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Tired of all those fashion magazines displaying marvelous mugs of perfect people? Thank the Ancient Egyptians for creating the world's obsession with youth and beauty.

Like so many other things, vanity has its roots in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian gods and goddesses were examples of physical perfection, which was said to make them worthy of eternal life.

Such beauty was part of everyday rituals.

"Simple milk and honey was one of the most famous facial masks," says Egyptian tour guide Anwaar Abdelkhalik. "After 15 minutes, they'd wash their face, as simple as that."

In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, there's an exhibit of age-old cosmetic brushes. The goddess of beauty and sacred sponsor of the cosmetic arts was Hathor, whose significance was apparent in her kohl eye makeup.

"The longer the [kohl eye makeup] line is, the more important the goddess is," says Abdelkhalik.

Hathor was also revered as the ruler of the perfume trade, which remains an aromatic part of Egyptian life today.

The early beauty obsession was also concerned with being literally drop-dead gorgeous.

"[Egyptians] would care about having a perfect mask [on their mummy]," says Abdelkhalik. "Some of the mummies even have crystallized eyes, which used semi-precious stones or beautiful stones like alabaster."

The attainment of beauty was an equal goal for both men and women. The finest example of this is the fabulous mask of King Tut.

"This was the case with all the kings and queens without exception - to beautify themselves and to appear as perfect as possible," says Abdelkhalik.

In Egypt, being wrapped tightly for centuries apparently has its beauty benefits.

For more travel information, visit www.travelwithval.com.