Lamaruž
Beauty products; natural ingredients; cosmetic preparation workshops
Natural cosmetics preparation workshop Lamaruž is run by Anđelka Stipić and Mirjana Vlašić who are typical representatives of hardworking, diligent, active and ambitious Herzegovinian women. They use local herbs such as immortelle, lavender, sage and rosemary grown on their family land in Sovići, in the ecologically clean area. The herbs are processed in a small plant where they started making soap almost ten years ago and today they make various cosmetic products based on natural ingredients without any harmful additives common in industrial production.
It is not difficult to imagine medieval noblewomen using beauty preparations similar to cosmetic products made by their successors from Lamaruž today.
Position of Women in the Medieval Land of Hum
In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men. They were exclusively defined by their role within a family and their social position could only be seen through belonging to a family. At that time women had to carry the responsibility for their share in original sin and unlike men were considered to be guided by the instincts so very strict models were set in order to restrain their behaviour. Unenviable position of women in the family and marriage was just an extreme consequence of the social system in which a person acquires certain rights and position according to a particular group they belong to and not by themselves. Under the influence of Christian doctrine on marriage women’s position slightly improved since they gained rights to participate in making decisions regarding marriage so their status within the family improved, too.
