– a roman skincare routine.
I haven’t posted anything here for more than a year. 2020 was certainly not the year for blogging. But I hope that 2021 will be a better year for blogging, and for that we’re starting with a deap cleaning!
According to the roman poet Ovidius (43BC-17AD), cosmetics can help women to attract men, but I’m pretty sure this routine will work for both men and women, no need to attract anyone with it.
This routine would, according to the source, make the skin appear bright and radiant!
The first step is to strip away the husks and the chaff from some barley. Barley from Libya is the best, but use any kind you can get your hands on. Clean 2 pounds of it.
Then moisten and equal amount of vetch with 10 eggs.
When the barley has dried in a blowing breeze, crush it with a rough millstone turned by a lazy donkey.
Together with the barley, grind up the horns of a lively young stag.
Add 12 narcissus bulbs which you’ve strip off the outer layers and then pulverized on pure marble.
Add nine times as much honey.
If you use this mixture, your skin will be smoother and more radiant than your own mirror!
I’m not sure what you can use as a substitute if you can’t find a lively young stag and grind it’s horns, but maybe the horns of any young animal will work.
(As the roman did, Jo-Ann Shelton, 1988)