ROMAN CULTURE BEAUTY

Freckles in Ancient Rome

The Beauty Trend You Didn’t Know Wasn’t Trending

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Picture this: You’re a freckle-faced Roman wandering the cobblestone streets of the bustling Forum, sandal-straps slapping the ground, tunic billowing in the breeze, and some toga-wearing philosopher just gave you the stink-eye because your face looks like an overripe fig. It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong — you’re just rocking the freckles that centuries of ancestors generously gifted you. But here in Ancient Rome, beauty standards were as high as the Aqueducts, and, to put it bluntly, freckles were… well, let’s just say they weren’t the hottest accessory.

Imagine Cleopatra — she of the smoky eye and god-tier cat eyeliner — getting a beauty consult from her Roman counterparts. Romans preferred their elite women pale as a marble statue. Freckles? They were basically as popular as the thought of barbarians in the Senate. The beauty regimen of the day? It involved everything from chalky pastes to lighten the skin to unguentum, which sounds fancier than “face cream” but…