The island of beauty and love! The myth wants it to be the birthplace of the most beautiful goddess of antiquity, the goddess of beauty & love, Aphrodite. It is said that she was born in Petra tou Romiou, a coast of Paphos, emerged from the sea and walked naked on the shore where she was caressed by her maids of honour, the Hores, before moving to Olympus. Thanks to this myth, the goddess was also nicknamed Kypria.
Ancient Greek Cypriot women, especially during the classical period, were particularly careful about their appearance and their dress. They used perfumes, painted their eyebrows and lips, wore luxurious and sophisticated clothes, and adorned themselves with elaborate jewelry. They did not need to cover up imperfections, but to further enhance their beauty to charm a husband or prospective groom....
When ancient Greek women dressed, both in Athens and in Cyprus, one could infer their social and economic status. Most women's clothing was made of soft wool in various colors. The main garment was the undergarment together with a garment that covered the head. Others also wore cypress, a kind of semi-coat. But the most sophisticated and seductive garment, worn mainly by the rich, was the veil. A very open and short tunic and garment at the same time, which resembled today's "mini"....
They also attached great importance to their hygiene and their appearance. That is why they used creams for the face and perfumed ointments for the body. For deodorant, they used mastic oil. They used psyllium to make their face look whiter, while they painted their eyebrows with fumed silk, eyelids with stymiν and asbolone. For lipstick they used milton or algae....
Fashion and cosmetics were common in ancient times and the ancient Greek women of Cyprus knew very well how to use natural cosmetics and take care of every detail of their appearance.
As far as jewellery was concerned, they preferred spirals and pendants, i.e. bracelets that were twisted on the arm. On the neck they wore necklaces and on the ears they wore earrings, which are nowadays earrings....

Cyprus: The oldest perfumes in the world

A few years ago, an excavation by an Italian team of archaeologists brought to light one of the oldest perfume factories in the world. Chronologically, the factory facilities belong between the Early and Middle Bronze Ages and specifically around 2000 BC.
Two complete stills have been found among 90 clay objects. Their discovery predates the distillation technique by 2600 years.
One of the archaeologists at the time was Maria Belgiorno who reported that according to the excavations, the 4000-year-old perfume factory was making its sought-after products available throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. "Maybe it was the olive oil that was better than others. Maybe it was the method by which they extracted the oil that best preserved the aromas and did not disappear after a few months. Maybe it was these. But what was certain was that there was something important in Cyprus and that's why it was one of the most important places for perfume production in ancient times."
In today's world, however, Lazarou created her first plantation in Solea about 19 years ago and since then she has been promoting the healing properties of herbs in Cyprus and abroad with continuous efforts.
According to the first estimates of archaeologists, the products of the Cyprus Perfume Craft of Pyrgos were exported to Minoan Crete and at very high prices. These perfumes were widely used by the women of high society at the time, but their use was also widespread in funerary rites, since the application of perfumes to the dead was part of the burial rite.
"Cypriots were the best perfumes and were first in demand in the Eastern Mediterranean markets. Then came the Egyptian ones." However, Cypriots were most likely initiated into perfume-making by the Egyptians.
Perfume manufacture in Egypt is attested from the pre-dynastic period, but was put on a commercial basis in the time of Ramses III (1165 BC). The Pharaohs were even given the exclusive right to manufacture and market perfumes, as they brought them huge profits.
The perfume factory  in Pyrgos at Limassol ceased to exist after a major earthquake.