7 BEAUTY SECRETS OF THE NAVAHO TRIBE

What we consider today as “beauty secrets” and “new beauty achievements” have actually been part of the beauty routine of many Native American tribes for a long time ago.

These civilizations have got a crystal clear power of beauty, based on the ancient wisdom which passes through generations as well as their long-lived connection to nature and herbs.

The living conditions were hard but this did not stop them from creating their beauty products. In fact, they had to produce their own medicines and healthy mixtures, the ingredients of which are still valuable to the beauty industries. I bet you know how beautiful are the Native American Women. Their unique beauty is mostly because of their mental balance too. They used nuts and plants for healing and revitalization with always respecting Mother earth.

It was this summer that I visited four different states of America during an amazing Road Trip which I have been planning for a long time; California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. You can watch my whole trip at my Instagram account and ROADTRIPS category in this blog as well.

The most interesting stop of this trip was the Monument Valley at Navajo Tribal Park. I spent my night in a clay Navajo Hogan without water or electric power, just in the middle of nowhere. This experience made me wonder about the Navajo culture and especially, how women’s beauty secrets survived through these living conditions.

Just think that Dené tribe lives at Monument Valley where there is no safe water and they must travel 40 kilometres on a daily basis in order to get supplies. They do not have the comforts or the beauty products we do but, they create their own natural products out of nuts, cereals flowers, spices and cacti.

So, I found out the beauty secrets of the Navajo tribe and I’m sure they will travel you back in time. They are just wonderful- trust me-!

SWEET GRASS FOR LIP PROTECTION

The Sweet Grass or the Sweet Spring Flower has always been very famous among native American civilizations. They have so much respect for this plant as they believe it was the first “plant inhabitant” on Mother earth. It is their sacred plant and is appreciated as a gift.

A tea made out of Sweet Grass’s dried leaves has been used for removing body toxins and for shiner hair –a characteristic of Navajo women-. Apart from that, because of its beautiful scent with vanilla hues, it was used as a hair freshener and in winter days, as a lip balm, for protecting their lips from cold.

BLUE CORN FOR FACE SCRUB

Navajo people used to clean up their face with blue corn. They used grinded corn as a natural scrub in order to remove the dead cells from their skin as well as refresh the new ones. Nowadays, the blue corn is still a basic ingredient in Navajo’s routine and it is usually used as a face purifying means before their rituals.

SAW PALMENTO PALM TREE FOR HAIR GROWTH

The extract of Saw Palmento’s Nuts is a miracle-herb which consists of a wide variety of phyto-chemical elements with strong antioxidants. The Native American Tribes, used this herb for strengthening both hair and skin, due to its ability to balance the women’s hormones in a very effective way. Also because of its anti-androgenic effect, women used the herb to get rid of any undesired hair, mostly in their face.

ALOE AS CLEANSING SOAP

 We are talking about a widely used plant in the today’s beauty industry. Navajo used aloe not only as a way to relieve their skin from the hot sun and dry weather of the desert but also as a soap, which of course, didn’t even constitute a product, like we know it today.

WILD MINT AS HAIR MIRACLE OIL

Navajo women used to treat their hair with wild mint. Its extract was used as a wonderful --and absolutely efficient -hair oil. They also used to make mint bouquets and dive them in hot water in order to boost their body skin.

FIREWEED WILDFLOWER FOR PROTECTING THE SKIN FROM COLD

The Fireweed’s roots have been valuable for the Native American Tribes. Navajo particularly, were drying the root of the flower until it had a powder-like shape and used it as a skin protection for the cold winters in North America. Of course, the powder we know today has nothing to do with that of the ancient civilizations back then.

The make-up routine was an exclusive men privilege. Men used to cover their faces with the classic colorful lines along their cheekbones. Women were not allowed to have their own make-up routine but I think that this is the reason why they were so wisely concentrated on their skin and hair care.

YUCCA PLANT TO FIGHT HAIR LOSS

There were many tribes that used Yucca as the miracle-plant to fight against hair loss. The young plant’s roots were used as a cleansing shampoo while the older ones as a stronger hair care, just like the “modern” hair mask. In addition, it was suggested for newborns and was used in a ritual way to strengthen the baby’s hair as healthily as possible.

Almost all the above tips are still used, like golden secrets that pass from one generation to another! I am looking forward to share this magic trip with you and describe the unique moments I had in this special civilization!

Translation: Adriana Argyropoulou

Maria Kalymnou

The content on this blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.