January 20, 2026 • 9 mins
It's a new year and we're all looking to step up our game. So let's revisit a look at beauty in the past. We’ll do anything to look fabulous these days . . but we have nothing on our ancestors. They used face creams made from animal and human pee. They glued animal pelts on unusual body parts. And they literally poisoned themselves in their quest for perfect skin and hair.
Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Want to look extra fabulous for this new year. How
about doing what our ancestors did and slathering your face
and hair with everything from ostroj eggs to pea to
crocodile dung, or fixing overplugged eyebrows by gluing on mouse pelts.
I'm Patty Steele, suffering for beauty. Next on the backstory,
(00:24):
We're back with the backstory. Okay, who doesn't want to
look good? Well, you've heard that ridiculous line, it's better
to look good than to feel good. You laugh until
you realize how many people are willing to suffer to
look better. We do it now with botox implants, plastic surgery.
But that need to look good has been going on
for thousands of years, and amazingly, some of what they
(00:47):
used thousands of years ago is still effective today. Now, first,
we'll go back more than ten thousand years to ancient Egypt.
Men and women were anxious to hang on to youth
by protecting their skins. They used creams, oils, and makeup
made with herbs, spices, flowers, and other less savory ingredients
to look better. There was a primitive sunscreen made with
(01:10):
ostrich eggs and for noble women, there was nothing like
a milk bath, although Cleopatra later on partly preferred to
lounge in a bath of sour melta and who doesn't
want a facial Aloe and spices were mixed with honey
and milk for an anti wrinkle and anti inflammatory mask
and makeup was essential to women and men. Lead, copper
(01:33):
and semi precious stones were ground up for eyeshadow. Their
dark almond shaped eyeliner was made from burnt almonds, animal fat,
and again deadly lead. For lipstick, nail polish and blush,
they used animal blood and clay. Moving to the Greek
and Roman empires, Ploutus, a Roman philosopher commented, a woman
(01:54):
without paint is like food without salt. Wow. Now they
learned a lot from the egypt later on, but the
Romans had some interesting beauty rituals of their own. In fact,
the word cosmetics comes from the Latin word cosmetae. They
were slave beautician slash stylists. The cosmetae would apply makeup
and jewelry, and even pluck hairs from their employer's body, legs, arms, face,
(02:19):
all over, hair on any part of the body, but
the head was not appreciated then. Many people even had
their entire head plucked, and men and women would shave
their faces in private parts with super sharp stones. The
cosmetae would slather their employer with exfolians and creams and
anti aging facial masks that tightened the skin and reduced wrinkles.
(02:42):
Romans actually spent full days at the spa, wrapping up
with a mud bath and a massage with fragrant oils,
which left them radiant and younger looking, or at least
feeling they looked younger, and it didn't stop there. Fair
skin was a sign of aristocracy, while a tan made
you look lower class. So to lighten their skin they
used a powder made of lead and chalk mixed with
(03:05):
crocodile dung ah the price of beauty. Funny enough, despite
the distance apart, beauty regimens in Asia weren't a whole
lot different In ancient China as well, Pale complexions were
a sign of nobility. Women would shave off their eyebrows
before bleaching their skin with a gel made from mushrooms,
lead and rice. Fast forward to Europe in the Middle Ages,
(03:28):
and once again, lead powder, alabaster and egg whites were
used to hide freckles, smallpox, scars, and other blemishes, and
create that pale white look. Problem is it was a
short term fix, but long term it slowly poisoned them,
turning hair gray, drying out skin, giving them extreme stomach paint.
Sometimes it killed them worse. Yet, often this stuff just
(03:52):
didn't work, so some opted for an even weirder skin
whitening treatment leeches. Getting rid of the blood flow in
their face gave them the gaunt, pale look both men
and women found irresistible, so they put the leeches around
their ears. Now there were other beauty challenges as well.
After trends changed. Women in the Middle Ages had to
(04:13):
deal with overplucked eyebrows, so they would glue mouse skins
on their brows, dyeing the mini browwigs to match their hair.
You may have noticed in paintings of the sixteenth and
seventeenth century big shots that they had really high hairlines,
like back to the crown of their heads. That was
hugely in vogue, and some folks plucked every hair as
it grew in at the desired hairline. Others like Queen
(04:36):
Elizabeth I, used cat pee or dung walnut oil and
vinegar as well. As quicklime to remove unwanted hair. It
was also popularly used on the nether regions. Now the
problem is it sometimes removed skin as well. Actually, pea
of all sorts was the beauty thing in the Middle East.
To make their hair glossy, folks rinsed it in camel
(04:57):
pea and in venice. During the sixteen hundreds, women looking
to bleach their hair would soak it in lion pea
and lay in the sun for hours, using a Venetian
hat which had the top cut out so only the
hair was in the sun. Finally, some folks men and
women looking to go blonde would mix human breast milk
with saffron. So much for sweet smelling hair. Now, by
(05:18):
the Renaissance things changed a bit. They still use lead
powders to look pale, but they also believe the hands
of a woman could only be beautiful if they were
long lined with tiny, light colored veins. So women would
use blue paint and apply thin cosmetic veins to hands,
but also to their forehead and breasts. They'd coat that
with egg whites so they looked like they'd literally turned
(05:40):
to marble. If you had skin problems from all of this,
they recommended treating it with blood from healthy, red headed
men no older than twenty five at the end of
the day. The overuse of lead could leave holes in
your face, so you'd either apply more lead makeup to
fill it in or use the popular seventeenth century beauty
trick of gluing patches of star shaped fabric to the
(06:02):
holes in your face. Finally, when a white in your teeth,
they used marble glass crushed pearls mixed with honey. Eventually
your tooth enamel would wear off. But there's good news.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was fashionable to
paint your teeth black, mimicking tooth decay, meaning you could
afford sweets, plus it covered up the enamel loss. Eighteenth
(06:23):
century beauty was different from country to country. In France,
both men and women wore elaborate makeup with very white
lead based pastes on their faces, as well as deep red,
precise circles over the cheekbone and hairstyles were nuts, Curly
powdered wigs were in. Women had ribbons, jewels, flowers, feathers,
even model ships or hair lacquered into ships, as well
(06:45):
as bird cages, sometimes with actual birds in them. These
hairdows were massive, often three times the height of the head,
and worn for weeks at a time, which allowed mice
to build nests deep inside the dew while they slept
across the pond. In America during the colonial era, it
was all about conservative choices, no makeup or elaborate bathing.
(07:07):
In fact, it was a common belief that exposing your
skin to a lot of water could be fatal because
the water would seep into your skin and drown you
from the inside. Once we hit the nineteenth century, both
in America and Europe, fashionable women wanted slimmer figures because
they believed it made them look intelligent and refined. Also
(07:28):
popular flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and red lips and all
those qualities were also signs of tuberculosis, or consumption as
they called it then, And that was fine because consumption
was thought to be an illness of aristocratic women. Okay,
we're amazed by all of this, but you know what,
these folks weren't so different from us. We inject botox,
(07:49):
we alter our bodies with plastic surgery, implants, piercings, tattoos,
and insane diets. So it seems most of us reflect
the trends during whatever time we want live because of
our desire to be what we think is our very
best self. I hope you're enjoying the Backstory with Patty Steele.
Please leave a review and follow or subscribe for free
(08:12):
to get new episodes delivered automatically. Also feel free to
DM me if, like Sue, you have a story you'd
like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and
on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories
a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group,
(08:35):
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't
(08:57):
know you needed to know.
Want to look extra fabulous for this new year. How
about doing what our ancestors did and slathering your face
and hair with everything from ostroj eggs to pea to
crocodile dung, or fixing overplugged eyebrows by gluing on mouse pelts.
I'm Patty Steele, suffering for beauty. Next on the backstory,
(00:24):
We're back with the backstory. Okay, who doesn't want to
look good? Well, you've heard that ridiculous line, it's better
to look good than to feel good. You laugh until
you realize how many people are willing to suffer to
look better. We do it now with botox implants, plastic surgery.
But that need to look good has been going on
for thousands of years, and amazingly, some of what they
(00:47):
used thousands of years ago is still effective today. Now, first,
we'll go back more than ten thousand years to ancient Egypt.
Men and women were anxious to hang on to youth
by protecting their skins. They used creams, oils, and makeup
made with herbs, spices, flowers, and other less savory ingredients
to look better. There was a primitive sunscreen made with
(01:10):
ostrich eggs and for noble women, there was nothing like
a milk bath, although Cleopatra later on partly preferred to
lounge in a bath of sour melta and who doesn't
want a facial Aloe and spices were mixed with honey
and milk for an anti wrinkle and anti inflammatory mask
and makeup was essential to women and men. Lead, copper
(01:33):
and semi precious stones were ground up for eyeshadow. Their
dark almond shaped eyeliner was made from burnt almonds, animal fat,
and again deadly lead. For lipstick, nail polish and blush,
they used animal blood and clay. Moving to the Greek
and Roman empires, Ploutus, a Roman philosopher commented, a woman
(01:54):
without paint is like food without salt. Wow. Now they
learned a lot from the egypt later on, but the
Romans had some interesting beauty rituals of their own. In fact,
the word cosmetics comes from the Latin word cosmetae. They
were slave beautician slash stylists. The cosmetae would apply makeup
and jewelry, and even pluck hairs from their employer's body, legs, arms, face,
(02:19):
all over, hair on any part of the body, but
the head was not appreciated then. Many people even had
their entire head plucked, and men and women would shave
their faces in private parts with super sharp stones. The
cosmetae would slather their employer with exfolians and creams and
anti aging facial masks that tightened the skin and reduced wrinkles.
(02:42):
Romans actually spent full days at the spa, wrapping up
with a mud bath and a massage with fragrant oils,
which left them radiant and younger looking, or at least
feeling they looked younger, and it didn't stop there. Fair
skin was a sign of aristocracy, while a tan made
you look lower class. So to lighten their skin they
used a powder made of lead and chalk mixed with
(03:05):
crocodile dung ah the price of beauty. Funny enough, despite
the distance apart, beauty regimens in Asia weren't a whole
lot different In ancient China as well, Pale complexions were
a sign of nobility. Women would shave off their eyebrows
before bleaching their skin with a gel made from mushrooms,
lead and rice. Fast forward to Europe in the Middle Ages,
(03:28):
and once again, lead powder, alabaster and egg whites were
used to hide freckles, smallpox, scars, and other blemishes, and
create that pale white look. Problem is it was a
short term fix, but long term it slowly poisoned them,
turning hair gray, drying out skin, giving them extreme stomach paint.
Sometimes it killed them worse. Yet, often this stuff just
(03:52):
didn't work, so some opted for an even weirder skin
whitening treatment leeches. Getting rid of the blood flow in
their face gave them the gaunt, pale look both men
and women found irresistible, so they put the leeches around
their ears. Now there were other beauty challenges as well.
After trends changed. Women in the Middle Ages had to
(04:13):
deal with overplucked eyebrows, so they would glue mouse skins
on their brows, dyeing the mini browwigs to match their hair.
You may have noticed in paintings of the sixteenth and
seventeenth century big shots that they had really high hairlines,
like back to the crown of their heads. That was
hugely in vogue, and some folks plucked every hair as
it grew in at the desired hairline. Others like Queen
(04:36):
Elizabeth I, used cat pee or dung walnut oil and
vinegar as well. As quicklime to remove unwanted hair. It
was also popularly used on the nether regions. Now the
problem is it sometimes removed skin as well. Actually, pea
of all sorts was the beauty thing in the Middle East.
To make their hair glossy, folks rinsed it in camel
(04:57):
pea and in venice. During the sixteen hundreds, women looking
to bleach their hair would soak it in lion pea
and lay in the sun for hours, using a Venetian
hat which had the top cut out so only the
hair was in the sun. Finally, some folks men and
women looking to go blonde would mix human breast milk
with saffron. So much for sweet smelling hair. Now, by
(05:18):
the Renaissance things changed a bit. They still use lead
powders to look pale, but they also believe the hands
of a woman could only be beautiful if they were
long lined with tiny, light colored veins. So women would
use blue paint and apply thin cosmetic veins to hands,
but also to their forehead and breasts. They'd coat that
with egg whites so they looked like they'd literally turned
(05:40):
to marble. If you had skin problems from all of this,
they recommended treating it with blood from healthy, red headed
men no older than twenty five at the end of
the day. The overuse of lead could leave holes in
your face, so you'd either apply more lead makeup to
fill it in or use the popular seventeenth century beauty
trick of gluing patches of star shaped fabric to the
(06:02):
holes in your face. Finally, when a white in your teeth,
they used marble glass crushed pearls mixed with honey. Eventually
your tooth enamel would wear off. But there's good news.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was fashionable to
paint your teeth black, mimicking tooth decay, meaning you could
afford sweets, plus it covered up the enamel loss. Eighteenth
(06:23):
century beauty was different from country to country. In France,
both men and women wore elaborate makeup with very white
lead based pastes on their faces, as well as deep red,
precise circles over the cheekbone and hairstyles were nuts, Curly
powdered wigs were in. Women had ribbons, jewels, flowers, feathers,
even model ships or hair lacquered into ships, as well
(06:45):
as bird cages, sometimes with actual birds in them. These
hairdows were massive, often three times the height of the head,
and worn for weeks at a time, which allowed mice
to build nests deep inside the dew while they slept
across the pond. In America during the colonial era, it
was all about conservative choices, no makeup or elaborate bathing.
(07:07):
In fact, it was a common belief that exposing your
skin to a lot of water could be fatal because
the water would seep into your skin and drown you
from the inside. Once we hit the nineteenth century, both
in America and Europe, fashionable women wanted slimmer figures because
they believed it made them look intelligent and refined. Also
(07:28):
popular flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and red lips and all
those qualities were also signs of tuberculosis, or consumption as
they called it then, And that was fine because consumption
was thought to be an illness of aristocratic women. Okay,
we're amazed by all of this, but you know what,
these folks weren't so different from us. We inject botox,
(07:49):
we alter our bodies with plastic surgery, implants, piercings, tattoos,
and insane diets. So it seems most of us reflect
the trends during whatever time we want live because of
our desire to be what we think is our very
best self. I hope you're enjoying the Backstory with Patty Steele.
Please leave a review and follow or subscribe for free
(08:12):
to get new episodes delivered automatically. Also feel free to
DM me if, like Sue, you have a story you'd
like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and
on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories
a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group,
(08:35):
and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our
writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.
Feel free to reach out to me with comments and
even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and
on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the
Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't
(08:57):
know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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