Some of the most beautiful images of women that we admire today actually come from the ancients. Besides the beauty of the mystical pyramids and the majestic Sphinx, Ancient Egypt has to its credit one more beauty, Cleopatra, the beauty for whom wars were fought.
It probably comes as no surprise that Cleopatra had her own, special beauty routines and as history describes, she was quite the beauty enthusiast. Let's take a look at what kept this beauty beautiful over 5,000 years.
Cleopatra was known for her flawless skin. History tells us that she bathed frequently in a milk, honey, and olive oil mixture with rose petals floating all around her. All of these ingredients are still very commonly found in facial and body treatments done in some of the finest spas in the world.
Something Cleopatra did that is more than a bit out of the ordinary was a paste mixture of donkey's milk and crocodile dung that she applied to her face. She used this paste as a facial mask. This mask gave her that fresh, young, and glowing skin. I’m not sure that this is one I’ll be trying anytime soon!
Her beautiful blood red lips and rosy cheeks were due to the natural pigment Red Ochre. The ochre was ground finely and mixed with water then applied with a brush to the lips and face.
Cleopatra may have been the first to dawn those beautiful "cat eyes" that many of us struggle with today. The black used to achieve her dramatic effect was actually Kohl. Since Kohl does contain lead, Egyptians processed and filtered the Kohl for up to 30 days before using the product on the eyes. (How did they know back then that lead was bad?)
It’s really amazing to me how much of today’s image of beauty is derived from the beauty of women from so long ago.
