Skincare Tips from Empresses and Concubines

Women everywhere give top priority to skincare in their daily beauty reg

deserves special attention. Chinese beauties of yester-millenia practice

and took herbal remedies in efforts to maintain their flawless complexion

legendary beauties Empress Wu Zetian and the Tang concubine Yang G

Zhang Lihua, renowned beauty and concubine of Chen Shubao (553-60

the earliest recorded imperial skincare recipe. Zhang preserved her stri

made from egg-white and powdered vermilion. It was concocted by prick

yolk, pouring powdered vermilion into the egg white and sealing the hole

hen's womb and left to incubate with the coming clutch. The cream that

whitened and smoothed the complexion.

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yolk, pouring powdered vermilion into the egg white and sealing the hole

hen's womb and left to incubate with the coming clutch. The cream that

whitened and smoothed the complexion.

Empress L Zhi

Empress L Zhi (241BC-180BC), wife of Liu Bang, founding emperor of

store by Tremella fuciformis. Both in civil life and as empress, she starte

edible jelly fungus.

Tremella fuciformis is sweet to taste and rich in natural colloids. By nou

in turn, revitalizes the complexion. Imbibing this fungus keeps facial pigm

gastrointestinal peristalsis and reduces fat absorption. Tremella fuciform

in water and braise with rock candy, lotus seed, and pawpaw to make a

That the Tang Dynasty was, in Chinese history, one of strong colors is r

princesses, concubines and court ladies.

Yang Yuhuan(Yang Guifei)

Yang Yuhan (719-756), better known as Yang Guifei, or the fragrant con

beauties.

Yang was the most favored concubine of Tang Emperor Xuanzong (685-

government appointments for members of her family. Historical records

puts flowers to shame." Yang maintained her luminous complexion with h

Method:

Soak a towel in a bowl of warm water mixed with one table spoon of alm

your face with the towel a few times. The combination of almond oil and

personally concocted almond preparation maintained her glowing, youth

body, keeping it supple, and milk baths moisturized her skin, bringing out

Empress Wu Tse-tien

Empress Wu Tse-tien (Wu Zetian, 625-705) was the only female emper

facto ruler of China through her husbands Emperor Taizong and his son

690. She broke all precedents in 690 when she founded her own Zhou d

Empress Wu Tse-tien (Wu Zetian, 625-705) was the only female emper

facto ruler of China through her husbands Emperor Taizong and his son

690. She broke all precedents in 690 when she founded her own Zhou d

Historical records speak of her youthful-looking complexion at the age o

main ingredient of Wu's facial beauty preparations.

Wu named one of her recipes "fairy powder."

Method

1. Pick Chinese Motherwort (yi mu cao) on the 5th day of the fifth lunar

2. Pound the herbs into powder, add flour and water and shape them int

3. Burn the pills and pound them into powder;

4. Add talcum powder and kermes (dried bodies of female scale insects

To use:

Wash face and body with the powder, morning and evening.

Wu also nourished her complexion with a more complex herbal facial ma

Method:

Mix with lard the powdered Chinese herbs Siebold wildginger (xi xin), Rh

root (huang qi), Typhonium rhizome (bai fu zi), Chinese yam (shan yao),

(chuan qiong), Radix angelicae dahuricae (bai zhi), and Fructus trichosa

To use:

Leave on for 10 minutes and rinse off with cold water.

Wu habitually ate food rich in protein and microelements, such as skin a

was also a devotee of aromatherapy, and would burn special herbs who

stay alert.

Princess Taiping

Princess Taiping was the youngest daughter of Wu Zetian and Emperor

during the reigns of her mother and two brothers (both of whom ruled tw

Emperor Ruizong (662-716). She was of particular influence during the l

during the reigns of her mother and two brothers (both of whom ruled tw

Emperor Ruizong (662-716). She was of particular influence during the l

Empress Wu shared her royal skincare recipes with her favorite daught

Princess Taiping's exclusive facial mask recipe:

Grind peach blossoms that have dried in the shade into powder and mix

The mask nourishes and whitens the skin and stimulates the metabolism

Soup made from this breed of "black-bone" chicken was, and still is, con

Tang dynasty women dosed themselves with black-bone concoctions to

regulate menstruation and inhibit leucorrhea (period pains).

Princess Yonghe

Princess Yonghe was the daughter of Tang Emperor Suzong (711-762).

facial cleanser and bath salts according to Taiping Shenghuifang (Taipin

Dynasty (960-1297) medical book.

Princess Yonghe's Herbal Bean Cleanser for expelling wind, stimulating

moisturizing the complexion.

Ingredients:

90g Radix et Sophorae Tonkinensis (ji gu xiang), 150g Radix angelicae

(chuan xiong), 150g Semen trichosanthis (gua lou ren), 300g Fructus gle

Semen phaseoli (chi xiao dou).

To use:

Wash your face with the powder, morning and evening.

Princess Yonghe's bath salts recipe for moisturizing the skin, removing s

Ingredients:

150g sheng glutinous rice, 30g oxhide gelatin, 30g Rhizoma et Radix lig

(chuan xiong), 30g Herba asari (xi xin), 30g Radix et Rhizoma nardostac

jia), 60g Radix angelicae dahuricae (bai zhi), 60g Lignum santali albi (ta

(chuan xiong), 30g Herba asari (xi xin), 30g Radix et Rhizoma nardostac

jia), 60g Radix angelicae dahuricae (bai zhi), 60g Lignum santali albi (ta

macrocephalae (bai zhu), 45g Poria (fu ling), 15g Lignum aquilariae resi

broussonetiae (chu shi zi)

To use:

Wash the face and hands with the powder

This herbal mixture cleanses, moisturizes and smoothes the skin and pr

Empress Dowager Cixi

Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908), popularly known as the West Dow

Clan. This powerful and charismatic figure was the behind-the-scenes ru

years between the death of her husband in 1861 and her own demise in

Cixi set up a medical organ specifically to carry out research on the me

pearl. Having maintained for decades the strict regimen of a daily draug

tonic herbs, the Empress Dowager Cixi was a vital woman whose face

Pearl Powder is a natural source of calcium made from the choicest fre

nervous system.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet that includes plenty of calcium are r

particularly women. Adequate calcium intake nourishes the bones and re

daily dosage in excess of 2,000 mg is surplus to most people's needs.

The Classical Chinese Materia Medica compiled by the famous Ming dy

pearl for facial skin health: "Spread on the face to lubricate the skin and

and feet to soften rough patches and smooth the skin."

But skin-care recipes only work on women who maintain an essentially

No amount of preparations or herbal remedies can mask the stress and

balanced mentality foster an inner beauty manifest in a balanced tempe

pursue beauty of mind as hotly as you do a pretty face?