COMPLEXIONS- “SKIN WHITE AS SNOW & CHEEKS ROSY AS BLOOD”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mosaic showing Roman women in various recreational activities. Courtesy of WikiCommons & Disdero.<\/p><\/div>\n WHY<\/span>: Romans enjoyed the look of fairer skin due to its association to the “non-working” high class. Furthermore, rosy cheeks were a sign of healthiness and vitality.<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED:<\/span> (SKIN)\u00a0chalk powder, white marl and white lead( which was poisonous).<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED:<\/span> (CHEEKS) poppy and rose petals, red chalk, crocodile dung<\/span>, mulberry juice, wine dregs, cinnabar and red lead (these two were poisonous!).<\/p>\n SKINCARE METHODS-:<\/span>Ancient Romans had a vast number of creams and lotion to help fight and hide wrinkles, pimples, sun spots, freckles and flaking. These include: masks of lentels, barley, lupine, honey, sulphur, vinegar, goose grease, basil juice, placenta and even excrements of\u00a0 the kingfisher or calves! Pimples were cured with a mixture of barley flour and butter; while, sun spots were treated with the ashes of snails (Slimy goodness?). Historically speaking, a famous method used was the process of bathing in asses\u2019 milk which worked like a chemical peel and was used by such as historic figures as\u00a0Cleopatra VII and Poppaea Sabina.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n EYES: “BIGGER IS BETTER”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Portrait of the baker Terentius Neo with his wife found on the wall of a Pompeii house (LOOK TO THE WIFE’S EYES) Courtesy of Wikicommons & Anonimiski<\/p><\/div>\n WHY:<\/span> Romans liked large eyes with long eyelashes and eyebrows that almost met (unibrows).<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED:<\/span> (EYEBROWS)\u00a0They would darken eyebrows with antimony or soot.<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED:<\/span> (EYES) On the eyes, they would apply kohl. \u00a0The kohl was applied with a glass, ivory, wood or bone sticks that had to be dipped into either water or oil before putting them on the eyes ( I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to put glass or bone near my eyes for any reason!).<\/p>\n LIPS, NAILS, TEETH- ” NOTHING TOO BIG, WEIRDLY SHAPED, or DISCOLORED!”<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Fingernails before and after application of red nail polish. Courtesy of Wikicommons & Deerstop & Zitona<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n WHY:<\/span> Romans enjoyed having their partners looking natural, but the best they could. No one would want someone with hideous long creepy curly nails, nor someone with scared lips, and lastly not someone with black pointy teeth. It is not an unreasonable societal ideal, because it still exists today.<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED<\/span> (LIPS): Unfortunately there no such evidence has materialized to indicate that the Romans ever colored their lips, but it is not a far off speculation that if cheeks were given a rosy color that lips weren’t. Then again, I imagine most of what they were applying to their cheeks would have not tasted good on their lips.<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED<\/span> (NAILS):\u00a0The mixture in which\u00a0is thought to have been applied to nails is\u00a0red dye (imported from an Indian insect). Also, a mixture made with sheep fat and blood was used.<\/p>\n HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED<\/span> (TEETH): White teeth were prized by the Romans, and so false teeth, made from bone, ivory and paste, were popular items. One way to whiten teeth was to use powder like hartshorn, which had ammonia bleaching properties. Also,\u00a0they used human urine as a mouthwash and teeth whitening substance,\u00a0which also had ammonia and was used in laundering. Human urine became so valuable that the emperor Nero ( and later emperors) even placed a taxes on it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Mosaic](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/07\/800px-Casale_Bikini.jpg\")
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