Why Persian women are so beautiful and seductive

Why are Persian women so exceptionally beautiful and seductive? Genetics? Maybe. Maybe not. Mainly, it’s because the beauty of Persian women has been cultivated for millennia.

Persian woman

“Now her hair is like the nights of disunion and separation and her face like the days of union and delectation; She hath a nose like the edge of the burnished blade and cheeks like purple wine or anemones blood-red: her lips as coral and carnelian shine and the water of her mouth is sweeter than old wine; its taste would quench Hell’s fiery pain. Her tongue is moved by wit of high degree and ready repartee: her breast is a seduction to all that see it; and joined thereto are two upper arms smooth and rounded; She hath breasts like two globes of ivory, from whose brightness the moons borrow light, and a stomach with little waves as it were a figured cloth of the finest Egyptian linen made by the Copts, with creases like folded scrolls, ending in a waist slender past all power of imagination.” ― Richard Burton, The Arabian Nights

“All who looked on her bepissed their bag-trousers, for the excess of her beauty and loveliness.” – Richard Burton, The Arabian Nights

Gender segregation and etiquette in the Arabic world

In Persia, Islam has introduced significant adjustments regarding the daily life and behavior of men and women. In the Islamic world, many daily practices fall in the category of adab, or etiquette:

• Specific prohibited foods including pork and blood.
• All meat must come from the herbivorous animals slaughtered in the name of God.
• Health is viewed as a trust from God and intoxicants, such as alcoholic drinks, are prohibited.
• Body modifications, such as permanent tattoos, are usually forbidden as violating the creation.
• Hijab for women is viewed by many Muslims as expressing modesty and faith.
• Personal female hygiene also has certain requirements.

The ideology was based on the concept of gender segregation. Women could only be seen by husbands and very close male-relatives, in public places they had the right to appear only completely veiled, and it is clear that no stylish things or jewelry could tell about the taste or social status of the woman.

Polygamy

Islam allows Muslim men to practice polygamy and have up to four wives at the same time. (However, today, most families in the Islamic world are monogamous.) The introduction of polygamy, the ability to have many wives, mistresses, and concubines, who actually lived under one roof, created a situation of rivalry – each of the women tried to make every effort to remain in leading positions and be a constant object of her husband’s desire.

Female sexual education

Islam has a long tradition of pragmatism with respect to sex education. As long as the topics were permissible by Islamic law, the subjects were not taboo and discussed freely. A hadith attributed to Muhammad’s wife Aisha states that women were not shy about asking questions regarding sexual matters as long as they are halal. From as early as the 14th-century, entire manuscripts devoted to Islamic sexual education were being written in Arabic in Baghdad, which at that time was a great literary centre within the Muslim world.

The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight  by Nefzawi

Composed between 1394 and 1433 by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nefzawi (also known simply as “Nefzawi”), The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight is a “thousand and one nights of love”.

This is a hymn to sensual pleasures and a panegyric of love, a storehouse of exquisite erotic knowledge and a set of adventures of Arab rulers and heroes. Long and incorrectly hailed as an erotic treatise, “The Perfumed Garden” is an important document in the history of ideas, a scholarly book linking ancient and modern cultures. The language of the book is exquisitely graceful and “magnificent”.

Full of charm and playfulness, erotic stories tell us how enjoyable and delightfully diverse were the methods of intercourse, how deeply men and women knew the “subject” and how truly free they were. The science of passion is considered a divine thing that is given to man from above and that contemporaries, alas, reduced to the short word “sex” …

Hammam

In the Arabic world, since time immemorial, hammam has been a weekly tradition, a ritual for health and beauty. People knew how to make a woman’s body most attractive. In hammam, women had (and still have) a variety of beauty care procedures: massage, aromatherapy, steam room, hair care, hand and foot henna decoration, epilation, and more.

The name “hammam” literally means “hot water”. The hammam was heated with the steam from boiling water from a large cauldron placed over an open fire. The steam was supplied through the small holes in the walls.

Kiseh and sefidab

A kiseh (or kisseh) is a traditional Iranian skin exfoliating mitten mitt while a sefidab is a chalk-like ball. After the steam room, as soon as all the pores opened, the “kisseh keshi” procedure (literally “rub with a hand”) was performed. Using a mitten made of cotton, wool or silk, the masseuse rubbed “sefidab”, literally “white water”, to the body.

Epilation – Band Andazi

Band Andazi (or threading) is one of the ancient methods of removing unwanted hair with cotton thread. The procedure was unbearably painful; ice was immediately applied to the cleaned places. In Iran, there is even a saying that characterizes the pain of epilation – “kill me, but make me beautiful.”

Pumice stone

For millennia, this volcanic rock has been used by women to keep their feet soft and smooth.

All eyes on the eyes

Because a hijab leaves nothing for imagination about female beauty, Persian women use expressive eye makeup to make them more appealing and to attract attention to their eyes. To embellish and enhance their eyes, traditionally, they use two types of eyeliners – sormeh and kohl.

1. Sormeh is natural black soot made from almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and coconuts ground down to loose powder and roasted in sesame oil. Sormeh is applied with either a wooden or bone applicator.
2. Kohl is an ancient eye cosmetic, traditionally made by grinding stibnite (Sb₂S₃) for use similar to that of charcoal in mascara to contour and/or darken the eyelids.

Documents from as far back as 10,000 BC reveal that Persians were among the first pioneers of cosmetics and makeup.

Some believe that Persian women are so beautiful because of their big, almond-shaped, and captivating eyes.

Oiling

Oiling is an important part of Persian beauty care. For centuries, Persians have used scented oils and ointments to clean, smooth, and nourish their skin and hair. Myrrh, thyme, marjoram, chamomile, lavender, lily, peppermint, rosemary, cedar, rose, aloe, olive oil, sesame oil and almond oil provided the basic ingredients of most perfumes and beauty care products.

Perfumes and rosewater

In ancient times, perfumes that were sold in “attari” (small stores specializing in the sale of herbs and spices) were of great demand. By the way, in modern Iran the stores specializing in the sale of herbs, spices, natural cosmetics, and essential oils, are still called “attari”.

In Persian beauty care rosewater, rose oil and perfumes have been used for millennia. In Iran, rosewater is called gulab, literally means flower (gul) and water (ab). All Iranian households have a bottle of rosewater in their kitchen for beauty care, cooking and ceremonies. It is traditionally used for treatment of abdominal and chest pains, digestive problems, and constipation; for strengthening the heart and lowering menstrual bleeding.

Mohammadi rose

The flower of Prophet Mohammad, Mohammadi rose (commonly known as Damask rose) is the symbol-flower of the Arabic world. Since ancient times, people of Ghamsar collect roses, boil them in special pots and keep this water in beautiful containers.

Ghamsar is a town in Kashan county, where the suitable climate and soil conditions allow to grow roses of the highest quality. The surrounding mountains encircle the area and protect the amazing rose gardens from the withering desert temperature. Ghamsar’s rose flower extracts or perfumes are exported to many countries. It is a pride for the city that each year, the most sacred place in the Islamic world, Kaaba (Mecca), is washed with rose water from Ghamsar. The city hosts one of the biggest Iranian festivals to celebrate the production of rosewater in spring.

Damascus fabrics

Islamic restrictions greatly influenced what women wore and how they adorned themselves at home.

A manuscript “The Maqamat al-Hariri”, created in 1237 by a well-known Iranian poet, intellectual and historian Al-Hariri of Basra and illustrated by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti, describes and depicts a wide variety of scenes from everyday life. The book is written in red and black ink and most of its 99 miniatures decorated with gold. You can see merchants carrying spices, men and women dressed in beautiful outfits from Damascus fabrics that were known and in a great demand throughout the medieval world.