We have to admit that being pretty is not easy, especially when people have high expectations from you. In fact, you have to do a lot of things, and stick to different rituals and habits to stay as beautiful as possible – and the most beautiful women in history agree with that. They had to resort to various beauty tricks to be so, as they weren’t born pretty.
However, some of these beautiful ladies took things too seriously and even opted for strange and sometimes ridiculous rituals, such as bathing in donkey milk or wine and wearing too much toxic makeup.
Women in our history who have managed to stand out for their beauty have resorted to various tricks to highlight their features. Unfortunately, in those eras, there were no plastic surgeries to help them improve their appearance, so they used various rituals to be more beautiful, some of which were even disgusting.
But let’s find out together! Here are some strange beauty secrets of history’s most beautiful women. Read on to find out more!
Empress Elisabeth
Secret beauty ritual: a face mask lined with raw veal
According to historians, Empress Elisabeth of Austria was the most beautiful woman on earth in the 19th century. She was adored by every European individual because she looked gorgeous and had beautiful skin and amazing long hair.
However, she made a huge effort to keep her beauty on fleek, namely that she crushed strawberries over the skin, bathed in olive oil, and used a face mask lined with raw veal. Her favorite food was pressed extract of chicken and beef and then she wore a tight corset around her waist (which measured about 49.5 centimeters / 19.5 in). She used to arrange her hair in different braids that usually took her three hours to take them off. As I said before, she had long hair which sometimes caused her headaches because it was too heavy.
Cleopatra
Secret beauty ritual: bathing in donkey milk, lipstick made out of mashed up beetle guts, and crocodile dung eye mask
Cleopatra was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt and after her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire. Cleopatra was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world because she managed to conquer the hearts of the most powerful men in history. However, according to some historians, she had a rather charming personality, but the features of her face were not so beautiful.
So, in order to maintain her beauty, Cleopatra took advantage of a lot of beauty tricks, such as bathing in donkey milk for smoother skin, wearing a lipstick made out of beetle guts, and to prevent wrinkles she used an eye mask made of crocodile dung. Her servants had to milk hundreds of donkeys every day to get enough milk to fill a tub.
Nefertiti
Secret beauty ritual: makeup made of toxic substances
Neferneferuaten Nefertiti was one of the most beautiful queens of Ancient Egypt who helped create a religious revolution in which they worshiped just one god, Aten. She also played an important role in improving the Ancient Egyptian livelihoods.
In addition, many people don’t know this, but Nefertiti was completely hairless. So, she used a wig to cover her head and painted her eyes black with a toxic substance called kohl. She also used a lipstick made of bromine mannite – another toxic chemical that contributed to her death. Nonetheless, Nefertiti has been considered one of the most beautiful women in our history and many girls around the world still try to imitate her style.
Queen Elizabeth I
Secret beauty ritual: “Venetian ceruse” to make her skin look porcelain white
Elizabeth I was the queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603. She was a very tolerant queen and her motto was “I see, but say nothing”. She was also known as the Virgin Queen and when she grew up she became celebrated for her virginity. Some historians said that she had a charming personality, making her one of the most beautiful women in history.
However, just like Nefertiti, Queen Elizabeth I exaggerated her features with toxic chemicals on her skin. She often used “Venetian ceruse”, which was a mixture of lead and vinegar. In general, this substance has helped to whiten the skin, making it look like porcelain.
When she turned 29, she contracted smallpox which left scars all over her skin. She couldn’t stand the idea of letting people see her skin imperfections, so she used a lot of Venetian ceruse to cover her scars. She definitely looked more beautiful with that kind of makeup, but no one would have recognized her without that paint.
Marie Antoinette
Secret beauty ritual: a face mask made of cognac, eggs, powdered milk, and lemon, colored veins, plus stewed pigeon water
Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was very popular at the time and everybody considered her a unique beauty. Even though she was beautiful, it seems that the results of her schooling were not so good. For example, when she was 10 years old, she couldn’t write correctly.
Nevertheless, she was very concerned about her beauty routine, namely that she couldn’t go to bed without a face mask made of cognac, eggs, powdered milk, and lemon and her special face cleanser made out of pigeon. And that’s not all! At that time, thin women were considered beautiful, so those who weren’t that skinny tried to create the illusion of a thinner body by coloring their veins with a blue pencil (in general, skinny people have pronounced veins).
Mary, Queen Of Scots
Secret beauty ritual: bathing in wine
Mary, Queen Of Scots, also known as Mary I Scotland, reigned over Scotland from 1542 to 1567. This charming queen was only six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne. Unfortunately, Mary wasn’t satisfied with her physical appearance and had a lot of complexes. Her nose was a little too big and her chin was pronounced.
Because she lived in an era where there were no plastic surgeries, she had to opt for other beauty tricks to compensate for the lack of beauty. So, she believed that wine baths will make her skin smoother – which is actually true because this ritual is still promoted nowadays and is called vinotherapy.