The Trotula

The medieval cosmetics effectiveness was evaluated by testing one on ourselves and another on a doll.

The Trotula was a group of three texts involving women’s medicine that was written in Southern Italy by male physicians for male physicians. One of the Trotula’s section focuses on Women’s Cosmetics which included the recipes explored in this essay. The purpose of this section was to teach women how to improve themselves, except women did not read these resources. Instead, male physicians wanted to discover women’s secrets. Muslim women heavily influenced the beauty rituals written in the Trotula.

I chose this recipe because as a Muslim woman, I wear a veil on a daily basis and I can make this recipe on a daily basis. This recipe was done

Therefore, some of these recipes are tailored to people who live in locations with vast amounts of exotic ingredients or people who can afford other people to bring them these ingredients.

The focus on a woman’s appearance reflects the idea of women being objects whose only role was to look pretty for the males around her. Also, the better a woman looked the more beautiful the couple’s children would be. Beauty reflects health.

Noblewomen were taught to read and write.

They did not have health studies back then. A person whose health inside of their body is terrific will have naturally shiny, thick hair, clear and glowing skin, and other enviable traits without the use of cosmetics. Cosmetics are either used to enhance facial features or they are used to cover up facial complexes that a person wants hidden from other people. A man looking to marry a woman wants to find a woman who is healthy so she can produce healthy children. A woman’s role was typically limited to pleasing a man by being a pleasant wife and having as many children as possible.

Woman were also seen as suspicious which is why it was so important for these men to figure out what woman were