(ORDO NEWS) — Think about your personal hygiene or cosmetics and skin care products. Many of the products you use, such as body wash, skin exfoliator, lotion, face masks, and more, serve to make you feel as beautiful as reality allows.
But the human desire for external beauty or a sense of purity is hardly a new trend – it has been around for thousands of years and has its origins in ancient Egypt.
Considering that the heyday of the Egyptian civilization ended just over two thousand years ago, it is safe to say that the hygiene products that we use now were invented in ancient Egypt.
For example, Queen Cleopatra took milk baths to keep her skin healthy and radiant, while now everyone can go to the store and buy a small bottle of serum containing the same hydroxy acids.
However, animal fat was a very important ingredient in everything related to hygiene in the ancient Egyptian world, from hair gels to deodorants – and the ancient Egyptians had some curious recipes for making these products.
The Ancient Egyptians used animal fat as the main ingredient for their cosmetics
In the hellish desert heat, it’s no wonder the ancient Egyptians needed to figure out how to keep their skin healthy – and they found the answer in a seemingly unconventional use of animal fat.
Incorporating animal fat as the main ingredient in various formulations such as ointments, they created cosmetics and perfumes that were used by the lower and upper class Egyptians.
In addition, the ancient Egyptians, who were known to take daily baths and practice strict hygiene, had a variety of hygiene products that they used.
These included deodorants and perfumes, and most were made from a variety of ingredients, including minerals like malachite and galena, substances like honey, and – you guessed it – animal fat.
In addition to skin care, other beauty products used by the ancient Egyptians, such as hair gels, were also made using animal fat.
The Ancient Egyptians was crazy when it comed to their cosmetic creations
Hygiene products such as deodorant have also been known to contain animal by-products. One deodorant recipe created by the ancient Egyptians used ostrich eggs and crushed turtle shells (including the fat from those eggs) mixed with herbal ingredients such as nuts and parts of tamarisk, also known as salt cedar.
Mixed into a cream, it became the ancient Egyptian version of what we today call a natural unscented antiperspirant.
In fact, it can be argued that science as we know it today would not be what it was without the significant contributions of ancient Egyptian civilization.
The knowledge and achievements of the Egyptians created patterns of cleanliness and hygiene in the ancient world – all basic postulates of medicine – and ultimately helped people live healthier lives.
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