My grandma? Oh, she was a knockout! Always put together, even if she was just pottering around at home. Watching her do her beauty routine was like getting front-row seats to a magic show. And oh boy, did she have some tricks up her sleeve!
The one that always gets me laughing is her go-to solution when she was out of blush. “Just tip your head upside down, darling,” she’d say with a twinkle in her eye, “a quick 15 seconds and you’ll have the rosiest cheeks in town!”
You see, beauty tricks and ‘secrets’ aren’t a new fad. Our great-great-great-oh-so-great grandmas were pros at it! Think 17th century and even earlier, and you have beauty routines that are the stuff of legend. Want to lose weight? They had a hack for that! Teeth not quite pearly enough? They knew what to do! Skin not smooth? Lice being a party pooper? They had solutions!
Now brace yourselves, because some of their methods were… um, let’s say ‘interesting’. We’re talking everything from the toxic (yikes to belladonna extracts, lead, and mercury) to the pretty icky (hogs grease, bird droppings and urine – eew!), and then the more ‘oh-okay-that-sounds-normal’ kind like egg whites, vinegar, almond oil, rosewater, and lemon juice.
So, let’s buckle up and take a wild ride through the beauty rituals of yesteryears and see how they stack up against what we’re doing today. Remember, the aim of the game has always been the same – chasing after that fountain of youth and beauty. Ready to time travel? Here we go!
Journey Through the Wrinkle in Time: Face and Skin Care Chronicles
Once upon a time, the ladies crafted a face mask to die for – a concoction of egg white, chalk, lead, and vinegar. It promised a smooth, ethereal glow, but dear me, you couldn’t dare smile. Your skin might crack, and oh, the trifling matter of being poisoned. Meanwhile, urine, yes you heard it right, urine diluted with rosewater, lemon juice, and wine was a popular skin cleanser.
Cut to today, we’re rather fond of our lasers, peels, injectables, and the occasional zaps of electrotherapy.
Pout into the Past: Lip Care Through the Sands of Time
Luscious lips The red pout has been quite the rage for centuries, but who knew it was achieved with vermillion from mercuric sulfide? Its side effects included minor inconveniences like tooth loss, gum disease, and organ failure! Some even rubbed their lips with ear sweat to battle dryness – quite the beauty hack, huh?
Nowadays, our lips are pampered with balms, fillers, and sometimes a nip and tuck.
Glimpse into Yesteryears: Eye Care Across Ages
Eyes ah, the windows to the soul. Back then, ladies loved lining their eyes with malachite, soot, copper and other shiny things. Drops of belladonna were favored to achieve that desirable wide-eyed look. The catch? A bit of blindness.
Fast forward to now, and it’s all about the smoky eyeshadow and precision eyeliner for us.
Face Fashion Through Time’s Mirror
Face fashion beauty patches, or ‘mouches’, were the ‘it’ accessories, disguising smallpox scars and lead damage.
In our modern world, it’s silicone patches to iron out those pesky wrinkles and salicylic acid-infused patches to banish breakouts.
Brow Back to the Future: Eyebrow Trends Across Epochs
Brows from lead and burnt cork to mouse skin (yes, you read that right!) for the black brow look, the ladies of the past had their brow game on point.
Modern times see us turning to microblading, growth serums, and vegetable tints for the perfect arches.
Mane Moments in History: Hair Care Time Machine
Our ancestors had a bit of a hairy situation going on. Lacking the nutrition to grow luscious locks, they resorted to wigs constructed on wooden frames, glued with bear grease and beef lard. Yum!
Today, our hair care routine includes serums, nutritional supplements, and occasional extensions – no grease, lard, or rats involved.
Squeezing into the Past: The Hourglass Figure Frenzy
The quest for that dream figure is a tale as old as time. Once upon a time, women used to squeeze themselves into tight-lacing corsets to get the hourglass figure that was all the rage. I’m not talking about the lace-up, cute kind of corsets we occasionally don as fashion statements today. Nope, these were the ‘take-a-deep-breath-and-pray-you-don’t-faint’ kind. They cinched the waist down to dizzying (and organ-crushing) sizes. It wasn’t just uncomfortable; it was genuinely dangerous and could cause real harm to the internal organs. But all in the name of that petite waist, right?
Zap back to the present, and we’ve swapped corsets for more comfortable, less life-threatening options. Modern shapewear like Spanx and Skims has taken the fashion world by storm, offering a safer way to achieve that desired silhouette. And we haven’t stopped at that. We have gym memberships, fitness apps, a variety of diet plans, and even the latest fat-burning aids like Ozempic and Berberine at our disposal. For those looking for a more instant change, there’s the option of surgical nips and tucks.
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So, here we are, centuries later, chasing after the same beauty standards but with new gadgets and gizmos. But let’s not forget good looks may fade, but a good heart? That, my darlings, is a beauty that time can’t touch. That’s the kind of beauty that never withers and is truly forever.
While we love a good stroll through beauty history, the most important glow-up happens inside. Keep that heart of yours beautiful, and it’ll outshine any beauty trend, every single time.
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For more beauty and skincare tips, check out my other blogsor email me at skinsense@skinsensewellness.com. And for skincare services, please visit us at 8448 W. Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. We will be happy to help you with your skincare needs.
