In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the taste for this subject was greater in Europe and the United States, since then, more and more objects and traces of what day by day, aesthetics and beauty have been found in ancient Egypt. It should be noted that not only was it an art reserved for women, but also men had a taste for aesthetics. Objects used for the funeral were found, as well as engravings, reliefs and paintings on the walls of the pyramids and tombs.
All this has allowed Egyptian archaeologists and experts (called “Egyptologists”) to come in contact with a lot of information about the beauty routine of the Egyptians, their extensive use of items for these purposes in the region around the Nile.
- Two papyrus.
- In turn.
- Hearst and Ebers.
- Have been found.
- Revealing many recipes for beautification and skin care.
- In the sense that Egyptians believed in the existence of a very close relationship between cosmetics.
- Health and beauty.
As for the hygiene conditions in ancient Egypt, they were very similar to those of today’s Egypt, due to the high temperatures and dry desert climate, which can change the night out of nowhere. You have to imagine what it was like to live in that place. time, thousands of years ago, to understand a little about your lifestyle, so it was necessary to treat the skin with the bath, a fundamental activity that was repeated several times a day.
People have bathed in the Nile or its canals, using clay to remove dirt. The court or royal family had more resources and had special rooms for the bathroom, frequented by their servants. They did not use clay like the others, but a kind of soap, which was created with a mixture of fat, salt and ash. To maintain oral hygiene, rinse with water and natron.
After leaving the body clean, they applied several creams to keep the skin beautiful, one of the most used recipes was the mixture of 1 part alabaster powder, 1 part natron, 1 part sea salt and a part honey (as indicated in ebers papyrus); there were also anti-wrinkle creams that were applied daily, consisting of wax, moringa oil, incense and juncus (including papyrus).
To prevent the skin from dry out and also to protect it from the sun and wind, oily creams, obtained from beef or goose fat, as well as vegetable oils such as sesame, flax, castor or almonds were used.
The hair was waxed for hygiene, and not so much beauty, to prevent the appearance of parasites, for hair removal they used flint blades (after iron) and tweezers, in addition they had a depraved cream consisting of a comb, a sicomoro, a cucumber, cooked bird bones and fly droppings. First it boils and then lets it cool a little so that it spreads over the skin.
The Egyptians focused on preventing odors, using a mixture of quail eggs, resin and turtle shells.
Hair was a symbol of distinction, that is why it received more care than any other part of the body, against baldness they used vegetable oil and fat in equal parts, to dye or hide gray hair they used various dyes with bull’s blood and henna, women Egyptians used ivory, wood and bone combs and clips for daily brushing and hair beautification, which were found in quantity inside the tombs, wigs of plant fibers and human hair flavored with date oil have also been found, much appreciated in the desert.
Almost as much as hair, the eyes were treated with dedication by Egyptians, women and men, not only for aesthetics, but to protect regional climatic conditions, excess light and sun, sandstorms and wind, which could generate diseases and infections.
The makeup was insect repellent and insect repellent for women, there were two types: Udju, from Lower Egypt, with green malachite and Mesdemet, from Upper Egypt, created with the Aswan Galéne, which although it was a necessity, then became a symbol of refinement, for the beauty of this region was linked to perfection, as well as to the cult of the eternal; they were all very attentive to their cleanliness to guarantee their lives in the afterlife, where the bodies remained unchanged.