Tudor remedies and cosmetics

A beautiful aroma of herbs and flowers greeted us as we entered the room where the short  talk was taking place.

On the table the Facilitator, dressed in costume, had placed various remedies. Some things change and some things change the same. Many of these herbs are still used.

• Bad headaches were treated with Meadowsweet, Willowbark and Feverfew
• Fingernail breaking was treated with Horsetail
• Rosemary was used for bad memory
• Hay fever was treated with nettles
• Stress was treated with St John's Wort, Valerian, Chamomile, Lemon balm and Lavender

The richer a Tudor person was, the worse their teeth were because only the rich could afford sweet things. Rich Tudors would use sugar coated fennel seeds  (below left)  to sweeten their breath. Cloves and clove oil  ( front left ) were used for tooth ache and Cuttle bones was used for cleaning teeth.

Some people rubbed their teeth with salt and sage ( below ) or powdered Cuttle bone to clean them. Fingers or twigs would be used as toothbrushes.

This  wound wash recipe consisted of Marigold, Horsetail, Sage, Camphor, Lavender and Violet leaves.

The Tudors believed that bad smells made them ill and that by carrying herb bags named posies, tussie musses or nosegays, the bad smells would not make them ill.

Some lavender nosegays are on the right of the picture.

The Tudors believed that very very white skin was desirable . Egg white must have been like the first Botox and was used to tighten the skin on the face.

Urine ( not pictured  :)  ), rhubarb  and white flour were put on the skin to give a very white appearance.

Some things stay the same. The tweezers haven't changed much. nor the fine tooth comb. I don't recall seeing an ear wax stick before though.