Two weeks ago, I did the thyroid massage that Ninon de L’Enclos supposedly did in the 17th century which may have contributed to her legendary beauty. And oh my gosh I never expected so many feedbacks especially on the other elements that I mentioned besides massage.
Thank you so much for taking your time to share your opinions. I’m thoroughly enjoying different views. I’m just overwhelmed and it’s taking me a long time to reply but eventually I will. I believe you can do whatever you want as you please as long as you don’t hurt anyone physically or mentally and you take responsibility of your own choices.
I honor and respect your choice and I embrace diversity. There’s no way one way of living fits everyone. If there are 100 people there are 100 ways of living based on different views and values and I think it’s beautiful. I would not tell you how you “should” live your life based on my values because I’m not you and it’s your business, not my business. I mind my own business but I’m happy for you if you are happy with yourself and with your life.
This week I’m going to try Ninon de L’Enclos’ Beauty Tonic that I mentioned at the end of the other video. I looked for the original recipe but I came across different variations. I think this one is as close to the original as I can find on the internet. I also found out she used to take a bath every day and she had her own bath recipe but that’s for another time.
Here’s the recipe: 4 oz of Almond Oil, 3 oz of Lard, 1 oz of Spermaceti which is a waxy substance that is taken from a sperm whale’s head cavity. It was used in candles and cosmetics but now it’s illegal to use, thank god, so beeswax will be used instead. And unknown amount of onion juice, and unknown amount of Rose water.
- 4 oz. of Almond Oil
- 3 oz. of Lard
- 1 oz. of Spermaceti (beeswax)
- Onion juice
- Rose water
I’m using organic Almond Oil
Organic onion,
I couldn’t find organic lard. In fact, I couldn’t find lard for a long time because I assumed it would be in a refrigerated section next to butter, but it was hiding in an unrefrigerated baking section.
and Organic Rose water.
If you are allergic to almond oil, you can do it without it because one viewer said there was no almond oil in the original recipe as stated in the book but I couldn’t get the title of the referenced book and I couldn’t find the recipe in this Life, Letters and Epicurean Philosophy of Ninon de L’Enclos book. So if anyone can find the original recipe, better yet in French, please let me know.
I didn’t know how much onion juice to put so I grated ¼ of onion and squeezed the juice using a cheesecloth now dedicated for this task only. I tried garlic press but I had to cut up the onion into small pieces to crush little at a time so grating and squeezing was easier. 1 oz. of beeswax. 4 oz. of Almond Oil in a separate glass dish. Add 3 oz. of lard.
Then I put a pan with water on the heat and mix the almond oil and the lard in a small glass bowl. After the lard is melted and mixed in a double-boiler method, I added the beeswax. After the beeswax was melted, I put the onion juice and mix. Turn off the heat. It smells like onion for sure. Then add rose water. I used 1 teaspoon because that’s what one recipe that I saw said.
I then took it out of the water and cooled it down. I stirred in the beginning and after about 20 minutes it starts to solidify and become opaque. This is 30 minutes. 40 minutes. 50 minutes. And one hour. I think you call this a cream rather than tonic. It’s like a softer lard enhanced with onion smell.
Now this is a lot of cream or more like grease. This will last for a looong time.
I put it on my face, forehead and neck before bed. Before you go to bed, this cream is known to stain so protect your pillow with a towel or something. I actually did some of the Tanaka face massage with this lubricant. It worked perfectly. I’ll put the link above and below.
Definitely not a beauty product to please your olfactory sense or sense of smell.
So I woke up with about half the grease still on my face and neck. I think some are absorbed and some are rubbed off. It’s like there is no way your face will be dry with this. Before I wiped it off, guess what I did with the leftover lubricant. Morning arm exercise! Gotta tighten those guns. If you don’t know what I’m talking about I’m going to put the link here and here.
I then wiped it off with this Witch Hazel toner and the cotton pad which I think someone said to do. It is alcohol-free. It’s refreshing while the skin remains moist. I’ve also seen to use micellar water to clean your face. Again, I don’t know what Ninon did but this works for me. I would not wash your face first before wiping off the grease because the grease may clog the drain especially if you do this daily.
I’ve only done this one day and I’m not expecting to see any results. The skin turnover rate is 4-6 weeks depending on your age. So I’m going to try this for at least a month. But I can tell you my skin does feel nice and plump even after taking a shower and wash with soap like normal. And I actually put the cream just on my left hand before I went to bed for an experiment. And I think my left hand is slightly lighter toned. I should have taken a before picture but I think this is a good start. I don’t know if you can tell. So I’m going to continue with this experiment too and I will report if I notice any changes. Again, this is a long-term experiment of 40 years and my goal is to look like this in 2058. Actually, stroke runs in my family so it will be a miracle if I live that long.
Next time I will make much smaller batch than this using the same ratio, maybe using a tablespoon. That way it will be much faster to cool down and solidify and possibly it won’t spoil. I may put more onion and rose water too to see how much my nose can tolerate. I’m thinking, I’m just speculating, maybe Ninon made this much to share with her lover of the time too because I cannot imagine being next to someone covered up in this.
Massage Monday #428 – Ninon de L’Enclos’ Beauty Cream http://bit.ly/mm-428