Ancient Roman times were a real turning point in history. With so much significance happening at that time that moved human beings and the world in a different direction. Of course we know about the big historical factors that were prominent during that time, we often discuss skin care and got to thinking about roman baths. Were Roman baths good for skin?

Roman baths were essentially a common bathing area that were in every town. Similar to a swimming pool, of sorts, they were public bath houses that gave citizens a place to bathe.

In addition to bathing being something that was done in a common place, the interesting thing about Roman baths was that it was a practice that they took very seriously. They started in one room and would work their way into other rooms that go progressively hotter. Before getting into the baths and rooms they would add oil to their bodies. This process was believed to help clean out their pores, eliminate sweat and dirt from their skin. Finally, they would go into a cooler room to finish the bathing process.

It wasn’t something that’s like what we practice in today’s bathing habits but it was found to be incredibly great for the skin. Because of the gradual process of exposing the skin to warmer and warmer water, it was seen as opening up pores in a gentle manner, rather than quickly jolting the skin with hot water. Of course, starting the process with oil on the skin helped to give the skin added moisture throughout the process.