The first real perfume in Russia was imported; this rarity at the beginning of the 19th century was treasured by wealthy princesses, wives of ambassadors and eminent merchants. In the days of Peter I, noble ladies used foreign smelling salt, the bags of which were put in chests with clothes so that it smelled fragrant. Meanwhile, incense for the body in Russia existed before, but these smells were not always pleasant, and they were not available to everyone.
Peasant smells
The lower classes of the Russian people worked hard, and the physically working person constantly sweats. Clothes, which the peasant woman did not have so much, was regularly soaked in sweat - her own and that of a horse, because for thousands of years horses were the only way to move and transport goods. Most of the peasant work in the open air was associated with horses, and also with cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens.
But if women for some reason did not want to smell sweat, they rubbed their bodies with garlic or onions. This, by the way, was also done for practical purposes: in the summer, blood-sucking insects and parasites, attracted by a heated body, did not fly close to such a person. It was also believed that in the cold season, drops of garlic or onion acid near the respiratory system served as a kind of protective barrier against all kinds of viruses.
So the Russian peasantry smelled en masse of horse sweat, smoke (since the huts were heated in black for a long time) and onion-garlic "aroma". The exceptions were those who recently visited the bath. In Russia even the peasants tried to wash themselves at least once a week; in the bath they used birch brooms, later cheap soaps. But these smells were by no means persistent. However, since the summer, experienced peasant women have been harvesting various fragrant herbs and arranging all kinds of procedures in the bathhouse. The hair was washed with hot water, in which the nettle leaves were soaked, and the body was rinsed with a tincture of thistle or wormwood. Again, this was done for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes: thanks to this, the skin stopped peeling, wounds healed, boils dried up, and the aroma of these bitter herbs remained on the hair and skin for a long time.
The scents of the rich
Noble women and rich bourgeois women defiantly turned their nose up at the peasants smelling of onions and often had their own aromas. These were various floral tinctures that were made for them by knowledgeable nannies or maids, or that they bought from the market. Beginning in the 12th century, merchants brought to Russia fragrant oriental oils and seasonings, which were originally used for rubbing the body. At various times, wealthy Russian women smelled like almonds, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, saffron, vanilla, rose, orange, less often mint, linden, thyme or honey. Women sprinkled tincture and oils on the head, neck, and sometimes shoulders.
There were certain herbal preparations for infusing water, in which, for example, only babies or brides were bathed before the first wedding night. The healers made up solutions with which they washed the body of the deceased so that it would not exude a cadaverous smell for a long time; there were special scents for hunting - and they were also used by noblewomen, if they participated in such a game.
God-fearing Russian women, rich old women, like all Russian clergy, smelled of incense, since they spent a lot of time in prayers in front of icons with lamps. Lamp oil was sold near every church, and it was the main "flavoring" of Russian wealthy dwellings, because everyone had icons. But only wealthy Russians had funds for lamp oil.
The smell of "Russian leather"
It so happened in Russia that all beautiful fragrances must be foreign, and it is still believed that the best perfumes are French. Meanwhile, noble Russian emigrants who were forced to leave their homeland in the 1920s inspired one of the most famous Parisian perfume houses to create a perfume called "Cuir de Russie", which translates as "Russian skin". Apparently, the original smell of Russian women is still considered special and enchanting even abroad.
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