What are the 10 most weird beauty procedures in history?

All modern skincare products make our lives much easier. In the old days, there were many bizarre and weird skin care procedures that people performed to stay beautiful. It wasn't just squeezing cream out of tubes like we do now; it was much more complicated than that.

Here's our list of weird skincare procedures in history.

• 1. Arsenic

  Pallor was a sign of beauty and wealth in Victorian times, and arsenic was the method of achieving this effect. At that time, women were completely immersed in arsenic to get pale white skin. This arsenic bath gave them pale glow just the way they wanted, along with some negative effects.

  Bathing in arsenic poisons people, it's no secret today. But before, in the 1900s, on top of that, people also ate arsenic to cleanse their skin. People used to make arsenic face masks to get rid of blackheads and pimples and remove rough skin.

• 2. Camel urine

  We all know that the camel is the ship of the desert, but people use these animals for more than just riding. To enhance the luster of their hair, women in ancient Arabia used to dip their hair in camel urine. What's more, this technique also made their hair grow faster. Surprisingly, there are still people today who really don't mind doing this. This is probably one of the strangest secrets of hair care.

• 3. Clay and ground bugs

  It's so easy to create a blush on our cheeks these days, but it was more difficult centuries ago. For example, the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti created her own blush using clay and crushed beetles. The combination of the clay's sticky substance and the bugs' natural red color produced the result.

• 4. Crocodile dung

  In ancient times, the people of ancient Greece and Rome used crocodile dung as a daily skin care product. They believed that crocodile dung had rejuvenating properties for the skin, making them look beautiful and young. So they bathed in the excrement or used it as a face mask. Sometimes they also mixed crocodile excrement with mud for a rejuvenating or relaxing bath. Besides cosmetic purposes, some also used crocodile dung as a method of birth control.

• 5. Lead

  Lead is one of the dangerous substances that can cause many health problems at high levels of exposure. Nevertheless, people from various cultures have used lead as one of their daily products in their strange skin care routine. Ancient Greek men and women covered their faces with lead to get very white skin. In those days it was a sign of beauty and status in many cultures, and it was the quickest way. The same was true of the ancient Romans, who also valued pale and white skin.

• 6. Nightingale droppings

  While crocodile dung helps people's skin glow, nightingale dung has other effects and properties. Geishas used nightingale dung as a makeup remover. The fact is that bird dung contains guanine, which is a natural skin cleanser, making it an excellent makeup remover. Since geishas apply very thick makeup, this method was a natural alternative that did not harm their skin. At the same time, nightingale droppings were also a cleansing face mask that geishas used at the time.

• 7. Blood and wine

  This is a very strange and disgusting skin care procedure in medieval England. A person who suffered from acne would cut off the heads of newborn puppies and then hang them upside down to collect blood. Once the blood filled the bowl, the man mixed it with white wine and applied it to the pimples. No one knows who actually invented this creepy skin care method, but it was quite common at the time.

• 8. Snake venom peptide

  You won't believe it, but in the old days people used snake venom peptides as Botox. It happened because the venom reduces facial wrinkles. Another interesting thing is that today you can also find snake venom cream. It contains a high content of venom peptide, which makes the skin regenerate and look younger. Some sources also claim that this unique treatment freezes wrinkles and makes the skin look younger. Products are available online, and the decision is up to you.

• 9. Urine

  Camel urine was not the only remedy that people used in their regular skin care routine. Some also used human and other animal urine to treat the skin or to treat most medical conditions. The Incas used urine as an anti-dandruff shampoo because of the urea in the liquid. This is not the strangest thing; they let their urine ferment for more than a week before washing it off.

  Ancient Roman women often used urine as a mouthwash! Sometimes they brushed their teeth with urine because of the presence of ammonia, a natural cleanser. And Portuguese urine was so popular that Emperor Nero had to tax it.

• 10. Zinc oxide

  People used so many methods to achieve pale appearance, a sign of nobility and wealth, especially women. In addition to staying out of the sun, people used zinc oxide, which is a white powder that is insoluble in water.

  They applied powder to their faces just to whiten and maintain their skin tone. With this substance, they wouldn't need to apply heavy makeup at all. The pale skin they got from zinc oxide also gave them a naturally pale look. All they needed to add was a little light blush, and that was it.

  Zinc oxide is still used in baby powder, diaper rash creams, sunscreens and more. Using it in a controlled amount is fine, but applying a large amount to the skin is not. It can cause fever, a flu-like illness with symptoms of a metallic taste in the mouth when inhaled. In serious cases, other symptoms such as pain, tightness in the chest, coughing, headaches, and fever may also occur.