text: Women and vanity have always gone hand in hand. Indeed, archaeologists have been known to find the remains of bodies clutching make-up, beauty tools in graves and detailed beauty manuals from bygone times. While they may not have had vampire facials, cellulite cream and contouring kits at their disposal, the women of ancient history had some fascinating methods for beautifying themselves. The women of ancient history, including Mary Queen of Scots, who washed herself in white wine, had some fascinating methods for beautifying themselves . Cleopatra, for one, had some interesting methods and even penned a book documenting her most prized beauty secrets. The famed Egyptian beauty famously bathed in donkey-milk baths. Her daily donkey-milk baths, which she believed had anti-ageing and skin smoothing properties thanks to the alpha hydroxy acids, apparently required over 700 donkeys to accomplish. She often mixed donkey-milk with crocodile dung to create a face mask and also bathed in rose petals to leave her skin smelling sweet. Egyptian queen Nefertiti, meanwhile, loved to make her own cosmetics, including her own blend of eyeliner using lead-based kohl, and clay and crushed beetles as blusher. Cleopatra, left, the famed Egyptian beauty, famously bathed in donkey-milk baths, while Empress Elisabeth of Austria, right, loved to conjure up her own face creams in the 19th century . The goddesses of Ancient Greece strove to achieve a pale complexion and made honey and olive oil-based concoctions to achieve this. They used a combination of white lead and olive oil to whiten the skin and created an on-trend monobrow using dark powder. Bleach blonde hair was coveted in Ancient Greece and women doused themselves in vinegar to get the look. Meanwhile, the ladies of ancient India used cow dung and urine to boost their beauty regime and were said to treat problem skin and cracked heels using the bizarre ingredient. A rouge pout came courtesy of betel leaves, which  women would chomp on. The Geishas of Japan used rice flour to whiten their faces and cleansed with nightingale poop . The Geishas of Japan - particularly in the Heian era - achieved black teeth with oxidised iron fillings steeped in an acidic solution. Faces were whitened using rice flour and removed using nightingale poop, a treatment that beauty salons are adding to their menus today. Over in China, female emperor Wu Zetian mixed Chinese motherwort with cold water to cleanse her face. Mary, Queen of Scots was said to wash her body in white wine, which, thanks to its antiseptic alcohol content, was deemed to help boost her complexion. Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria loved to conjure up her own face creams in the 19th century. She mixed spermaceti (a wax found in the head of sperm whales), rosewater and almond oil and coated her face with the substance daily. She was also fond of creating a DIY night mask using raw veal and crushed strawberries.
target: Mary Queen of Scots washed herself in white wine .
  Ancient Indian women used cow dung and urine to boost their beauty .
  Cleopatra bathed in donkey-milk to achieve smooth skin .