Remember what recipe for rejuvenation the Tsar Maiden suggested to her elderly groom in the fairy tale about the Little Humpbacked Horse? She ordered Three large cauldrons to be put And the fires to be laid under them The first must be poured To the brim with cold water, And the second - boiled water, And the last - with milk, Boil it with a key. Bathed in succession in these three cauldrons, the king had to become a young handsome man. As we all remember, in the fairy tale everything happened a little differently.
However, don't think that the Tsar Maiden's extreme approach is unique. History knows no less shocking means of rejuvenation. Here are just a few of them.
Baths of milk and semen
It is known that Queen Cleopatra took milk baths. The Roman matrons did not lag behind her. When Nero's wife Poppey Sabina went on a journey, she was always accompanied by a herd of donkeys, since donkey milk was considered the most suitable for cosmetic purposes. But this was not enough to achieve the desired rejuvenation.
For the bathing procedures of noble Roman women, in addition to donkeys, young slaves were also needed. Their fresh semen was mixed into the bath milk. It was believed that after such a bath, the matron would become young and beautiful, like a nymph.
Poison-based cosmetics
To look younger, women of fashion have used cosmetics at all times, and, above all, whitewash and blush. In addition, in Europe during the Middle Ages it was fashionable to paint blue veins over white, imitating blood vessels that shine through on the young skin of the temples and neck. White was made on the basis of lead, blush was made from mercury compounds, paint for blue veins was made from arsenic. In addition, eyelashes and eyebrows were dyed with poisonous antimony. But this is not enough. To achieve the desired complexion, white, like a young girl, fashionistas in the Middle Ages drank vinegar and even took arsenic in small doses. Is it surprising that female mortality in those days was incredibly high, and most of the beauties died young, never having time to live to old age?
Alchemical remedies with elements of cannibalism
In addition to cosmetologists and perfumers, alchemists were also engaged in the search for anti-aging agents. They were looking for the Philosopher's Stone - a substance capable of not only turning lead into gold, but also giving eternal youth. And to achieve such a goal, all means are good! The famous Baron Gilles de Rais, a loyal associate of Jeanne d'Arc and the prototype of Bluebeard, was accused of witchcraft and sorcery, which he did with some alchemists whom he settled in his castle.
During the investigation, he admitted that he abducted little boys and girls, staged pedophilic orgies with them, and then killed them. The bodies of these children were used for the preparation of alchemical preparations, in particular, the bones were used to create a powder, which was a necessary element for the creation of the philosopher's stone and the elixir of eternal youth. However, under torture you cannot tell. However, the alchemists of Baron de Rais were not the first to use human flesh to create the elixir of youth.
In ancient Persia, healers offered the following recipe: it was proposed to feed a red-haired and freckled person with fresh fruits for up to 30 years. After that, the poor fellow should be placed in a stone vessel, filled with honey and hermetically sealed. After 120 years, the body, which became a mummy, had to acquire "rejuvenating" properties, and it had to be consumed in small pieces to achieve eternal youth.
Rejuvenation with manure
Yes, yes, in ancient times, beauties used manure as an integral part of anti-aging masks. Egyptian women took crocodile dung for these purposes, and Indian women took cow dung. However, cow dung is still considered in India today as a wonderful cleansing, healing and rejuvenating agent. The cow is a sacred animal, and everything that comes from it has healing properties. Therefore, medicines, cosmetic masks and even tooth powder were and are being made from cow dung. Japanese women make anti-aging face masks based on nightingale droppings. In the ancient world, not only animal manure, but also human feces were used as a cosmetic product.
Baths of blood
Human blood at all times was considered a means that gives youth and strength. In ancient Rome, after the end of gladiatorial battles, the old people sometimes went down to the arena to wash themselves in the fresh blood of the slain fighters. Eastern despots also used the blood of young people, wishing to prolong their years. But everyone was surpassed by the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who lived in the 16th century, and was, by the way, a relative of the famous Count Dracula. This woman was a representative of the highest Hungarian nobility, a rare beauty and a complete sadist and maniac.
Feeling the approach of old age, the countess, who had passed 40, turned to a certain witch with the question: how could she prolong her youth? The witch advised the right remedy: the blood of virgins. At the same time, this blood should be used in the period between Christmas and Epiphany, when the dark forces are especially obedient to witchcraft. And for the success of the cosmetic procedure to be complete, the victim should have been killed as painfully as possible.
In the vicinity of Bathory Castle, young peasant women began to disappear. The girls were dragged into the basement of the castle, and there the countess subjected them to sophisticated torture, after which she killed and blew out into a special bath. After such baths, the Countess, as they say, really looked pretty before our eyes. It's scary to imagine how many girls the bloody countess killed to get one bath. I think not less than five or six.
According to legend, it was Elizabeth Bathory who used a torture device called the "iron maiden" to kill her victims. This is a hollow human figure, studded from the inside with sharp and rather long metal knitting needles. The person is put inside, and the two halves of the "maiden" are closed. The points hurt the unfortunate, causing him pain, but they do not kill. Bathory made a "maiden" with points of such size that they pierced the victim through and through.
Placing the doomed girl inside this creepy structure, the Countess ordered her to be raised above the bathroom and basked under the streams of blood flowing down. They say the bloody countess killed over 600 girls. An end to her atrocities was put in place only when the countess switched from peasant women to girls of noble birth.
Investigative measures were finally carried out and the Countess was caught red-handed in the basement of the castle. She ended her days in captivity.
