The secret of the beauty of ancient Egyptian women. In the famous historical novel “Radopis”, the late novelist Naguib Mahfouz describes, in detail and accurately, how the ancient Egyptian woman took great care of her beauty and took great care of her femininity to the point of mastering in creating her clothes, adornment, and perfume, all in wonderful narrative scenes, beauty and influence. Let’s leave the field of fiction and imagination to history, archaeology, and known facts. We will find that the ancient Egyptian women have discovered thousands of years ago the secrets of femininity and pampering, and the arts of adornment and beautification. It is as if she was the first to invent what we now know as the international houses of expertise in fashion and cosmetics.
Also Read: Women’s beauty in Arab
Skincare for ancient Egyptian women:
beauty of ancient Egyptian women
The ancient Egyptians were the owners of one of the oldest civilizations on earth, and women had great freedom and a major role in Egyptian life. She was taking care of her beauty and elegance, as Egyptian women in ancient Egypt used natural ingredients to care for their skin, including soap, natural oils, and perfumes. The two queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra are the best examples of attractiveness and beauty, as each was famous for her clear skin, beautiful hair, and graceful body.
Natural oils to tighten the skin and fight wrinkles: –
Anti-aging treatments are among the treatments that women seek to use, and this endeavor began at the beginning of history with the ancient Egyptian civilization, where Egyptians benefited from the benefits of natural oils such as castor oil, sesame oil, and moringa oil to tighten the skin and remove wrinkles.
These oils nourish the skin and work to tighten the skin and enhance its elasticity with long-term use.
Aloe Vera to cleanse the skin:
beauty of ancient Egyptian women
Cleopatra was not only the most intelligent and powerful Egyptian woman, but also the most beautiful and attractive. It seems that one of the ingredients she used to accompany her in her daily beauty routine was aloe vera, which she used to even out skin tone and remove dirt and pollutants accumulated on the surface of the skin. Today, aloe vera has become one of the natural ingredients that are used in the production of cosmetics for skin care, due to its importance in moisturizing and purifying the skin. It is easy to use before going to bed.
Sea salt to exfoliate the skin:
Sea salt is known for its great benefits for the body, thanks to the fact that it contains an extract of minerals that are able to restore youth to your skin and fight many skin problems. Cleopatra used raw sea salt to get rid of the problem of acne and reduce the proportion of toxins from the surface of the skin, making it effective in fighting bacteria, and giving it smooth and clean skin. Another way to use sea salt is to exfoliate the skin. Cleopatra used to mix ¾ cup of olive oil, ¾ cup of sweet almond oil and a few drops of any essential oil and rubbed her skin and body with it. It removes dead cells, softens the skin and makes it smell fresh.
Avocado to get rid of puffy eyes:
beauty of ancient Egyptian women
Rich in fatty acids and vitamins, avocado masks have always been used to nourish skin and hair. Eating this fruit is also useful from the inside and outside, and if you want to follow the way of Egyptology in ancient Egypt, you can apply avocado puree under the eyes to get rid of puffiness.
Apple cider vinegar for washing the skin:
One of the most used skin care methods in the ancient Egyptian civilization, vinegar was used to wash the skin because it stimulates blood circulation and regulates the acidity of the skin. To make a vinegar wash, you need a bowl of warm water and add a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar to it.
Cosmetics for ancient Egyptian women:
The Egyptian woman also knew face powder, and made it from “talc” stone, by grinding it and collecting its volatile atoms with the vibration of her fan, to get face powder, and she was painting her lips red and it was made of grease with some plants, and she added some “resin” and fats to maintain On the softness of the paint and lips and giving them a distinctive luster, it was applied with a brush or cosmetic spoons. There is a papyrus in the Turin Museum in Italy on which a drawing of an Egyptian woman holds a brush in her hands to define the lips before painting them.
The Pharaonic woman also cared about the softness of her body and was keen to get rid of excess hair with sharp blades made of different metals or very hard stones. Blades made of stone were found in the tomb of the mother of King Khufu kept in leather bags, and some delicate tools were also found. And sponge stones that were used to smooth the heels and clean and trim the nails.
Eyeliner eyes:
1- The Pharaonic woman was the first to use eyeliner in ancient Egypt, more than 10 thousand years ago.
2- Men used heavy black eyeliner, not only women who used it.
3- Kohl had another goal in the past, not just beautifying, expanding and enlarging the shape of the eye. It was used to protect the eye from the sun god, and to prevent the “evil eye.”
4- Kohl has returned to become a fashion since the twenties of the last century, after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, which received extensive media coverage from all over the world, which helped to bring back the fashion of eyeliner.
5- The shape of kohl in the past was different from its developed form now, as it was very dense, heavy and dark black “smoky”, unlike the present one.
6- Liquid eyeliner appeared in 1950, so if you want to return to the shape of the thirties or twenties of the last century, use thick “smoky” eyeliner, not light liquid.
7- Liquid eyeliner causes vision problems, which was confirmed by a medical study published in the “Eye and Contact Lenses” magazine, which revealed that applying liquid eyeliner moves inside the eye and harms it and causes blurred vision.
8- The men returned to applying kohl again, as in the past, as a British study found that one in 10 men in Britain wears kohl.
Decorations:
The drawings engraved on the walls of pharaonic monuments and tombs and inscribed on the papyri indicate the extent of the development of the adornment tools of the ancient Egyptian women.
Pharaonic women knew how to paint lips using a special brush. As the woman knew in ancient Egypt “hair dye,” and the first materials she used were: henna, and she used it in cosmetics, starting from hair dye, to nail polish, and seeking blessings with it to paint the paws and feet. The ancient woman also used dyes extracted from pomegranate peel and turmeric; To dye the hair yellow, pink, and even green: it appeared in the wig of one of the princesses of the modern state, and its color was taken from a mixture of indigo and safflower. As for the brown color that is close to the color of natural Egyptian hair: they extracted it from the mimosa plant. Extracted from acacia hair seeds and alum powder.
Ancient Egypt knew the profession of hairdressing, and the hairdresser was called (Nasht), whose task is to prepare hairdos, groom and clean hair.
The Egyptian antiquities are full of many statues and drawings of Pharaonic women with different hairstyles, which we know today as kare, punk, curly, graduated, short, and braided hair.
The pharaonic woman changed her hairstyle from time to time. It also knew a variety of hairspray from resin materials and animal fats, in addition to the beautiful metal fixatives.
The Pharaonic woman overcame her hair problems in a scientific way, so she got rid of the problems of curly hair by using a group of natural oils, including: castor oil, and olive oil with iron ore added to it; In order to give the hair softness and luster, this compound is currently known as (parmentate).
To moisturize and nourish her hair:
She used herbs and animal materials, such as: henna, sandalwood, musk, and amber, and made pastes that were spread over her hair, increasing its vitality and softness.
Beauty of ancient Egyptian women