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Recreating Renaissance beauty products

Popular beauty recipes from Renaissance Europe are being recreated and analysed by the Beautiful Chemistry Project, a cross-faculty team at the University of Auckland.

Queen Elizabeth I

A recipe to make the face fair and sweeten the breath. Published in English in The Queen's Closet Opened.

The Queen's Closet Opened was first published in 1655. It is divided into three sections covering medical remedies, confectionery and general culinary recipes.

Alessio Piemontese, also known under his Latinized name of Alexius Pedemontanus, was the pseudonym of a 16th-century Italian physician, alchemist, and author of the immensely popular book, The Secrets of Alexis of Piedmont.

An Italian version of the recipe to make the face fair. From the popular book The Secrets of Alexis of Piedmont.

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.