She was the favorite of King Louis XIV but to maintain her rare beauty, she had recourse to strange rituals…
Born to shine, she was known at the court of Versailles for having been the favorite of King Louis XIV. Declared mistress of the king in 1670, she obtained the coveted title of favorite of the king four years later when her main competitor, Louise de la Vallières left the court for the convent. From then on, she reigned supreme in the heart of the king . The stories of Madame de Sévigné tell us about the beauty of this woman who is described by the king as “the most surprising beauty with the bearing of a goddess, with blond, silky and curly hair, azure eyes, a delicate mouth, aquiline nose, she joined the most lively, the finest, the best cultivated spirit”. A beauty that was such that she made the king forget all her whims, her outbursts of jealousy, covering her with jewels at each of her excesses.
A penchant for magic potions
Her natural grace is an advantage for the one who wants to be the most beautiful to parade in Versailles. But the beautiful marquise is aware that she must maintain this grace to remain in the heart of her king. The beautiful marquise starts her day with a glass of urine , from Yes, mule urine, because a charlatan assured her that this urine would guarantee her bright eyes and a fresh complexion ! She ensures her diaphanous complexion thanks to white lead (lead carbonate, a highly toxic substance, banned in 1905). And if she sighs in the arms of the “sun”, she flees its rays by hiding under a parasol. The wrinkle is of course tracked down. The parade boils down to a mixture of beef marrow, lard and cow dung. This same dung is sometimes distilled and drunk as a spring cleanser. But the formulas of spellbooks are not flawless and Montespan’s penchant for magic potions got her involved in the “poison affair“.!
The first official hairdresser for ladies
She spends hours in front of her dressing table brushing her hair. Her hair passed through the skilful hands of her hairdresser, Sieur Champagne, the first official hairdresser for ladies. The meeting is public. Françoise invites her favorite courtiers to attend, amazed, at the development of an incredible hairstyle, fragile and scaffolded with curls. It is said of the marquise that she enhances her honeyed blondness in secret using an ancestral recipe, the Venetian recipe. This Venetian blond was obtained thanks to decoctions of plants mixed with urine.
