I Bathed Like an Ancient Roman. For Science

Ancient beauty rituals and products are often popularized for marketing purposes because it makes the consumer feel like they are doing something more natural, healthy, or embracing a collective cultural nostalgia. It is worth understanding how ancient people took care of themselves for the historical and social understanding of the time period and place, but while we’re at it, we might as well see if they make us prettier in the process.

I tried my best to replicate an ancient Roman bathing ritual to see how I would feel. It was the “everything shower” on steroids, and this is how it went.

Romans used a tool called a strigilis to scrape themselves after covering the body in olive oil. Since I don’t have one and this step is meant to remove oil and dirt, open the pores and exfoliate skin, I did this my own way.

The first step was dry brushing my skin. The dry brush is a coarse bristle brush that helps to bring circulation to the skin surface and gently slough off dead skin cells. I used brisk upward strokes on my arms, legs, stomach, chest, and wherever I could reach on my back, and all in the direction of my heart because this technique is said to improve lymph flow, so it is best to brush in the direction of lymphatic drainage pathways. This was one of the ways I simulated the effect of the strigilis.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/adc4a6_ec14d1a1b67046ae99e35046188426a6/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Secondly, it was customary for Romans to enter a sauna, which I also don’t have, so I did the next best thing to make me sweat: a Pilates workout on the FitOn app. After an uncomfortably warm 23 minutes, I continued the sauna effect by going into my bathroom and filling the tub with hot water while I completed the oil massage step.

I then proceeded to thoroughly massage my body in olive oil. I used my hands and a gua sha stone to release the tension from my muscles, especially ones that are difficult to loosen such as the back of my neck. The bathroom was filling with steam as the tub was filling, so between that and the labor of the massage, I was definitely sweating out whatever toxins I didn’t want.

After about 20 minutes of kneading myself and feeling like a basted Thanksgiving turkey, I slid into the salted bathtub. I mixed Epsom and Himalayan pink salts together to replicate the mineral-rich composition of ancient geothermal baths. Though I couldn’t replicate the exact mineral profile, the salts helped to further relax my muscles and cleanse my skin.

I further simulated the purpose of the strigilis by scraping off the oil with a men’s Gillette razor. Not quite the same, but it fulfilled the purpose of removing the oil by scraping (which was considered a magical substance in the ancient world. I’m serious!), and with it came dead skin cells, dirt, sweat, and of course any body hair I had. I did this to my entire body (at least that which I could reach), and took my time as this was supposed to be a relaxing experience— but if I’m honest it was a laborious process.

After some time in the “caldarium”, or the hot bath, the next step was the frigidarium, or the cold bath. The tub started to cool anyway after spending so long shaving the oil, so I drained the tub and then took a cool (not frigid) shower, where I washed my hair, shaved any little spots I missed, and used a bit of soap to cleanse heavy excess oil from my back, chest, and other naturally oily areas. By the time I was done, I felt like Venus herself.

So, was it worth it?

My review: This is a ritual that I know I wouldn’t have the energy or time to do more than once a month. I felt refreshed and beautified after my experience, but there are many other ways to replicate these effects. Exfoliation should always be part of any skincare regimen, whether that be through dry brushing, sugar scrubs, exfoliating shower gloves, or any other method. I will concede that my skin felt clear, bright and moisturized, which you can see in the picture below, but once again, there are multiple ways to achieve this that are much easier. Massages are excellent support for the body’s self-cleansing ability and muscle health, and you could just as easily do this by applying lotion or oil after any shower and hand-kneading your muscles. Essentially the magic of this routine is that it is complete with all of the principles of good spa care: exfoliation, circulation/lymph support, muscle relaxation, skin moisturization and deep cleansing. We are lucky enough to live in a time period where there are widely accessible, convenient, and affordable ways to do all of these things. My verdict is that nothing beats basic principles of good self care, so stick with your favorite ways of upholding those principles, and only follow trends and fads if you genuinely like them.