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CLEANLINESS
SKIN CARE
COSMETICS
ORAL CARE & DENTISTRY
HAIR CARE
HAIRSTYLES
BODY HAIR
FEMININE HYGIENE
GENERAL HEALTHCARE
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Skincare
for the Medieval Woman
SKINCARE
- HERBAL REMEDIES FOR CLEAR SKIN
Skincare
By the 12th century, cosmetics appeared to be in use in medieval
Europe. Because of the nature of their ingredients, cosmetics and many
skin care preparations were dispensed by apocatharies and doctors. A late
13th century treatise from France, "L'Ornament des Dames"
includes information on hair colouring as well as long-favoured facial
enhancements. Aldobrandino of Siena produced a work "Regime du
Corps" which included advice on skincare.
Smooth white skin was highly regarded in the
medieval period as the most beautiful of all kinds. Paleness indicated
a woman of superior breeding and the tanned look that many associate with
health today was associated with outdoor work and therefore a low birth.
Women were often called "fair" regardless of their actual skin
colouring because of their smooth, unblemished skin: thus a woman with
olive Italian heritage and a woman of pale English heritage could both
accurately be described as "fair" although their skin tones
were not similar in the least. Clear skin was particularly held in high
esteem because frequent smallpox epidemics left many of the population
with unattractive pockmarks.
Shown above is a painting dated 1350s, Memmi's
"Madonna Of The Recommended" which shows the desired
ideas of beauty.
Herbal
remedies for clear skin
The following are herbal remedies for clear skin gathered from historic
texts. Please do not try these at home as they may be injurious
or harmful.
Mixers
Rosemary rosmarinus
officinalis mixed with white wine made the face beautiful.
Dragons (herb name unknown) mixed with
vinegar and applied externally, cleareth mightily freckles and sun-burning.
A meal of Oats boiled with vinegar takes away freckles and spots on the
face and other parts of the body. Used with vinegar Onion allium cepa
takes away all blemishes and spots. Southernwood or Old Man Tree
artemesia abrotanum boiled with barley-meal takes away pimples
that arise on the face. Wheat flour mixed with vinegar and boiled together
heals all freckles, spots and pimples on the face.
Plantain plantago major added to the juice of the house leek is
profitable for eruptions of the skin.
Juices
Herb juices all widely believed to clear skin blemishes include: Aloe
vera, Small Century, Horse-Radish Scurvy Grass
cochlearis armoracia, Sheep's
Rampion and Greenland Scurvy-Grass
clears the skin from pimples when the juice is expressed or made into
a concoction by boiling.
Cucumber juice cleanses the skin and helps the skin to not be red and
aid the complexion with freckles and morphew. Strawberry juice or water
takes away the redness in the face or spots or deformities of the skin
and make it clear and smooth. Sun Dew juice mixed with milk removes freckles
or sunburn or other discolourations of the skin. Garlic allium sativum
takes away blemishes of the skin.
Distillations
The distilled water or juice of the Water
Pimpernel is esteemed by French Ladies to cleanse the skin
of roughness or deformity. The distilled
water of the leaves and roots together of
Elecampane to cleanse the skin from morphew, spots and blemishes.
Water Betony leaves (betonia officinalis)
distilled in water to bathe the face and hands sun-blemished or spotted.
Dwarf Elder sambucus nigra water distilled banishes freckles.
The entire plant, roots and all, of Figwort
takes away all redness of the face, spots, freckles and skurf.
Feverfew tanecetum parthenium takes away freckles. Marsh Sow-Thistle
Tree clears the skin and gives it a lustre. Solomon's Seal,the whole plant,
used on the face cleanses it from morphew, freckles, spots leaving in
place a fresh, fair and lovely skin- much used by Italian dames. Tansy
cleanses the skin of all discolouration and also pimples and freckles.
The bruised leaves or juice of Water Cress
applied to the face helps with freckles, pimples or spots. Water
Lily flowers takes away freckles, spots, sunburn and morphew of the face.
The water found standing in the hollow of the leaves
of Wild Teasel is said to render the face fair.
Elderflower water was used as a popular skin tonic.
Roots
The powder of the root of Butter-Burtakes
away blemishes of the skin and spots. The fresh roots of Century
or Ordinary Small Century, Cuckow-Point or Alron or Janus or Starch-wort
or Clave's foot bruised and added to distilled milk make a cleanser
to remove from the skin, skurf, freckles, spots or blemishes. Madder roots
and leaves beaten and applied to any part discoloured with freckles or
morphew or white skurf, it cleanseth thoroughly.
The juice of the roots of Avens geum urbanum takes away spots or
marks in the face. The root of Briony spread on a sheeps
leather in form of a plaster takes away all manner of scars and deformities
of the skin.
Seeds, leaves and flowers
The seeds of
Devil's Bit disolved in a little vitriol assists with pimples,
freckles and morphew. Ivy Leaved Scurvy Grass leaves bruised and
laid to the face take off freckles and spots or sunburn. Beware if you
have a delicate complexions that you may be injured. Lovage levisticum
officinale takes away spots and freckles of the face. Wild Rocket
Mixed seed with honey, cleanses the skin, and used with vinegar takes
away freckles and redness of the face. An
infusion of the tops of the stalks and flowers of Broom-Rape cleanses
the skin and removes marks and freckles
Ointments
The
ointment of the flowers of Cowslips added to hog's grease or distilled
water adds beauty or restores it when it is lost. An ointment made of
Cowslip flowers takes away spots and wrinkles and adds beauty exceedingly.
Pennyroyal mentha pulegium made
into a paste helps with blotches of the face. Rue
ruta graveolens when bruised and added to myrtle
leaves and being made up with wax, helps with pimples.
Odd remedies
The treatise "Liber de diversis medicinis" from 14th
century England gives several herbal remedies to banish unsightly freckles.
One of these instructs the sufferer to anoint the face with the blood
of the bull or hare. The juice of Greater Celandine mixed with the powder
of brimstone takes away the discolourations of the skin. Least Water Parsnep
with bran or malt is good for eruptions of the skin. Flax-Weed applied
alone or with some powder of lupine helps with all form of deformity,
pimples, spots, or leprosy. Lesser Field Scabious juice made up with a
powder of borax and samphire cleanses the skin of the face from freckles
and pimples, morphew and scurvy. Willow Tree Water that is gathered from
the willow tree when the bark being slit when it flowers, being drank,
clears the face and skin from spots and discolouration. You may boil it
in wine and drink as much as you want.
Copyright © 2005-2009
Rosalie Gilbert
All text & photographs within this site are the property of Rosalie
Gilbert unless stated.
Artifact images remain the property of the owner.
Images and text may not be copied and used without permission.
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