10 lifestyle hacks from Ancient Egypt

 The Ancient Egyptians and their culture have kept us astonished for hundreds of years. This is not limited to their skills in the arts and their construction of majestic temples, pyramids, and tombs with all the detailed histories they entail. The ancient Egyptians basically hacked the entirety of life. They always thought about how to make their lives easier and better. Also, their keen eye for the aesthetic has led them to take good care of their personal grooming, rising above the smelly caveman. 

Ancient Egyptians have been doing effective, all-natural lifestyle hacks from more than seven thousand years ago, long before it became a hippie trend! 

Ancient Egyptian Kohl pot minature pestle and mortar. Attribution: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

So, let’s learn some of the hacks originating from Ancient Egypt:

1) Milk and honey

Milk and honey were used as skin routines back in ancient times. They are still used in some spa treatments and at homes as well, only outnumbered by less effective, commercialized derivatives. It is said that Cleopatra enjoyed bathing in milk and honey. She also applied a milk and honey face mask sometimes. It isn't a surprise that she is considered one of the prettiest women of ancient history.

2) Toothpaste

The Ancient Egyptians took good care of their teeth. There were various types of dental care toothpaste made by simple and available elements; some were made from rock salt, and there are types made from burnt eggshell, in addition to the ashes of fire.

3) Sugaring vs. Waxing

Waxing is a popular beauty treatment. However, Ancient Egyptians avoided the discomfort that was caused by using wax and used another method called "sugaring" (and it started to be used again in modern times). Sugaring is an all-natural method (which makes it better than wax) that uses hot sugar and honey and is a less painful hair removal alternative still popular today.

4) Hair dye

Taking care of beauty and health was of great importance for both men and women in the Ancient Egyptian civilization, especially the wealthy strata of the society.

Besides using the wigs and cosmetics, they devised hair dyeing techniques using simple elements. So they made a hair dye from the leaves of the henna plant, which gives the hair a reddish-brown colour. Henna was also used in several aesthetic aspects, besides dyeing hair. They dyed their lips with henna, in addition to their fingers and toes. Henna is still popular today in middle Eastern culture. 

5) Figs

Figs are known for their nutritional importance nowadays, but the ancient Egyptians used them for other purposes. It was mentioned in more than one medical papyrus that it was used as a cream to treat skin, skin black spots, falling hair, and also to facilitate the movement of joints and increase their flexibility.

6) The miraculous paste 

The Ebers papyrus, an Egyptian medical papyrus of herbal knowledge from approximately 1550 B.C., it says that you would have healthy hair and less baldness if you apply this miraculous paste.  The paste is simple, you just need to mix red mineral, kohl, myrtle berries, oil or fat, gazelle dung (we might skip that component), and hippopotamus fat.

The Ebers papyrus of Ancient Egyptian Medicine currently present at the University Library of Leipzig Germany
Attribution: PEbers_c41.jpg: Einsamer Schützederivative work: Photohound / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

7) Breath mints 

Unfortunately, the ancient Egyptians didn't have dentists to fix their deteriorating teeth. Instead, they simply suffered, so they invented the first mints, which were a combination of frankincense, myrrh, and boiled cinnamon with honey and shaped into pellets which were very helpful.

8) Kohl 

Sure, eye makeup's never gone out of style. The ancient Egyptians could make different colours of eye cosmetics simply. they combined soot with a mineral called galena to create a black ointment known as kohl. They could also create green eye makeup by combining a mineral called malachite with galena.

9) Shaving implements 

The strong heat of the ancient Egyptians homeland made them feel uncomfortable, that’s why they used to cut their hair short or shave their heads regularly. They had to think of something to use for shaving. They brought a set of sharp stone blades and fitted them in wooden handles and later replaced those with copper-bladed razors for better performance.

10) Aloe Vera

It was mentioned in one of the Pharaonic papyri as a laxative for the stomach and it was used to treat wounds and burns (some people still use this as way of treatment until today).

Pharaohs used its juice to prevent pregnancy and what is more interesting is that recent studies have proven that Aloe Vera can actually prevent fertilization and replace other contraceptives. 

They truly were civilized geniuses!