When Beauty Got Bizarre.
Non-cruelty-free botox. Fish pedicure. Snake spa. Mannnnn, we were just about absorbing these when we opened another Pandora’s box!
This week, the Google ninja in us found the most bizarre, ridiculous, and crazy beauty practices around the world that women still follow in some parts. Now, we aren’t talking about “turmeric packs all over the body” that our mommies and aunties swear by or “use beetroot juice in your hair-dye for a natural red colour” crazy. We are talking about REAL crazy, almost unbelievable. But do believe them, this sh*t has been happening!
Source:https://media.tenor.com/images/6554e9335662fa11f0d640f944e6147e/tenor.gif
Wanna know them? Get cringing with us.
Blinded by doe-eyed beauty
Yea, we’d love a good doe-eyed look too but we aren’t going to risk going blind, are we? Once upon a time women squeezed drops out of the deadly nightshade plant and willfully had it put in their eyes to dilate pupils for that doe-eyed innocence. That came along with intense heart palpitations, inability to see clearly, and eventual blindness in some cases.
Source:
https://media1.tenor.com/images/6592367ef2496a69424d661d372c35fa/tenor.gif?itemid=7944285
It LEAD to this
Okay, firstly, skin flaws are fine, natural and human! Deal with it! But back then, women bearing the brunt of beauty standards, of course, wanted to cover up their “flaws”, blemishes and pox scars to look desirable. Lead was a cheap thrill (literally!) they resorted to
that gave a smooth, matte, even finish at the cost of paralysis, multiple organ failure and other complications.
Source:
https://www.scoopwhoop.com/bizarre-beauty-practices-from-history/
Tall, long, and beautiful?
No, that’s not our description of an “ideal” man. That’s how the KayanLahwi tribe likes the neck of their women. Imagine wearing a coiled metal brace around your neck day in and day out, even when you’re asleep! It sounds downright painful in the name of beauty. While it gives an illusion of a “desirable” giraffe neck, it also droops your shoulders and alters your bone formation.
Source:
https://www.youngisthan.in/lifestyle/what-do-you-know-about-the-giraffe-women/75565
Faux nose job
While we love what the contour could do for that faux nose job, young men and women proudly sport bandages on the bridge of their nose. While in several cases it’s to hide an actual nose job scarring, some sport it only as an accessory of prestige. Why? Because it’s straight up associated with affluence and you’re “the bomb” if you’re able to afford and brave through it.
Source:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5gk7m8/shes-so-najoor-0000467-v21n10
Tapeworm before Keto
Blame the years of body shaming but it’s true. Women actually fell for the tapeworm diet years ago where they would be bred inside the intestines to cause weight loss and a slim waist. Let’s not forget the life-threatening meningitis, abdominal and rectal damages, dementia and other complications it would bring along.
Source:
https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AdvancedPastelAmericanratsnake-max-1mb.gif
White? Or black?
Teeth whitening, we get it. It’s a sign of oral hygiene if done correctly. But blackening? Japan’s “Ohaguro” custom was a process of dyeing your teeth black, introduced to kids at the mere age of 5. Upon rubbing chemicals on the dentures for years, the teeth would blacken and make the person “more attractive”. Due to the intense suffering and reactions faced by the kids, Japan finally banned this in 1870.
Source:
https://imgur.com/gallery/ar0ZKUt
What the kiss!
Who doesn’t love a jooocy, plump pout? But, did you know the Mursi tribe of Ethiopia takes it a step ahead? They get a lip filler (like a literal lip filler) as close to a size of a plate no sooner the girl hits puberty. The bigger the plate, the more attractive the more (the more the pain too but who cares, right?). And the more attractive the women, the better the potential husband, they believe.
Source:
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/399483429416927556/
Through these bizarre practices, one thing is clear. While very few of them are done for “religious” or “scientific” reasons, these are customs to make women more desirable to men or ways to hide beauty insecurities. So much for breaking stereotypes that have been built over the years!
