According to research by the Swiss elite medical center Clinique La Prairie, the owners of the healthiest and most well-groomed skin in the world are Arab women. Fortunately, women of the East do not make a secret about their beauty habits and willingly share tips on how to look younger and more attractive.
Oriental beauties are most often associated in the European mind with a shock of resin hair. But today, Arab beauties dye or bleach their hair, make short haircuts, and wear false strands.
You are more likely to meet in the East a woman with eyebrows so thick that they grow together in one wide line above the bridge of the nose than with thin or pale threads. Thick black eyebrows are a demonstration of youth and a hint of healthy thick hair of their owner, even if the hair is tucked into a hairdo or under a headdress. Today, in order to make eyebrows thick and give them a shape suitable for the type of face, women of the East use the same arsenal of procedures that are available to us: cosmetics, extension, tattooing.
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In the Arab world, more and more people are interested in Western beauty technologies and anti-aging procedures.
The secret of the thick and shiny hair of Arabian beauties is in thorough care using only natural ingredients. Before washing the head, oriental beauties treat the scalp with kefir or sour milk. Fermented milk products quickly restore hair structure, making it smooth and shiny. Do you want to try? Then you will have to cook kefir yourself – the industrial analog does not carry any useful properties.
Arab women do not recognize modern dyes: like a hundred years ago, oriental beauties prefer natural henna.
Fortunately, the leaves of Lawsonia (it is from them that henna is prepared) grow in abundance in eastern countries. And if you add Basma (another natural dye) to henna, the hair color will become deep black. By the way, colorless henna is perfect as a strengthening hair mask.
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Eastern women in a harem had only two responsibilities: they had to be well-groomed and always ready for love. In the countries of the East, the cult of purity was celebrated. Each harem had its own hammams, divided into male and female. In hammams, women took a steam bath, where they alternately poured cold and hot water on themselves.
After a contrast wash, they cleaned their bodies with a natural sponge, washed again and dyed their hair; they cleaned their legs with a pumice stone, epilated the face and body, did a manicure, and, of course, massage: olive oil mixed with water was gently rubbed into the skin of the face.
In the intervals between the procedures, the women were resting, gossiping, enjoying fruits and sweets of an unusual taste. They didn’t have to worry about their weight; in the Middle East, it was believed that only plump women would guarantee love tributes.
According to the beauty canons of the Turkish and Arab world, a well-groomed body is, first of all, smooth, so all unnecessary hair was carefully removed while bathing in a hammam. Immediately after bathing, oriental women removed facial hair with a double silk thread.
Hair removal was carried out not only on the face but also on the whole body while applying a sticky clay to the skin, the effect of which was reminiscent of today’s waxing. Fine-grained clay solidified on the skin, then pulled off with a sharp movement, due to which excess hair was removed. And also a paste of clay and special lime was used, which not only smoothed but also brightened the skin.
While the boutiques in Arab capitals are overflowing with the best cosmetics from around the world, you can still find homemade skin and hair care products on the local women’s dressing table. First of all, these will be oils.
In the East, they like dense oil textures, which help to retain moisture and, unlike alcohol solvents, retain fragrances on the skin in hot weather.
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Olive and coconut oils are used to massage, nourish hair and skin. Pink and almond – make the skin smooth and fragrant. Argan and Frankincense oils have a nourishing, regenerating, and bactericidal effect, they relieve inflammation, heal skin and strengthen hair.
Incense in the Arab world served the most important areas of life: love and religion. The fragrance in and around the temples of the East was associated not only with the numerous perfume shops located next to them. During the construction of mosques, musk was added to the mortar for masonry, and when the Sultan attended services, the floor and walls of the mosque were previously washed with rose water.
Islamic mystics encouraged meditation in rose gardens, as the very scent of the rose was believed to invoke the name of Allah. Rose was also present in everyday life. Things were scented with rose essential oil, guests were sprayed with rose water, the ladies sat on pillows sprinkled with roses, and their hair was washed with soap and clay with petals of these flowers.
The air was full of heavy, spicy, and sweet aromas. When a guest entered the room, several pieces of incense were thrown into the firebox.
Men and women made scented jewelry from dried sandalwood balls with musk, saffron, and Arabian rubber as a binding element. Pearls and corals were sometimes used.
Women anointed their bodies with various aromatic oils. Before going to her master’s bed, the woman rubbed her skin with essential oils: cloves, ginger, or myrrh. Musk was considered the best aphrodisiac, which is popular to this day.
