Mirror, mirror on the wall!

Illustration: TBS

Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all? 

There's no denying the fact that we all want to be the best version (looks-wise) of ourselves and the market is flooded with innumerable products to take care of us. 

Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen, used Dead Sea salt in her bath with essential oils and aromatic flowers to relieve stress and make her skin glow! She also used milk (Vitamins A and E) mixed with olive oil for bathing. She darkened her eyebrows and lengthened her eyelashes with black kohl, a mixture of powdered lead sulfide and animal fat.

Well, sometimes we all do something to enhance our beauty. 

A couple of months back, I was looking through a few beauty sheet masks. The Cocoon mask caught my eye. I visualised the slimy little caterpillars crawling all over my face. 

This sparked my curiosity and I started looking for ingredients used in beauty products. Guess what? I was shell-shocked to learn about the unusual and sometimes weird ingredients used in the beauty products that we use. 

Innovation in the world of beauty is an ongoing process. The ingredients that are introduced in beauty products to acquire a beautiful glow and flawless silky skin and to add sparkle to the eyes are sometimes insane. These might be the ever-cherished honey, snail mucus or bird poop. 

Not convinced? Take a look on the internet and you will be blown away by some of the gross ingredients used to enhance our beauty.

Speaking about masks, in ancient Rome, the ingredients for masks for women included urine. Not only that but urine was also used to whiten teeth and used by both men and women. It was also a practice in Rome to use crocodile dung along with other ingredients for face whitening.

Disgusting, right? Don't puke yet, there's a lengthy list below.  

During the days of gladiators, their sweat was collected along with the fats of the animals they killed during fights in the arena. Those were then sold. These were thought to make complexions glow. 

Wait! Don't start sweating yet. These aren't used nowadays.

Here are a few more ingredients that the beauty industry uses nowadays. Bird poop falling on hair or on the windshields of vehicles is definitely not desirable. These carry germs. Even when dry, these can cause many different diseases. But when the poop is treated with ultraviolet rays, it kills bacteria. These are then grounded to a powder and mixed with water to form a special paste. The mixture works wonders for exfoliating, controlling blemishes, evening out skin tone and repairing skin damage on the face. These also contain urea and an amino acid called guanine that supposedly help moisturise, brighten and soften the skin. 

Many expensive salons apply nightingale poop as a part of a facial treatment that costs as much as $220. 

Korea first introduced snail extract as an ingredient in the skincare routine. Initially, it was received with repulsion but now it has become a great favourite as a moisturiser. It has over 5,000 reviews on Amazon with mostly positive comments for the product. Snail mucus has nutrients like copper peptides and hyaluronic acid. These help in collagen formation hydrating the skin, minimizing wrinkles and dark spots and giving a natural dewy glow. Made with natural 92% snail secretion, it delays the signs of ageing.  

That's not all. Wait till you read the next remedy.

In a salon in Japan, under the supervision of a therapist, snails glide across the face as they please, leaving a gooey trail of antioxidants and proteins with the same effect on the skin. It costs around $100.

Gross? Yes, but effective.

Honey has been used in skincare for centuries.  However, bee venom is a new one. It contains at least 18 pharmacologically active components including various enzymes and peptides. It gives a stinging sensation to the skin which sends signals to the body to send blood to the area. This stimulates collagen production and blood circulation resulting in plumper, firmer skin. It's also used in eye creams and lip plumpers. 

Bee venom skin care is thought to be a natural way to combat aging. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Middleton are known to use bee venom in their facials. 

These aren't as painful as we would normally think. And the creams cost around $160-200. 

Chicken bone marrow, also known as glucosamine, is also used in some face creams and moisturisers. The marrow helps in the production of hyaluronic acid, and the oil in it hydrates the skin and forms a protective barrier that locks in moisture, helping in reducing fine lines and firming the skin. 

Who doesn't like red lipstick? I believe we have all used that beautiful red lipstick at least a few times. Carminic acid, derived from the crushed, dried shells of cochineal beetles, is the key ingredient for red dyes in the world. 

Cleopatra is known to have made her lipstick from crushed carmine beetles and ants. 

It does sound enticing! Doesn't it?

The shimmer effect of many lip glosses and nail polish is an outcome of crushed fish scales. The natural and non-toxic fish scales reflect light from different angles and are also used in creams and lotions to give a sparkling effect on the face and body. 

Caviar is also very popular in some of the skincare creams in the market. The rich fatty acid found in it helps lock the moisturiser, thereby improving the texture.

Sheep and lamb skin have lanolin which is extracted from them (without harming them) and used in body lotions, butter and cream for moisturisers.

The sheep's placenta is a great source of hyaluronic acid and is packed with hormones to promote tissue development. Hyaluronic acid also attracts and retains great amounts of water molecules to keep the skin hydrated. It promotes the growth of collagen, reduces fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation and scars and improves the overall texture of the skin.

'Mask of youth' used by Queen Elizabeth I and other aristocrats during the Elizabethan period had the white lead for a lighter complexion. Some other beauty products had radium, a radioactive element.

Our relentless pursuit of physical beauty is nothing new. From ancient times to the present day, humans have craved to immortalise their beauty. 

Some of these unorthodox skincare ingredients may make you feel repulsed. But then, if snake venom can be used to treat arthritis and tarantula bites and ground-up fangs to cure cancerous tumours, toothaches and asthma, then what's the harm in topical use of these products? Especially, since most beauty products are produced in laboratories and marketed only after vigorous research. Whether bizarre or common ingredients, these are all a blend of natural and chemical compounds, proven beneficial for topical use in our beauty regime.

There are innumerable products for each requirement. Choose the one you like. 

Tasneem Hossain is a multilingual poet, columnist, op-ed and fiction writer, translator and training consultant. She is also the director of the Continuing Education Centre in Bangladesh.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.