In times of Maricastaña

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who ate only rose petals and drank dewdrops. One day, the beautiful princess went to the garden to collect certain miraculous herbs that would make her even more beautiful..."

Those were the times of Maricastaña, when the fairies were at home and lived among mortals and magic was the order of the day. Those were the times when flowers and animals knew how to speak and the world ended there, on the horizon, just as far as the eye could reach, peering from the walls of a castle or from the top of a bell tower. Back then there were no perfumers or cosmetologists and, at most, you could rely on some ointment or beauty filter prepared according to the instructions of the alchemist on duty or the fashionable herbalist.

Well, since today plant cures (phytotherapy) are achieving great diffusion and creams and lotions extracted from plants have shown that they have great attraction among the general public, (I am not going to talk to you about fine jewelry or of ethnic earrings...) I have dusted off old scrolls that date back to the end of the 16th century and that contain several recipes of this type that are easy to make.

These treatments are especially useful in autumn, when facial skin appears tired and dry due to constant exposure to the sun's rays.

Autumn, therefore, is the best time to test these old beauty recipes, recipes that were in fashion when Maricastaña still existed.

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Removes freckles and other impurities.

Take a handful of fennel seeds and grind them into powder by passing them through the electric grinder or in the mortar. Then mix this powder with an equal amount of barley flour and two egg whites beaten until stiff. You have to mix everything carefully until you obtain a smooth paste to spread over the face and neck, in a homogeneous layer two or three millimeters thick.

The mask should be kept on the face and neck for about 20 minutes; Then, remove the paste with warm water and soften the skin with a little cream that we normally use.

Repeat the treatment every five days until the freckles and other possible spots that worry us so much disappear completely.