The Ancient Aztecs used to take two showers a day, and scent themselves by using flowers. Not so primitive, huh?

Nothing is more unusual than embedding yourself into a culture much different than your own. Imagine how the Spanish Conquistadors must have felt when they travelled across to the Americas and found the Aztecs. The Spanish would have seen a culture with primitive weapons, barbaric rituals, and what the Spanish seemed to be confused by the most—personal hygiene.

As it turns out, the Aztecs were incredibly sanitary. Well, sanitary when compared to the Spanish Conquistadors. The Spanish explorers refused to wash themselves with water, because they thought that the plague would spread to them if they did. Instead, they washed their teeth and mouths with urine. The Aztecs, on the other hand, used flowers as soap to clean their bodies and mouths!

In fact, the Aztecs were supportive of personal hygiene, and what would appear to be the "all natural" look for their women. The Florentine Codex contains a passage that seemingly stresses the importance of cleanliness in the Aztec culture. This passage is supposedly instructions from an Aztec father to his daughter: "wash your face, wash your hands, clean your mouth... Listen to me, child: Never make up your face nor paint it; never put red on your mouth to look beautiful. Make-up and paint are things that light women use—shameless creatures. If you want your husband to love you, dress well, wash yourself and your clothes."