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| Sisi – Empress Elisabeth |
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| Elisabeth was very beauty conscious and already
placed great emphasis on natural products. This makes her a pioneer of
the anti-aging-movement of today. |
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| KURIER – Health | page 17; Friday 24
November 2006 |
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Sisi’s beauty formulas
The imperial anti-aging-pioneer |
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Elisabeth’s beauty-case also contained some rather
quaint remedies, yet some are the basis for modern medical products.
by INGRID TEUFL
Strawberry cream, veal or slug slime: the range for beauty care was
already substantial in the 18th and 19th century. “Many of the products
used are in principle not bad for the skin”, says university professor
Jolanta Schmidt, head of the cosmetic medical department at the Vienna
General Hospital. The new book “Rosebud and Slug Slime” (“Rosenblüte und
Schneckenschleim”) shows ingredients still reliable today, as well as
bizarre quack remedies. The individual beauty formulas of the Habsburgs
and also of Sisi are partially printed in the original.
And yet, even dermatologist Schmidt would keep her hands off mixing her
own Crème à la Sisi. Some creams have to be stirred for twelve hours.
“Who has that much time on their hands nowadays?” Instead she recommends
a “care matching the individual type” made by family physician,
pharmacist or chemist. However, the expert most urgently advises against
certain supplementary substances like lead and mercury. They are illegal
in today’s beauty products. From 1850 these heavy metals were used
against pigmentary abnormality, moles and freckles, because they were
attributed a desiccative effect. They are in fact toxic and, amongst
other things, damage the brain. |
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Dressing table in the Wiener
Hofburg:
The extensive beauty care dictated a great deal of Sisi’s daily routine.
Image: Katrin Unterreiner; Sisi – Mythos und Wahrheit; Verlag Christian
Brandstätter |
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Slug slime, which used to be a popular addition to
facial creams, is also long obsolete. No effect can be confirmed by the
doctor. But Sisi’s beloved strawberry cream and the fresh fruit facial
mask anticipate the effects of modern fruit acid. “The high vitamin C
and B ratio act antibacterially, slightly lifting and invigorating”,
according to Schmidt. And: “strawberries can bind heavy metals.”
Overall, Sisi placed great emphasis on natural products that were
freshly prepared. Make-up, too, was completely rejected by the fair
aristocrat and deemed to be an interference with nature. “That is why I
do not think that she would have undergone surgery” says the
dermatologist. Raw veal, which Elisabeth applied to her face during the
night, is deemed by Schmidt to be “not half bad”. The high vitamin C
content has an anti-inflammatory effect, the muscle protein element,
keratin, acts against skin ageing. Moreover, the meat gives the skin a
fresh look and neutralises harmful metabolites (free radicals).
Bathing in olive oil was supposed to make Sisi’s skin smooth. The
wholesome effect is still considered beneficial today. Schmidt: “It is
primarily a captor of free radicals and contains vitamins A and E which
have a positive effect on skin.” Also, aluminium bathing water and
powders were supposed to restrain perspiration. Schmidt confirms this.
“At the department we use aluminium salts for excessive perspiration,
too.” |
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| Book recommendation |
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S. Fellner/K. Unterreiner
Rosenblüte und Schneckenschleim |
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Sonderzahl Verlagsgesellschaft m. b. H.
1040 Wien, Große Neugasse 35/15 |
| www.sonderzahl.at |
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| Recipes |
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| Rose water, glycerine and slugs |
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Left: Beauty recipes of Empress
Elisabeth
Right: Perfume bottle of Empress Elisabeth
The extensive beauty care dictated a great deal of Sisi’s daily routine.
Image: Katrin Unterreiner; Sisi – Mythos und Wahrheit; Verlag Christian
Brandstätter |
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Against freckles:
Take 4 loth (loth ~ ½ oz) rose water, 2 loth milk, 1 loth
unseasonable grape juice, 2 Quintchen (fifths) crushed frankincense,
well whipped egg whites and intermingle them; then, before you go to bed,
rub it in.
This recipe from the 18th century did not have any effect against
freckles, but milk and egg white act as moisturiser.
New cream celeste (recipe from the year 1874):
Cera alba (white wax) 3.00g; Cetacei (spermaceti) 9.00g; Ol. amygdal.
dulc. (sweet almond oil) 21.75g; Glycerini puri (glycerine) 9.00g.
Sisi used it for skin protection in winter due to its high oil content.
Slug cream (bourgeois recipe, late 19th c.):
Put ½ kilo lard into water-bath, add 2 Quintchen (fifths) marshmallow
roots and 70g ground slugs (…), let it stand for four hours (…) to cool
off (…). |
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With friendly permission by |
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| KURIER Chef-Redaktion |
| KURIER - Health | page 17; Friday 24
November 2006 |
| www.kurier.at |
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| KURIER - Living in Vienna | page
12/13; Wednesday 30 August 2006 |
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| Exhibition devoted to romantic cliché |
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| Film and truth: Empress
Sis(s)i’s furniture |
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The “Sissi” films are celebrating their 50th
anniversary.
The Imperial Furniture Collection (Hofmobiliendepot) shows original
antique furniture – and gets rid of a myth
By INGRID TEUFL
Who doesn’t know the romantic love story of “Sissi” and her “Franzl”:
Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm became somewhat like national icons by
portraying Emperor Franz Joseph I. and his wife Elisabeth, the historic
“Sisi”, in the trilogy produced between 1955 and 1957. The films, too,
deliberately romanticised by Ernst Marischka, the director, became
iconic. A box office success, their wide appeal shaped the image of the
illustrious Empress. |
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That certain liberties were taken when it came to
historical truth can be seen in the Imperial Furniture Collection’s new
permanent exhibition. The magnificent furniture was borrowed from the
Imperial Furniture Collection for set decoration. “They were used to
lend the sets imperial splendour and authenticity”, says Markus Laumann,
who organised the show. “They made use of what appealed to them.” That
is why green furniture, decorated with flowers, can be seen in the set
of Gödöllö Castle, while it was actually decorating the apartment of
Elisabeth’s daughter, Gisela, in Schönbrunn; a daughter who was not even
born when the story of the film takes place. Also, the writing desk from
Sissi’s girl’s room in Possenhofen was in truth the desk of Elisabeth’s
mother-in-law, Archduchess Sophie, in Laxenburg.
Contemporary witnesses:
Yet some of the furniture on display have made actual history. The
writing desk from the Emperor’s film-set office was used for signing the
treaty in 1955. Pope John Paul II. was sitting on the film-set throne
during his papal visit to Austria. The six film bunkers were skilfully
integrated into the already existing exhibition all around the imperial
furniture. 120 new exhibits were added due to the “Sis(s)i-trail”. The
visitors are able to retrace the use of the originals in the film clips:
the historic furniture is highlighted in colour. |
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With friendly permission by |
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| KURIER Chef-Redaktion |
| KURIER - Living in Vienna | page
12/13; Wednesday 30 August 2006 |
| www.kurier.at |
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| Link tip: |
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Hofburg – Imperial
apartments
Sisi Museum and Imperial Silver Collection |
| Website of the Wiener Hofburg. The
Imperial Silver Collection is an impressive museum with
displays which include the porcelain, glass and silver
service which were used as the imperial table settings. |
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2002 |
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Information |
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Deutsch, Englisch
Italienisch |
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Österreich |
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Schloß Schönbrunn
Kultur- und
BetriebsgesmbH. |
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| Aufnahme und Bewertung: Jänner 2003 |
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| Books at Amazon on this subject |
| Sisi - Kaiserin Elisabeth |
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| Music at Amazon on this subject |
| Sisi - Kaiserin Elisabeth |
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| DVD at Amazon on this subject |
| Sisi - Kaiserin Elisabeth |
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| Sissi |
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| Part 1-3 (box set) |
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with Romy Schneider, Karlheinz
Böhm, Magda Scheider, Gustav Knuth, Josef Meinrad
Director: Ernst Marischka, Karl Ehrlich |
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| The three parts not only portray
the life of Sissi who is still the most popular and
transfigured monarch in our history, but they also
depict the developments described by Elisabeth. In every
moment of the trilogy Ernst Marischka’s style reflects
the mindset of his heroine. Therefore, “Sissi”, first of
the three films, most closely matches the prevailing
clichés. |
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| further Information about |
| Sisi |
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