Vienna Hofburg - Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, Silver Collection

Elisabeth was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of her time and was conscious of her reputation. The major part of her daily routine was devoted to her beauty regime. Elisabeth was particularly proud of her thick, ankle-length hair, the dressing and styling of which occupied two to three hours each day. In order to preserve her much-admired beauty Elisabeth tried out countless recipes for cosmetic preparations. Here you can see some of the original recipes. Elisabeth swore by such bizarre methods as raw veal worn overnight underneath a leather face mask. Elisabeth was especially concerned to preserve her slender figure. She was about 5 feet 8 inches or 172 centimetres tall and weighed between 99 and 103 pounds or 45 and 47 kilos, and her waist measured an incredible 20 inches or 51 centimetres. Elisabeth tried numerous different diets to maintain her weight. Her personal weighing scales played an important role in her routine: Elisabeth weighed herself daily and with advancing age tried ever more e