Infographic: The History of Skincare

2 Comments

1. Its interesting to see the skin care techniques used throughout history.

2. Taking care of skin has been viewed throughout history as compliment to beauty and hygiene since the Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Greece times.

   The Egyptians’ concern for beauty attracted attention of many for thousands of years. A big part of the Egyptians’ culture was dedicated to beauty and cleanliness through skin care.

   Cleopatra is well-known for her anti-aging methods and skin care regimen, including bathing in sour milk, high in lactic acid, which turns out to be quite favourable for skin exfoliation.

   Egyptians were very conscious of body odours and believed, in order to be healthy, attractive and protected from evil, you must be clean.
   In Ancient Greece, athletes used to bath in olive oil and dust their bodies in fine sand to regulate body temperature and in this way make the skin more resistant to heat an to the sun rays, in other words, to prevent skin from sun burns and aging.

   Men and women applied honey to moisturize and olive oil to protect their health and appearance.

   In the times of Ancient Rome, hair removal hair removal was very popular among men (that didn’t always include facial hair). The Romans introduced methods of shaving, plucking and even use of “early” depilatory creams.

   The Romans regarded cleanliness and smooth skin as a major constituent of being beautiful, which not only meant caring about the body hygiene, but skin surface, free from hair.

   Note though, that in some ancient cultures body hair was viewed as beautiful and feminine.

   As the Romans dwelled in a water-rich area, they happen to take lots of baths, using soaps to cleanse and lather the skin.

   After removing the oil and grime from their bodies, they used to apply scented oils to finish the cleansing process.

   The evolution of skin care through the ages, cultures and traditions doesn’t stop its pace in our modern times. It is constantly introducing and developing new products and technologies to satisfy that eternal desire for perfect beauty and everlasting youth look.

   Along with the knowledge on beauty kept from ancestors, new generations bring new concepts for taking care of the skin and protecting it from aging.

   If we look back, we will find that the most readily available natural gifts like fruits, vegetables, dairy products and fats, have been ancient secret ingredients of hygiene maintenance, sun protection and anti-aging treatments.

   Who hasn’t heard of such quick natural fixes as: cucumbers on the eyes or egg whites for the hair? Now we find these”ancient”ingredients in the “latest” lotions, cleanses, skin care products.