Fruit face masks: the secret of the youth of the Empress

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Catherine the Great could hardly be called a beautiful woman. However, knowing her shortcomings, she was able to hide them so skillfully, and bring the purity of her skin to whiteness, that this forced the called beauties of the court to borrow the recipes used by the empress. They were simple: spring water, which the empress loved to wash her face with, herbal decoctions for hair, fruit face masks. All these tricks are known to modern women. We invite you to remember the recipes of Catherine the Great, and at the same time understand their rejuvenating effect.

 Fashion — to the people: fruit face masks and skin nourishment with peas

It is Catherine the Great that we owe the fact that once a week we make fruit face masks. She was the first to introduce such a fashion at court. The empress nourished the skin of her face and décolleté with applesauce, which she then washed off with milk cream. Everyone can use this recipe today.
Catherine the Great apple face mask recipe:

• grated apple;
• 2 Art. l. minced pumpkin puree;
• 1 tsp liquid honey;
• 1 st. l. vegetable oil

Mix all the ingredients. Apply the resulting mass on the face and neck for 30 minutes, then rinse with warm water.
What is the secret?

• Apple contains antioxidants that slow down the aging process.
• Apples are rich in folic acid, which helps to strengthen the skin.

Another face mask recipe that the Empress loved involved peas. To prepare it, dry green peas should be crushed and then mixed with whey. Apply the resulting mass on the face for 20 minutes, then rinse.

• The high antioxidant content of peas promotes cell regeneration, while the saturated fats nourish the skin.

 Wash — with cold water, scrub body — coffee grounds

His unshakable rule — to wash with cold water in the morning or wipe your face with an ice cube — the empress handed over to the female students of the Smolny Institute she had founded. However, in addition to this, after visiting the bath, Catherine always rinsed her body with spring water. And then she wiped it with coffee grounds mixed with pre-brewed oats.

Today, every woman scrubs her body with coffee grounds to prevent cellulite.  

What is the secret?

• Caffeine tones the skin and burns fat, and the thick removes dead skin cells of the epidermis.

To make the skin on elbows and heels soft, Ekaterina lubricated them with lemon juice, and then scrubbed them with salt mixed with soda in equal proportions.

What is the secret?

• Lemon has a particularly beneficial effect on mature skin. It prevents the formation of cracks and age spots.
• Soda is an excellent prophylactic against the appearance of fungus, and also reduces sweating.
• The mineral composition of the salt helps to detoxify the skin and prevent its rapid aging.

Thistle for the comb and linden decoction for the hair

Another pride of Catherine was her thick hair, the shine of which she retained until her old age. On the advice of the peasant women, who gave the Empress healing herbs, every time after washing her hair she used herbal hair decoction. It was prepared from sage, horsetail, chamomile and linden, taken in equal parts.

What is the secret?

• Essential oils of chamomile strengthen the hair, and biologically active compounds of linden prevent hair disease.

The Empress also believed that scallops soaked in a decoction of string and celandine had healing powers. And not without reason.

Celandine prevents the appearance of seborrhea, and the string makes the hair soft and silky.