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Episode 115

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Published on:

26th Feb 2026

EP - 115 - Skincare Before Science: Inside Medieval Beauty Culture

Welcome, my love buckets!

Step into the real world of medieval beauty- a place where "glowing skin" meant experimenting with ingredients that ranged from clever to catastrophic.

In this episode, I peel back the rituals, recipes, and dangerously creative practices that shaped the medieval ideal face, and the women who kept that knowledge alive. Some of what you'll hear will shock you, some will weirdly make sense, and some might feel unsettlingly familiar.

If you think modern beauty culture is intense... wait until you hear where we came from. By the end, you might start questioning how different we really are today.

Are. You. Ready?

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Featured AD:

If you love wandering into the stranger corners of history with me, you'll want to hear the trailer for my new narrative show, Murder Through Time: A Whodunit Across the Centuries. Each episode drops you into a different era as you unravel a real case shaped by the customs, dangers, and secrets of its time. You're not just listening, you're the detective. You'll hear the teaser in today's episode, and you can listen to the first episode right now wherever you get your podcasts.

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Sources & Further Reading:

Monica H. Green, The Trotula: A Medieval Compendium of Women’s Medicine (University of Pennsylvania Press).

S. Pisanti et al., “The Medieval Skincare Routine According to the Formulations of Magistra Trotula,” UNESCO Chair Salerno / University of Salerno.

Walters Art Museum Journal, “Becoming a Blond in Late Fifteenth-Century Venice.”

The Recipes Project (academic collective): articles on Vergel de Señores and Moorish women’s cosmetic expertise.

The British Library, digitized medieval medical and cosmetic manuscripts.

Diana Luft, Medieval Welsh Medical Texts: The Recipes (University of Wales Press) — ingredient lists including goat urine.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Loeb Classical Library edition) — ancient uses of urine, skin treatments, and cleansing agents.

Becky Little, “The Strange and Dangerous History of Toxic Makeup,” National Geographic.

Science Museum Group, “Dangerous Beauty: Hazardous Chemicals in Historic Cosmetics.”

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Apple Podcast:

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Intro/Outro Music:

“Fame Inc” by Savvier — https://icons8.com/music

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About the Podcast

Beauty Unlocked the podcast
Buckle up and get ready as I delve into a variety of topics regarding physical beauty.

We'll take a look at our society's obsession with physical beauty and the consequences these impossible beauty standards have had on us.
Let's face it; this fascination regarding physical beauty and body image isn't a recent phenomenon; it has been around for centuries, crossing borders, and has affected men and women alike.
The realization of this podcast has come about by my own experiences having to deal with society's perverse notion of physical "perfection" and researching an array of topics that have intrigued me over the years.
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About your host

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Carissa Vikis

Hey there!
I'm Carissa, host, content creator, and producer of the indie podcast Beauty Unlocked.
Growing up, I was frequently compared and criticized for my looks and weight. This started the vicious cycle of being self-critical and loathing my body. I knew I wasn't the only one suffering from society's ridiculous notion of what "we should look like." I started digging deeper and researching various topics, and the rest is h(er)story!
Beauty Unlocked The Podcast aims to educate and bring awareness of our society's obsession with physical beauty and the emotional consequences these impossible beauty standards have. Beauty Unlocked's social media platform showcases not only my work but that of other artists, illustrators, and fellow podcasters that I admire and that share a similar message of inspiration, empowerment, positivity, and raising awareness on a variety of social issues.