Surely you have ever heard a cologne or perfume called «eau-de-toilet» but you probably don’t know why it’s called that way.
The story begins in France, during the Renaissance, when from Versailles ruled much of the world. At that time we already know that hygiene was not the most popular of the time, but what not everyone knows is the real panic that people had for water.
Bathrooms, and cleanliness in general, were something reserved for the elites and royalty, since the humblest families hardly had access to water to wash In these families, when they could take a bath, they shared the water among several people and reused it over and over again because, among other things, there was no hot water either.
But the upper echelons didn’t like water too much either because they thought that water could cause them great harm. In fact, they began to think that one of the ways of contagion of pests such as the plague so, as far as possible, they tried to avoid the time of year.
If you want learn more about the plague, we have this article that may interest you:
During the Renaissance they thought that the wet skin was exposed to major diseases and the immune system also suffered, as well as turned off the energy. That is why, after bath time, they needed several days of rest and recuperation.
Due to this lack of hygiene, the nobles began to use perfume to alleviate the bad smell that they often gave off due to their fear of water. It is then that perfume began to replace showers and baths, apart from being a distinctive sign of the nobility and the upper class, for having access to it. This is why the perfume is known as “eau de toilette” or “bathwater«, because for them it was the water they used in the bathroom as a way of maintaining hygiene or, at least, covering up the consequences of the lack of it.