Although she could easily match wits with the best of them, and even led a fleet at war, Queen Cleopatra was best known for her beauty. So much so that her likeness found its way to the Temple of Venus (on Caesar's orders) where she was worshipped as a goddess. Flawless skin can, after all, get you a long way when you’re battling for the affection of the king!
Renowned as being one of the most gorgeous (and seductive) women of all time, Cleopatra is said to have kept her youthful glow well into her older years and she certainly knew how to use it.
But how exactly did she keep her complexion so lovely and her aesthetics on point? Targeted treatments didn’t exist back then and the only way to see whether something was effective (or dangerous) was to try it and find out so she certainly had her work cut out for her. Nevertheless, natural ingredients have always been around to help out, and this exotic beauty used them perfectly to her advantage.
What Are Some Of The Natural Ingredients Cleopatra Put On Her Skin?
Gold
Gold, in its purest form isn’t just for crafting beautiful jewellery - it also has many benefits for your skin including anti-aging and anti-inflammatory benefits, stimulating your cells and helping slow the reduction of collagen production.
Gold has also been shown to assist in calming breakouts, soothing sensitive skin and reducing the appearance of blemishes as well as fine lines and wrinkles. Plus, it can help brighten and even skin tone, boost the effectiveness of other active ingredients and protect against irritation.
When we consider this, alongside the rumours that Cleopatra used to cover her face in pure 24K Gold every night, it’s no surprise that her skin was so flawless!
Honey
Honey provides both antiseptic and antibacterial benefits for the skin making it perfect for cleansing and purifying. It can also help smooth and calm skin while working as a natural exfoliant to remove dull, dead skin.
That’s not all though.
This golden little helper is bursting with antioxidants, assists in dealing with those pesky breakouts, clarifies skin thanks to its ability to open and clean out pores and can even fight off some signs of aging.
To take advantage of all of this wonderfulness, Cleopatra used to bath in a mixture of milk and honey. This helped her to maintain soft, smooth skin and would have also had great stress relieving properties to help fight off premature aging.
Rose Water
Rose Water is known for its healing and purifying properties. Able to provide a natural remedy for many ailments, this natural ingredient is great for helping maintain the pH balance of your skin, hydrates and moisturises (yes, they're different) and can help control excess oil production, hence why it is commonly used to treat acne.
This little beauty is also a great source of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties making it a great all-rounder.
In terms of Cleopatra, she was onto Rose Water’s breakout fighting powers way ahead of time. It is said that she commonly used it to help banish her spots and lessen the visibility of any marks left behind.
Sea Salt
Sea Salt is possibly one of the best natural physical exfoliators out there. Just rough enough to remove dead skin cells without harming healthy ones, salt is also known for being a great cleanser so you'll be getting the best of both worlds if you integrate these wonderful rocks into your routine.
Speaking of sea salt scrubs, this is exactly what Cleopatra used to keep her skin fresh and exfoliated - no dead skin cells here!
Cucumber
Cucumber is fantastic for boosting the hydrating effects of your serums and creams, reducing swelling and puffiness and can even help soothe irritation and fight off breakouts.
Technically the belief is that Cleopatra actually mixed cucumber with other ingredients to create a hair removal cream, but this would have provided many soothing benefits and helped her milk and honey bath do its thing once she’d gotten herself all smooth.
How Can I Incorporate These Ingredients Into My Skincare Routine?
Because of how beneficial they are to your skin, these natural ingredients still feature prominently in the skincare realm in present times. In fact, we’ve included them in many of our products, some of which we’ve listed below for you:
Gold
Pamper yourself like the queen you are and experience the ultimate youthful revival with our opulent 24K gold infused collagen skincare range. Our brand new Ageless By Nature products are specially designed to provide powerful healing and help you turn back time.
Suitable for both daily use, and as an overnight mask, our Green Caviar Super Natural Butter is formulated with six vitamins (including the holy grail of anti-aging ingredients, coenzyme Q10), five minerals, ten essential oils and both Omega 3 & 6.
This combination allows for deep penetration, natural nourishment and supercharged regeneration.
Plus, this gorgeously effective treatment can be used on your entire face, including the delicate eye area, making it one of a kind.
Want a serum that hydrates instantly, oxygenates skin, targets both loss of elasticity & wrinkles and banishes dullness? Our Youth Infusion Booster Serum is the ideal treatment for your skin.
This miracle elixir revives skin from the inside out, revitalises the face, neck and décolletage and is certified organic. Simply apply after cleansing and enjoy instantly plumper skin with a silky smooth finish.
Plump, lift and firm skin in one simple application with our Youth Infusion Cream Complex.
This luxurious multi-nutritional cream utilises Sculptessence™ technology to help you achieve a fresher, younger looking complexion.
Honey
Our cult favourite, best selling Manuka Honey Peel contains 250MGO premium Australian Manuka Honey and can provide ten benefits in just 10 seconds:
🍯 Easily get rid of flaky, dead and dry skin
🍯 Glow with the freshness of new, supple skin
🍯 Boost skin health with the stimulation of cell regeneration
🍯 Cleanse, purify and unclog pores and banish congestion
🍯 Discover more even skin colouring
🍯 Achieve smoother skin
🍯 Fine lines? Reduce their appearance instantly
🍯 Boost blood circulation
🍯 Increase hydration (plump skin is happy skin)
🍯 Improve the performance of any other treatments you use - absorb them more readily and allow them to penetrate deeper by refreshing skin and getting nasties out.
To learn more about our majestic Manuka Honey Peel, check out this blog: Why Origani Manuka Honey Peel Really is The Best Face Peel
Hunting for a nice, natural soap that will help purify and heal skin while you shower? Our Manuka Honey Soap is the ideal gentle cleanser for both your face and body.
Containing 50MGO Australian Manuka Honey, this soap also nourishes while you wash making it ideal for those with dry skin or conditions that can be helped by moisturising.
Apart from tasting fantastic, our Manuka Honey Lip Balm contains 30MGO Australian Manuka Honey and can offer healing benefits both inside and out. Chapped lips will be a thing of the past.
Rose Water
The ideal gentle cleanser for irritated, sensitive, or acne prone skin, our Dermassure Clear & Calm Toning Cleanser contains a healthy dose of Rose Water combined with Aloe Vera and Tea Tree Oil to calm and pufify.
This gently foaming face is designed specifically for those with a combination to oily skin or who suffer from breakouts and congestion.
OzFraiche
OzFraiche is a gel cream moisturiser that protects, hydrates and soothes skin. Featuring a rose water base and non-greasy texture, OzFraiche is the first of our My Origani Creations products. It's also an online exclusive so the only place to get this beautiful blue goo is right here.
The best bit is, the advanced formula leaves skin feeling incredibly silky and smooth and is suitable for most skin types (and all genders)!
OzFraiche can be used both morning and night and is entirely active, meaning you get maximum benefits out of a single product.
Sea Salt
Our Summer Lychee Salt Scrub is the perfect body product for those hunting silky smooth skin.
Providing cleansing, exfoliation, detoxification and nourishment all in the one product, this scrub also smells delicious and will level up your self-care routine in next to no time.
Cucumber
Our Erda Eye Gel Concentrate is designed to aid in the relief of puffiness and dark circles in the eye area. It also provides hydration and can help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while firming your most delicate skin.
Erda Cooling Cream Anti Ageing De-Stress Cream
The Erda Cooling Cream Anti Ageing De-Stress Cream is part of our Erda Activating Thermal Peel Collection and offers many benefits for your skin. While the main purpose of this treatment is to help balance and de-stress your complexion, it can also assist with cleansing and refining pores, hydrating and protecting your skin and promoting an even skin tone and improved elasticity.
How Can I Get The Most Out Of These Natural Ingredients?
Natural ingredients tend to be far more bio-compatible (well-suited) than their synthetic counterparts so the good news is that all you really need to do is use them consistently, apply them properly and make sure you keep tabs on their shelf life.
Ensuring that your products have a decent active ingredient concentration also makes a massive difference when it comes to the effectiveness of your treatments, but that isn’t something you’ll ever have to worry about with your Origani products as we always include the optimal amount of sustainably sourced actives in our skincare.
Finally, you should also consider eating healthy, delicious goodies as well! Your nutrition can play quite a large role in how effective your skincare routine is, so you should always strive to provide your body with the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that it needs.
Origani is an Australian luxury organic skincare brand. We proudly formulate and produce cruelty-free, certified organic, vegan skincare and makeup. To learn more about our story, our brand pillars or the bioactive technology that we use in our skincare, please click the relevant links.
