![]() The 13 th century L’ornement des Dames gives us a recipe for a whitening powder for the face: You could use lead-based powders, root of the Madonna lily, or wheat flour on your skin to whiten it. You could also use the old trick of sitting in the sun – but you must wear a hat with a hole cut in the top so you don’t get a tan on your face! And the ideal look was a pale complexion with blemish free skin. If you weren’t blonde, you could try to make your hair lighter using stale sheep’s urine, onion skins, or saffron to bleach it. The most desirable hair colour was blonde. So far the Middle Ages haven’t won me over, but let’s see what look they went for. The last option sounds okay since you can get modern shampoos with a base of rosemary or other herbs. But most would wash their hair with a mixture of water and one of the following: rosemary, mint, nettles, thyme or vinegar. Or tea with elm bark, willow root or reed root, and goat’s milk or water would make your hair thicker and cleaner. Many recipes for hair masks have survived but they don’t sound like they clean your hair! For example, a mix of burnt barley bread, salt, and bear fat together to put on your hair was supposed to make it grow faster. Still, full bathing – and tub access – was usually limited to royalty and the upper classes, who had the funds to purchase, stock, and keep baths as a daily (or at least regular) practice. Additionally, many medical texts of the time advised on regular washing and bathing, often as a cure to various ailments or as a preventive measure against ill health. ![]() There was a distinct difference in the Medieval period – a bath meant a full tub of hot water, while washing was a daily activity that involved a bowl or single bucket of heated water. However, people – including girls – did wash and recognize that cleanliness was important. People were also worried about the cleanliness of water during the Middle Ages, so full-tub baths were not taken as often as modern times (at least in some places). Public baths eventually faded in the late fifteenth century, as people became aware that public bathing could spread illnesses like the plague.īaths at home were a lot of work and most girls did not have access to the amount of warm water (or labor) needed to fill a tub at home (or even had a tub). Mainly used for socializing (and prostitution) rather than to wash, the public baths didn’t have the best reputation so they weren’t used as much as public baths had been in Ancient times. It is true there was less focus on cleanliness during this period, but public baths did still exist (some left over from the Ancient world). The Middle Ages (also known as the Medieval Period) aren’t associated with baths and makeup like the Ancient world is. This blog is part of series linked to our exhibition, More than Pretty, which looks at body decoration of girls throughout history. Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of a Lady, c.
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