The ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia, The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic, attributed to Shen Nong (3494 BC),who tasted and tested plants, includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, and animals2. They are classified into three kinds depending on their effect. Of these, 120 items are categorized as natural and nonpoisonous. Another 120 items are a little poisonous and are used for prevention of illness. The remaining
125 items are poisonous and are used for treatment.This kind of classification, owing to its virulence and efficacy, is believed to have been one of the sources of information in selecting suitable natural products for cosmetics during a period when scientific toxicity assessment of today was nonexistent. The ancient European
pharmacopoeia De Materia Medica, by Pedanius Dioscorides, comprises the description of around 600 plants and is known as the root of western herbs. It was the only representative pharmacopoeia until modern medicine was reconstructed in Europe. Ayurveda is traditional Indian medicine and was established around 3000–2000 BC.
The word ‘Ayurveda’ is a tatpurusha (compound word) composed of the word ayus meaning ‘life’ or ‘longevity’ and the word veda, which refers to a system of ‘knowledge’. Hence ‘Ayurveda’ roughly translates as the ‘knowledge of a long life’. The classic in Ayurveda, Charaka Samhita, attributed to Charaka includes 500 plants
and their applications.5 The oldest Japanese pharmacopoeia in existence, Ishin-hou, is composed of 30 volumes referring to Chinese literature. It describes as good manners keeping one’s skin-white using a mixture of Aurantii nobilis pericarpium, Benincasae semen, and peach branch. In those days, beauty culture and natural products were closely related, and it can be assumed that a fair-skinned face was already as preferable as it is nowadays.