Dung for healthy, youthful skin
The Ancient Greeks respected a clever mind. They were the founders of philosophy, after all. But they also loved physical beauty just as much, if not more so. As such, as well as spending plenty of time exercising naked in their gyms, they also invested a whole load of time and energy on their skincare, using a wide range of treatments to keep themselves looking young and pretty. And, of course, some of them were more effective or more disgusting than others.
To be fair, not all their skincare methods would make you retch. Some are still used today, in fact. The Greeks made good use of things that surrounded them. This included olives, with olive oil being used not just for cooking but for keeping skin looking bright and wrinkle-free too. Both women and men would also regularly exfoliate using sea salt, while it was also commonplace to use a whole range of flowers and herbs to nourish dry skin or even for cosmetic purposes. At the same time, women would use white lead or chalk to make their faces look paler and so more aristocratic. While most probably effective, the lead, in particular, was far from healthy and may well have caused fatal poisoning.
However, as well as being surrounded by olives, the Greeks were also surrounded by animals. And that meant animal dung everywhere. Far from being a nuisance, some vain folk saw this as an opportunity, Crocodile poo, in particular, was held up as an effective skincare treatment. Like their Roman counterparts, Hellenistic men and women would mix the dung up with mud and then spread it over their face. If they had the means and the money, they might also have a whole dung bath in order to feel truly rejuvenated.
Sometimes, things went too far. Consider the story of the Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Afflicted by swollen skin, he decided the best course of action would be some dung therapy. He buried himself in warm dung and mud in order to treat his condition. However, he stayed in the pile too long and ended up overheating and dying!