Just as the Egyptian Princess of 3,000 years ago bequeathed a heritage of beauty to the modern girl, so did she also hand down knowledge of the secret way to keep it. She knew that Palm and Olive Oils were mild, beneficial, natural cleansers, as soothing in their action as a lotion. A crude combination was all she could command – today she would use Palmolive. For the mild, soothing, profuse lather of Palmolive soap, so smooth and creamy, embodies this oldest beauty secret. Palmolive beautifies while it cleanses because it contains the same rare oils used as both cleanser and lotion in ancient Egypt.

This week we are taking a look at how Egyptomania influenced the cosmetics industry by focusing on the advertising campaign of Palmolive soap.

Palmolive soap was developed in 1898 and, by 1900, it was the world’s best selling soap brand. It didn’t take them long to harness the beauty of ancient Egypt as a selling point, and just after 1910, they developed a series of advertisements influenced by Egypt.

The advertisements were designed to give the brand a luxurious and exotic aura. Women everywhere wanted to emulate the beautiful ancient Egyptian princesses by using the same skincare products.

And it wasn’t just Palmolive that fell under the Egyptomania spell…