"As long as she turns her head and smiles, a hundred spells will be cast, and the powder and paint in the sixth house will go up in smoke." This is a famous sentence that Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, described the charm of Yang Guifei in Song of Eternal Sorrow.

Yang Guifei's name is Yang Yuhuan. She was originally the beloved princess of Shouwang, the son of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. She is outstanding in appearance, familiar with melody and good at singing and dancing.

In order to get his son's beloved princess, Emperor Tang Ming chose to call her into the palace to teach her face to face, ordered her to become a monk temporarily, took her to practice, and named her "Taizhen". Soon after, he was called into the palace by Ming Chengzu, and was named the imperial concubine. After Yang Yuhuan entered the palace, in order to win the love of Ming Chengzu, he was "elegant in appearance, sensitive in words, graceful in posture, with the intention of being a monarch". The reason why she can be "three thousand charming and three thousand pampered in one" is inseparable from her beauty and makeup.

The cosmetics that Yang Guifei often uses are called "Yuhong Cream", and later generations also call it "Yang Taizhen Yuhong Cream".

The prescription is almond (peeled), talc, calomel, borneol, musk and egg white.

The blending method is to grind almond, talc and calomel into fine powder, steam them in a cage, then add borneol and musk, mix them with egg white and apply them to the face every morning. The almonds in this recipe are rich in fatty oil and have the effect of moistening the skin; As pale as snow, external application can not only make skin white and tender, but also treat various skin diseases, with moisturizing, cleaning and anti-inflammatory effects; Talc is very smooth and delicate. External use can not only absorb irritants and poisons on the skin, but also cover freckles, pigmentation and scars on the skin. Both borneol and musk are fragrant products, which can not only give fragrance, but also improve the local blood circulation and nutritional status of the skin, promote the absorption of pigments, moisturize the face and prevent skin aging; Egg white is white and delicate, rich in mucin. It can not only bond various ingredients in the formula, but also increase its adhesion to the skin, forming a thin film on the skin surface, which has the functions of heat preservation, moisturizing, wrinkle prevention and protecting the skin from various external stimuli. According to the relevant literature, this party can "make the face ruddy and shiny, and the color will be like ruby after ten days".

Second, Wu Zetian

Wu Zetian is the only female emperor in the history of China. Wenshui people in Bingzhou in Tang Dynasty. Because of his unusual beauty, he was chosen as a genius by Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin at the age of fourteen. After Taizong died, she became a nun. Later, Li Zhi became the emperor, called her into the palace, became Li Zhi's favorite princess, Tang Gaozong, and was soon named the queen. After her death, she established herself as the "Holy Emperor" and changed her name to Zhou, becoming the only female emperor in ancient China.

The reason why Wu Zetian was favored by two generations of emperors and was able to dominate the political arena for more than 40 years was closely related to her natural beauty and beauty. Wu Zetian's beauty secret recipe was included in the newly revised materia medica compiled during Wu Zetian's period and named as "Tianhou refined motherwort polished surface".

The Tang Dynasty's "The Secret of Outer Taiwan" is titled "The Great Sage Queen refined motherwort and kept Yanfang". The recipe is to collect the whole motherwort herb on May 5, dry it, pound it into powder, knead it into dough with flour and water, and if it is as big as an egg, dry it and put it in the furnace for burning. The medicine is covered with a layer of charcoal at the bottom and then with a layer of charcoal at the top. When you start to cook for about a meal, simmer for a day and a night. At this time, motherwort turns white. Take out the medicine and let it cool thoroughly. Pour it into a porcelain bowl and grind it into fine powder. Put it in a bottle and seal it to avoid getting wet. Take twelve ounces of motherwort ash each time, add one or two ounces of talc and one or two ounces of rouge, grind and wipe your face. The motherwort ash in this prescription is white and delicate, which is called "face medicine, which makes people shiny and ruddy" in materia medica, and can cure acne; The talcum powder is smooth and can absorb poisons and various irritating substances on the skin surface; Rouge, mostly fat rouge in ancient times, can make facial skin rosy. Wu Zetian, who used this beauty secret recipe for a long time, was still as young as a girl when she was in her forties. At the age of eighty-three, she still maintained a beautiful jade face. According to "Newly Revised Materia Medica", the function of this prescription lies in "keeping facial luster, reducing wrinkles, wiping and washing for a long time, and making the face as pale as jade".

Third, Zhang Lihua.

In Chen, there was a beloved princess named Zhang Lihua. In order to win the favor of her late owner, she tried her best to find the secret recipe of beauty. Finally, a beauty secret of the Queen Mother of the West was found in Pillow China. After use, it proved to be very beautiful, thus winning the favor of Chen Houzhu. This side is an egg and one or two cinnabar. When preparing, first grind vermilion into fine powder, then make a small hole in the egg, remove the yellow and leave it clear, put it into vermilion fine powder, and then seal the small hole with wax so that the hen can hatch with other eggs. After another chick hatches, take out the wax-sealed egg, remove the eggshell and grind the surface.

According to the elbow emergency prescription, "this egg powder is coated on the surface, making people tender, smooth and charming." Cinnabar is cinnabar, which is mainly used as a red pigment here. When this prescription is applied to the face, it can make the face white and red, smooth and delicate, not only can remove pigmentation on the face, but also can prevent skin aging and wrinkles. Therefore, Fang is Zhang Lihua's beauty secret recipe, so it is also called "Zhang Guifei Cream" by later generations. In the Ming Dynasty, the learned emperor Judy made some improvements in this respect, changing cinnabar into rouge and adding a small amount of brine sand, which was widely used in the palace. After being used by empresses, they all looked like jade, so later this party won the reputation of "beauty red".

Fourth, Cixi

Empress Dowager Cixi in Qing Dynasty is a famous political figure in China's modern history, and also a woman who pays great attention to health and beauty. According to historical records, Cixi's body was well maintained until her later years, especially her face. Due to proper maintenance, even in her sixties, she is still beautiful, with few wrinkles, smooth and white.

Every morning after taking a bath, Cixi will drink a cup of human milk and eat a teaspoon of pearl powder, and then lie in bed and let the eunuch gently coat her face with a layer of "flower liquid" soaked in fresh peach blossoms picked in spring, and then gently wipe it off with a soft towel after ten minutes. Cixi likes to eat poria cocos cakes. According to Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, "Poria cocos is flat and sweet. Long-term use can soothe the nerves, nourish the brain, strengthen the spleen and stomach and moisturize the skin. " According to Lu records in the Qing Dynasty, Cixi ordered the chef to "mix 70% white japonica rice, 30% white glutinous rice, 30% Poria cocos, lotus seed meat, longan meat, Gordon Euryale seed rice and yam, steam and cut into pieces. Cixi often ordered the chef to make tuckahoe cakes and give them to ministers at festivals.

After dinner, Cixi began to have an evening beauty. She ordered the eunuch to apply the egg white to the place where wrinkles are easy to appear on her face, and didn't wash the egg white with warm water until half an hour before going to bed. Then apply the beauty flower liquid extracted from honeysuckle. This honeysuckle liquid has rich astringency, which can shrink the pores of the skin after application, restore the elasticity of some skin that has just been stretched tightly by egg white, and at the same time, those fine wrinkles that have been produced can not be extended or expanded.

Contain ginseng to replenish vitality. This is another beauty technique of Cixi. The life activities of the body depend on the complementarity of qi and blood, and the harmony of qi and blood leads to vigorous spirit, strong physique, beautiful appearance and moaning without illness. Therefore, it is very important for women to regulate qi and blood, and Cixi knows this way of keeping in good health. According to the "Ginseng Book" of Empress Dowager Cixi, "From November 23rd, 26th to September 18th, 27th of Guangxu, there were 331 days, and * * * spent 2 Jin of ginseng, 121 yuan. That is, one dollar a day, and the daily package is taken every day. " It is said that Cixi can live to be 73 years old, which is also helpful.