We’ve come a long way as a society when it comes to personal hygiene but it hasn’t always been that way. The generations before us had to get pretty crafty when it came to keeping clean and staying healthy.
Just think about it. Before we had fancy face wash infused with kale extract, our ancestors had to try out some pretty gross ways to keep their face clean, like using their own urine (ew!). Check out some of the most disgusting—and sometimes dangerous—ways our ancient ancestors kept clean.
You might not hate using 2-ply when you find out what humans used to use as toilet paper.
5Noble Women Painted Their Faces With Lead
While having sun-kissed skin is all the rage today for much of history being pale was much more fashionable. That’s because it proved that you didn’t have to work in the fields. Both noble women and men would paint their faces white to look even fairer.
The problem is that the white paint was made of pure lead that was poisonous and would eat away at the wearer’s skin. Then they’d have to wear more makeup and the vicious cycle continued.
