Bizarre Beauty Trends: 10 Weird Skincare Routine In History

Looking pale is an indication of beauty and wealth during Victorian times, and arsenic was the method to achieve that. At that time, women would fully submerge themselves in arsenic to get pale white skin. This arsenic bath gave them a pale glow just the way they want, along with some negative impacts. Bathing in arsenic poisons the person, and that did not end up pretty for long. On top of that, people would also eat arsenic to clear their skin in the 1900s which was even worse. Back then. People would eat Arsenic Complexion Wafters to get rid of blackheads and pimples from their faces and to remove rough skin. It seemed to work, but just like bathing in arsenic, it also poisoned them.

We all know that camel is the car of the desert, but people use them more than a ride. To increase the shine, women in ancient Arabia dipped their hair in camel’s urine. More than that, this hair hack also made their hair grow faster with a soft touch as well. If you wonder how Ancient Arabian women had such beautiful shiny hair, this was probably why. Surprisingly, there have been people who actually tried it so you can look them up to see their results. It is probably one of the weirdest hair hack secrets, but it made them very sick.

It is so easy to create blush on our cheeks these days, but it was more complicated than before. For example, Ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti made her own natural blush using clay and crushed beetles. The combination of the sticky substance of clay and the natural red color from the beetles made things work. It was actually a trend back then since women during that time followed the method to create blush.

Back in the old days, the people of Ancient Greece and Rome used crocodile dung as their daily skincare products. They believed that crocodile dung had anti-aging properties to their skin that makes them look beautiful and younger. So they would soak in crocodile dung in baths or use it as a face mask. Sometimes they also mixed crocodile excrement with mud for anti-aging facials or relaxing baths.

Lead is one of the dangerous substances that can cause many health problems upon high levels of exposure. Nevertheless, people from different cultures still used lead as one of the daily products in their weird skincare routine. Ancient Greek men and women covered their faces in lead to get the pale and super white skin. This was the sign of beauty and status in many cultures back in the day, and that was the fastest way. Things were similar with the Ancient Romans who also valued pale and white skin. They would lead on their faces and skin along with other products like crocodile dung and white marl.

While crocodile dung helps to make people’s skin glow, nightingale dung has a different effect and property. Geishas, traditional female Japanese performance artists and entertainers, used nightingale dung as their makeup remover. The thing is that bird poop contains “guanine” which is a natural skin cleanser, making it a great makeup remover. Because geishas apply very thick makeup, this method was a natural alternative that did not harm their skin. At the same time, nightingale dung was also a purifying facial mask that the geishas used back then. Definitely one of the weird skincare routines that people did in the old days.

You will not like what you are going to read about this bizarre and weird skincare routine in England here. A person who suffered acne beheaded two newborn puppies and then hung them upside-down by the heels to collect their blood. Once the blood filled the bowl, the person would mix it with white wine and apply it to the pimples. No one knows who actually invented this macabre skincare method, but it was quite common back then. Like who would want the blood from puppies just to remove pimples, right?

When it comes to a weird skincare routine, snake venom peptide has to be one of them. You wouldn’t believe that people would use snake venom peptide as botox back in the old days. That’s right, this is because venom reduces facial wrinkles so people would use it to stay young. Another interesting thing is that you can also find an alternative to that which is snake venom cream. It contains high peptide venom content that makes your skin regenerate and look younger. Some sources also claim that this unique skincare routine also freezes wrinkles and reveals younger-looking skin. The products are available online, and the decision is yours to make.

Camel pee was not the only remedy that people used in their skincare routine. Some also used human and other animal urine to treat their skin or to cure most medical ailments as well. The Incans would use urine as a form of anti-dandruff shampoo due to the “urea” found in urine. This is not the weird part, they would let their urine ferment for over a week before washing off. Since Head & Shoulders was not available back then, it was only fair for people to be creative.

If you thought that using urine as shampoo was bad, then you haven’t seen the extreme part yet. Ancient Roman women would often use urine as a mouthwash to make their breath smell better. Sometimes they would also brush their teeth with urine because of the presence of ammonia, a natural cleaning agent. And guess what, Portuguese urine was so popular that Emperor Nero had to place a tax on it. Colgate and Listerine who now?

People used so many methods to achieve the pale look, the sign of nobility and wealth in people, especially women. Apart from staying away from the sun, people used zinc oxide which is a white powder that is insoluble in water. They press the powder into their face, simply to bleach and maintain their face tones. With this substance, they wouldn’t need to apply heavy makeup at all. The pale skin that they got from zinc oxide also gave them the natural pale look on their skin. All they needed to add was some subtle blush, and that was it.

Zinc oxide is still used today in baby powders, diaper rush creams, sunscreen, and more. Using it in a controlled amount is okay, but pressing a large amount of them into the skin is not. It can cause metal fume fever, a flu-like illness with symptoms of a metallic taste in the mouth, when inhaled. In serious cases, other symptoms like aches, chest tightness, cough, headaches, and fevers will also appear.

Bonus: The Middle Ages

I would say The Middle Ages were a very weird time in history, and they also had weird skincare routines. Besides following the traits of eyebrow-less, high foreheads, and long necks, the way they maintained their beauty was also bizarre. Noted that the outbreaks of smallpox and other diseases were very widespread back in those days. So women in the Middle Ages really valued clear and unblemished white skin. Women would use bull blood as face masks or amethyst gems and hog grease to get rid of pimples. They believed that the natural elements in the things that they used helped them to maintain clear and white skin.

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