Lesson Ten : Lesson Ten Ancient History of Esthetics


What is esthetics : What is esthetics Esthetics is the Variant of aesthetics. The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts.


The Ancient Egyptians : The Ancient Egyptians "How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats frisking down the slopes of Gilead." ----------by Solomon to an Egyptian lady


The Ancient Egyptians : The Ancient Egyptians Ancient Egypt was known for its magnificent beauty, exotic perfumes, beautiful clothes, flamboyant style and vivacious hairstyles. They used soaps, creams, and oils for skin care. Aromatic perfumes and dramatic hairstyles to fight eerie heat. They unearthed the art and importance of birth controls and spas. Read on, to explore the beauty secrets of incredible beauties of ancient Egypt like Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and many others.


The Ancient Egyptians: The Ancient Egyptians For ancient Egyptians, appearance was an important issue. Appearance indicated a persons status, role in a society or political significance. Egyptian hairstyles and our hairstyles today have many things in common. Like modern hairstyles Egyptian hairstyles varied with age, gender and social status.


Early Hair Removal: Early Hair Removal Human hair was of great importance in ancient Egypt. They disgusted the sight of facial and body hair and used all kinds of methods to get rid of it. They removed individual facial hair with tweezers, which had blunt or sharp ends. But, on the contrary the hair on the head was most liked and used as a mode of expression of self-art. They had learnt the art to dye it, braid it, shave it, and cut it. They even used wigs of countless designs.


Children’s Hair Style: Children’s Hair Style Children had unique hairstyles in ancient Egypt. Their hair was shaved off or cut short except for a long lock of hair left on the side of the head, the so-called side-lock of youth. This s-shaped lock was depicted by the hieroglyphic symbol of a child or youth. Both girls and boys wore this style until the onset of puberty. Young boys often shaved their heads, while young girls wore their hair in plaits or sometimes did up their hair in a ponytail style, hanging down the center of the back. Young girl dancers used to wear long thick braided ponytails. The edge of the tail was either naturally curled or was enhanced to do so. If the ponytail was not curled at the end, it was weighted down by adornments or metal discs.


Men’s Hair Style: Men’s Hair Style Egyptian men typically wore their hair short, leaving their ears visible. Men often kept these hairstyles until their hair began to thin with advancing age. Another hairstyle for men was distinctive short curls covering the ears shaping a bend from temple to nape. It is doubtful that this hairstyle was natural. It was more likely a result of a process of hair curling that was done occasionally.


Women’s Hair Style : Women’s Hair Style Women's hairstyles were more unique than those of men. Women generally preferred a smooth, close coiffure, a natural wave and long curl.


Hair Removal: Hair Removal In ancient Egypt, men and women used to shave their heads bald replacing their natural hair with wigs. Egyptian women did not walk around showing their bald heads, they always wore the wigs.


Head Shaving : Head Shaving Head shaving had a number of benefits. First, removing their hair made it much more comfortable in the hot Egyptian climate. Second, it was easy to maintain a high degree of cleanliness avoiding danger of lice infestation. In addition, people wore wigs when their natural hair was gone due to old age. However, even though the Egyptians shaved their heads, they did not think the bald look was preferable to having hair.


Wigs: Wigs Wigs were very popular and worn by men, women and children. They were adorned both inside and outside of the house. Egyptians put on a new wig each day and wigs were greatly varied in styles. The primary function of the wig was as a headdress for special occasions, such as ceremonies and banquets.


Wigs: Wigs Wigs were curled or sometimes made with a succession of plaits. Only queens or noble ladies could wear wigs of long hair separated into three parts, the so-called goddress. However, they were worn by commoners in later times. During the Old and Middle Kingdom, there were basically two kinds of wig styles; wigs made of short or long hair. The former was made of small curls arranged in horizontal lines lapping over each other resembling roof tiles. The forehead was partially visible and the ears and back of the neck were fully covered. Those small curls were either triangular or square. The hair could be cut straight across the forehead or cut rounded.


Spas: Spas Legend has it that Egypt's beauty Cleopatra, believed in the healing powers of the Dead Sea. She then traveled from Egypt to Dead Sea, to build a Spa. It may not be wrong to say then, that she pioneered the Spa industry. The Dead Sea water contains 35 percent of minerals per liter of water, which helps cure skin problems like eczema and psoriasis. It naturally contains clay and minerals, which absorb into the skin directly.


Questions : Questions Where did our ancient ancestors bath What esthetic products are famous of ancient Egyptians What is the first reason that makes Egyptians famous estheticians What does the word “embalming” mean What is the second reason that makes Egyptians famous esthetics Explain “sugaring” and “threading When did waxing become popular (to be continued…)


Questions : Questions What are methods for hair removal used in the 20th century What physics principle is adopted in both laser and photo-epilation for hair removal What is SPA Who is Plato Who is Socrates What does the prefix “therm-” mean? Use it to make up words . How does the “thermae” differ from the “balnea What substances might the lightener include Is the sun and UV exposure good for health