Women's Facial Cosmetics

Ovid. P. Ovidius Naso, Volume 1: Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Ehwald, Rudolf; Merkel, Rudolph; editors. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1907.

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Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.

This poetic work by Ovid focuses on women's beauty and skincare. In the first half, the poet uses examples such as agriculture, architecture, and dyeing to argue for the importance of cultivation (cultus) and care over raw nature, while also emphasizing that inner moral beauty is what truly endures. The second half shifts to highly practical advice, detailing specific recipes and precise measurements for facial creams using natural ingredients like barley, daffodil bulbs, honey, and myrrh. Combining poetic elegance with genuine cosmetic instructions, the work functions as a practical beauty guide. Ultimately, it presents a unique blend of moral virtue and cosmetic art as the key to female beauty.