Thousands of years ago, men and women in the pre-Qin Dynasty picked flowers and plants provided by nature, wove them into garlands, put them on their heads, dried them in the sun and made them into sachets to give to their loved ones.

"The Book of Songs·Qinwei": "The Weishi and the girl were chatting with each other and gave him a spoon of medicine." This "spoon of medicine" is a kind of vanilla, also known as "Gracilaria".

At that time, men and women who were in love with each other would give each other Gracilaria when parting to express their feelings of separation.

In this way, in the thousands of years of Chinese incense culture, a wide variety of incense with different uses was born.

Incense had so many uses in ancient times and its uses are so wide that we can hardly match them now.

The ancient countries that used incense to live in China had different preferences for beauties.

In "Nine Songs: Mrs. Xiang", Lord Xiang built a palace with various fragrant woods and herbs, waiting for Mrs. Xiang's arrival. The walls of this palace were made of peppercorns and mud.

In the Han Dynasty, there was a famous palace in Weiyang Palace called "Jiaofang Palace", which was the residence of the queen.

"The red mud pepper palace is decorated with beads and ornaments, and the tents are furrowed with golden dragons and the ground is long."

This kind of favor can be compared to "when a concubine rides on the earth and laughs, no one knows that it is a lychee." The subjugated emperor of the Southern Dynasties went even further. He did everything he could to the beauty Zhang Lihua, and built Linchun, Jieqi, Wangxian, etc.

The materials of the three incense pavilions are mostly precious incense materials such as agarwood and sandalwood. It is said that when the breeze blows, the fragrance will linger for a long time. When you get up in the morning, you need to use "osmanthus oil" to make up your hair.

The "osmanthus oil" here is hair oil (equivalent to modern styling gel and conditioner).

Collect the sweet-scented osmanthus and boil it until it is half boiled, then stir it with sesame oil, seal it in a ceramic jar, put it in a pot and cook it over high heat for a while.

Then take it out and put it in a dry place for more than ten days, then pick up the sweet-scented osmanthus and you can get the finished product.

Girls like to comb their hair properly and apply osmanthus oil on their heads, so that their hair will not be messy and the hair will not dry out easily.

The powder on the face is also vague.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was butterfly powder made from fine corn; in the Song Dynasty, there was Jade Girl Peach Blossom powder made from gypsum, talc, clam powder, wax fat, shell musk deer and motherwort; in the Ming Dynasty, there were pearls refined from white jasmine flowers.

Powder; in the Qing Dynasty, there were pearl powder made by directly grinding pearls into powder.

This fragrant powder needs to be mixed with some fragrant flower dew to prepare it. When you apply it on your face, the smell will spread out and it smells very good.

Girls also like to prepare rouge. "Rouge" is actually made from a kind of flower called "red and blue". After drying, it can be turned into a paste and put into the incense box. When using it in the future, just soak it in water.

Use its red juice to smear your cheeks and lips, making them look rosy and beautiful.

The most important thing after that is the eyebrow drawing.

Of course, eyebrow ink is also made of spices. Add borneol and musk to the ink stand, dip it in a small special eyebrow pencil, and draw left and right strokes in front of the mirror. You can choose to have eyebrows with eyebrows or split eyebrows... it's all no problem.

Some girls also have special lip balm, which is made of henna mixed with wax, or made with precious spices added. It is packed in a pocket-sized red box, put a little on the lips, and it will look like a vermilion flower.

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After finishing dressing up, the maids put on the ladies the brocade clothes and skirts that had been scented overnight.

Smoking is to burn prepared fragrant pills in an incense burner or fumigation cage. The fragrant pills must be specially mixed with honey and cannot be too dry.

Hang the clothes on the incense burner and light the incense overnight to keep the clothes clean and fragrant.

One of the most famous romances in ancient times is bathing with incense. I personally think that Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty secretly watched Zhao Hede take a bath.

At that time, Zhao Feiyan and her sister Zhao Hede were favored by Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty at the same time. They were favored by Emperor Bo. They bathed in exquisite fragrant soup. Zhao Hede used cardamom incense. Once Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty happened to see Zhao bathing, and he was extremely obsessed with it.

A bathhouse was specially built for her.

Later generations described the scene of Zhao Hede taking a bath as follows: "The orchid soup is flowing, and Zhaoyi is sitting in it, as if three feet of cold spring were soaking bright jade." No wonder Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty did not hesitate to leave behind this eternal anecdote.

When this ancient woman took a bath, she not only had to boil fragrant soup, but also sprinkled fresh petals picked in the morning in the wooden basin. The beauty walked into the bath with her black hair hanging down. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were also jasmine or roses.

The soap made from dew is fragrant when applied to the body.

Five generations later, after taking a bath, floral dew made from fresh flowers and plants was evenly patted on the face, hands, and body, and the types of floral dew were counted. Each has its own merits, and the effects vary with the season.

After applying the floral dew, you often add some fragrant powder, sometimes called "Fu Shen Fragrance Powder", to rub it all over the body. These are ground into fine powder with spices such as cloves and spikenard, and mixed in a small dish. They can nourish the body and make the skin

Fair and clean.

At this time, the maid had put some soothing spices in the room early, and used a small fan to diffuse the strong fragrance beside the incense burner. As soon as she stepped in, the twilight was over.

From the functions and growth conditions of aromatic plants, the ancients discovered many species that are beneficial to the human body, such as warming and regulating qi, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, dispelling wind and dampness, dispersing and clearing away heat.

Use natural and healthy ingredients and add spices to enhance its taste and medicinal properties.

Food and health go hand in hand.