulMercury and health. WHO for the nervous, digestive, immune systems, kidneys, lungs and eyes. At the same time, mercury retains its toxic effect in any form.

But the ancient people did not know this. Therefore, they actively poisoned themselves.

The mercury-containing mineral cinnabar, due to its bright scarlet color, was part ofSchaffer S. Reading Our Lips: The History of Lipstick Regulation in Western Seats of Power. 2006 lip dye used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Mercury was used to create cosmetics and in its pure form.

But do not think that only ancient women of fashion abused dangerous cosmetics. Harmful cosmetics, including those containing mercury, were usedGoodman R. How to be a Victorian. Penguin UK. 2013 women until the Victorian era (second half of the 19th century).

4. Using lead cosmetics

Lead is an extremely harmful metal. WHO warns Lead poisoning and health. WHOthat it accumulates in the body, can be transmitted from mother to child when pregnancy and has a catastrophic impact on the intellectual development of children.

Getting into bones, teeth, brain and other internal organs, lead destroys them. Nevertheless, for many years it has been used in everyday life, including for the creation of cosmetics.

It is believed that the Sumerian queen Shub-ad four and a half millennia ago was one of the first to useSchaffer S. Reading Our Lips: The History of Lipstick Regulation in Western Seats of Power. 2006 cosmetics that contain white lead. Dyes based on it were used both to give red lips and pallor to the face. Lead cosmetics gradually spread to Assyria and Egypt, and then cameTapsoba I., Arbault S., Walter P., Amatore C. Finding Out Egyptian Gods' Secret Using Analytical Chemistry: Biomedical Properties of Egyptian Black Makeup Revealed by Amperometry at Single Cells. Analytical Chemistry to Greece and Rome.

Despite the fact that Roman women, due to climatic factors, did not differ in whiteness of their skin, she wasOlson K. Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-presentation and Society. Routledge. 2008 one of the main standards beauty.

Therefore, whitewash, mainly lead, was very popular.

And the Romans were not stopped by warnings that this chemical element could be poisonous. I wrote about itHodge A. Vitruvius, Lead Pipes and Lead Poisoning. American Journal of Archeology also the Roman architect Vitruvius. Perhaps practicality played a role: the lead white lay down in a thin layer and adhered well to the skin.

The fashion for this tool returned in the Renaissance (XVI-XVI centuries). Their famous lover wasElizabeth I: the monarch behind the mask. HistoryExtra Queen of England Elizabeth I. In particular, with the help of whitewash, she hid pock marks on my face.

Using this tool resulted inEldridge L. Face Paint: The Story of Makeup. Abrams. 2015 to hair loss, damage to the lungs, weakening of tooth enamel, the appearance of dark spots on the skin and death with intensive use. However, they also remained in use until the 19th century.

Dangerous white was popular not only in the West. The white color of the faces of Japanese geisha and kabuki theater actors (oshiroi makeup) was also achieved with their help.

5. Facial treatment with placenta, sweat and animal feces

Ancient women also strove to keep their facial skin young and healthy. Therefore, special masks, consisting of the most unusual ingredients, were popular.

Their composition could includePliny. Natural History. Book XXVIII. 183. London. 1938 deer horn, placenta, feces and entrails of animals, human salivaSchaffer S. Reading Our Lips: The History of Lipstick Regulation in Western Seats of Power. 2006, sulfur and vinegar. One of the most non-trivial tools was fucatus crocodili - excrementOlson K. Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-presentation and Society. Routledge. 2008 crocodiles. The droppings of these reptiles were believed to make the skin pale, but it was also used to create blush.

Another ancient recipe suggested Publius Ovid Nazon. Science of love. III. 193. Collected Works. Vol. 1. SPb. 1994 the use of sweat squeezed out of sheep's wool. The smell of such a mask was appropriate.

It is not surprising that perfumes were very popular among the Romans: they had to fight amber from such cosmetics.

Interestingly, cosmetics made from organic matter were not only vile and strange, but sometimes deadly. Egyptians, for example, didJohnson R. What’s That Stuff? Lipstick. Chemical & Engineering News lipstick and blush from seaweed containing reddish-purple dye fucus-algin, iodine and bromine mannitol. This mixture was poisonous.

6. Poisonous belladonna drops for pupil dilation

Another dangerous practice of the ancient beauties was the use of drops of belladonna juice.

Belladonna (Atropa belladonna, aka belladonna) is a poisonous perennial plant, also known as the deadly nightshade, is extremely toxicUlbricht C., Basch E., Hammerness P., Vora M., Wylie Jr J., Woods J. An evidence ‑ based systematic review of belladonna by the natural standard research collaboration. Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy. Its name is translated from Italian as "beautiful woman".

It is believed that one of the first to such a remedy was Cleopatra, who used an extract of the Egyptian henbane, akin to the belladonna.

Then the women of Ancient Greece and Rome usedHofmann A., Schultes R.E. Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use. New York: Van der Marck Editions. 1987 drops of belladonna for "fiery gaze" during holidays (bacchanalia) in honor of the god Dionysus (Bacchus).

At the same time, the same Greeks and Romans knew very well how poisonous this plant is. So, according to rumors, Empress Livia Drusilla poisoned with the juice of belladonna berries Tacitus. Annals. Works in two volumes. T.I. M. 1993 her husband, Emperor Octavian Augustus.

But the most popular drops of belladonna acquired already in the Renaissance. Ladies from Italy, where the popular and still name of belladonna came from, buried in the pursuit of beautyHofmann A., Schultes R.E. Plants of the Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use. New York: Van der Marck Editions. 1987 the juice of her berries in my eyes. The insanity substances in this remedy dilated the pupils and made the eyes shine.

This practice caused visual distortions among fashionistas, impaired concentration of vision, increased heart rate, and, with prolonged use, possibly led to blindness.