From lead-based foundation to mercury blush, donkey-milk baths, and even sixty-day fermented leech hair dye… ancient beauty was pure chaos. Mike & Mark break down the wildest, weirdest, and most toxic beauty hacks in Roman history — and why we’re not that different today.

The Medieval Vacation Scam, Part 2

Nov 28, 2025

Did medieval peasants… actually have more days off than you?
Yep. And once you hear the numbers, you’re going to want to walk into HR and demand “Aethelric-level PTO” immediately.

In this episode of The Mike and Mark History Experience, we break down the wildly unfair truth about work-life balance:

💀 Modern workers: two hundred fifty to two hundred sixty days a year
🌾 Medieval peasants: one hundred fifty to one hundred eighty days a year
(Yes, seriously.)

Mike and Mark dive into:
• Why medieval Europe built mandatory rest into the calendar
• How feast days, festivals, and “St. Monday” created real downtime
• The shocking reason modern-day Germans work less than medieval farmers today