Tea at Trianon: Centuries-Old Beauty Rituals

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, June 21, 2019

Centuries-Old Beauty Rituals

Old methods, tried and true. From the Trianon Health and Beauty Blog:

Our creams, especially the Midnight Bouquet Beauty Treatment, work well as hand creams. From Vogue:

If it was good enough for Marie Antoinette, it's good enough for us. The infamous French Queen (1755-1793) is often referenced in relation to beauty treatments and rituals – she was known to apply balms and moisturisers to her hands, then put on a pair of gloves to sleep in to allow the potions to do their job.Today’s in-salon solutions are not too dissimilar. Paraffin treatments follow the same method – hands are dipped into warm wax and then wrapped to allow the wax to hydrate and soothe the skin at a deeper level; the wax is also thought to ease joint pain such as rheumatoid arthritis. At-home, apply a deeply nourishing hand cream, followed by cotton gloves overnight (or just for a few hours) for super-smooth effects. (Read more.)