VEAL BEAUTY

Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Queen of Hungary, also known as Sisi, was renowned throughout Europe for her beauty. She had long, luscious hair that took hours to style, kept a slim figure through rigorous exercise and “tight-lacing”, but was most famous for her youthful appearance—which she was allegedly obsessed with maintaining. Sisi famously wore a leather mask filled with raw veal or crushed strawberries to sleep, almost like a modern sheet mask. Strawberries, a natural source of alpha-hydroxy acid and vitamin C, brighten and smooth skin, while the fats and proteins in veal would have kept her skin moisturised. As few people today would sign up to wear raw meat on the face in the name of good skin, just use a glycolic toner for the same effects—more quickly and cleanly.