Today is Purim, so last night my children and I were discussing Esther.  One of my daughters wanted to know what in the world Esther was doing for six whole months of beauty treatments!  (It was actually a total of 12 months, if you count the months of myrrh.)

“…thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.” — Esther 2:12b

Now, we don’t actually know what these preparations were (except that they obviously included “oil of myrrh”), because the historical accounts don’t tell us.  But we can make some educated guesses about what might have been included, based on natural beauty treatments we know have been around for millennia.  These might have included:

Henna

Nowadays we most often think of henna as a red hair dye — and it does have the effect of reddening the hair (although the color is somewhat translucent, so the red is more obvious on lighter hair than on darker hair) — however it has been used on hair for centuries because of its benefits to the hair itself.  It helps to make hair strong, soft, and silky, and also fights lice.  (Click here to read about my experience with henna, complete with photos.)

Clay

Good quality clay is useful as a skin treatment, in baths, and even as a conditioning mask for your hair!

Oils

There are two main classes of oils — vegetable oils, also known as base oils or “fixed” oils, and essential oils, also known as “volatile oils.”  Both types of oil are used for skin care, hair care, and other personal hygiene, ‘though for different reasons.

Base oils include oils like olive oil and coconut oil.  They’re primarily used for their moisturizing properties.  However, good oils also offer nutrients to the skin or hair they’re applied to.  (Of course they also provide key nutrients when we consume them!)

Essential oils (“volatile oils”) like spikenard, myrrh, and frankincense each have their own beneficial qualities.  These oils might not have been used in Old Testament times in quite the same form we use them today, but we do know that these fragrant oils were used, because they’re all mentioned in Scripture.

Spikenard is deodorizing, and good for the skin.  It may also help balance hormones and/or promote female fertility by helping tone and strengthen the female reproductive organs.  Ylang ylang is excellent for skin and hair, helping to balance oil production (of both skin & hair), and beneficial for hair growth.  (I don’t know if ylang ylang was available in the Holy Land at that time or not, but it’s so beautifully suited to hair and skin care I thought it worth mentioning here, either way.)  Myrrh promotes healthy skin — it’s applications include aging and chapped skin — and good for oral hygiene.  Frankincense has been described as an “anti-wrinkle” oil.  It may reduce scarring, soften skin, strengthen nails & help build strong, healthy hair.*

Milk & Dairy

Milk baths have been considered an inexpensive beauty treatment for centuries.  The proteins in the milk are said to soften the skin.  You can add milk powder to bath salts, herbs, and/or essential oils (this is how we’re most accustomed to seeing “milk baths” today) or add it straight to the bath.  Or just add milk to the bath water, which I’m sure is more in keeping with how it would have traditionally been done.

You can also make use of the benefits of milk by applying yogurt to the face like a mask.

Honey

Honey is both moisturizing & antibacterial, making it excellent for the skin.  I’ve read that it’s also good as a mild sunscreen, but I’m not sure how one would make practical use of that tidbit of knowledge.

Diet

We know that good nutrition can go a long way toward producing healthy skin, hair, and nails, so it’s quite possible that these months of beauty preparations also included a healthy diet.  That would certainly help account for all the time involved in this process, as beautifying from the inside out is not an instant process!

Do you have any favorite traditional beauty treatments?

*None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA, and all information here is provided for educational purposes here.  It is not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent, or treat illness.