Victorian-era cosmetics refer to cosmetic products used during the Victorian age. Victorian cosmetics were often toxic or otherwise damaging. Let's take a look at some of the most commonly used toxic ingredients from the past.
Many cosmetic products were aimed at achieving as pale a complexion as possible, as this would indicate a woman did not have to work outside and was thus of high status. The two main styles were "natural", which conveyed that a woman was of good morals, and "painted", which was seen as somewhat provocative.
LEAD MAKEUP (16th-19th centuries)
Lead has a long and alarming history as a makeup ingredient. According to Rance, it’s been used in cosmetics since antiquity. In the eighteenth century, women mixed it with vinegar to make ceruse, which helped them achieve that extremely pale look popular at the timeIt continued to rise in the 19th century; covering your face, arms, chest and any other piece of skin that was shown, the corrosive nature of lead would leave your skin damaged and in far worse shape after every use, requiring you to use more and more to cover up its effects.
It also visually smoothed out the face — there was no such thing as sunscreen back then, and smallpox was rampant, so women often had a lot to hide. People who used lead-based products poisoned themselves slowly, and in the meantime, suffered side effects like grey hair, dried-out skin, severe abdominal pain, and constipation. Pretty!
ARSENIC WAFERS (19th century)
Once the lead was out of the picture, arsenic took its place as the next pale-complexion miracle product. Much like how now we'll eat vitamins to get our skin glowing, women in the 19th-century did the same just with arsenic. They had special arsenic wafers that they would nibble on throughout the day, slowly poisoning themselves so they would get the sick, pale look. The amounts they ate were small enough so that their skin would whiten, but not enough that they would actually keel over.
Arsenic destroys red blood cells, which leads to pale skin, and eventually, death. Besides death, they could also make you go bald. To add insult to injury, if you stopped taking them abruptly, it would cause your complexion to go haywire, thus incentivizing you to keep taking them. Arsenic products were around until the twenties.
MERCURY CREAM (19TH CENTURY)
Before the days of benzoyl peroxide, mercury was used in cosmetics as a skin lightening agent and preservative. Cosmetics with mercury are often marketed as skin lightening creams and anti-aging treatments that remove age spots, freckles, blemishes and wrinkles. But it’s easily absorbed through the skin and can cause birth defects, kidney and liver problems, fatigue, irritability, tremors, depression, and a metallic taste in the mouth. Oh, and death.
BELLADONNA EYE DROPS (18th CENTURY)
In order to create the glassy, red-eye look that a person with a fever has, women would put belladonna droplets into their eyes, which is a poisonous plant (nightshade berries). The resulting eyedrops would dilate their pupils and make them bright and watery. Providing a soft and seductive effect, just like in a romance scene of a novel where someone’s eyes ‘darken with desire.’ In Renaissance Italy, this dusky, lustrous appearance of a lady’s eyes was considered to be the height of beauty. It would cause visual distortion and sensitivity to light, and if taken systemically, could kill you pretty quickly. Lovely!
RADIum (20th CENTURY)
People went crazy for radium in the early twentieth century after the Curies discovered it, and it popped up in various skin creams. “If placed on the face where the skin has become wrinkled or tired the radio-active forces immediately take effect on the nerves and tissues. Another popular face cream at the time was the French brand Tho-Radia, among many, used significant amounts of radium to help “brighten” a woman’s complexion.
But one of the tricky things with it is that it does give this illusion of good health, because it stimulates the red blood cells, although obviously in the long term you're poisoning yourself. Some of the effects would only be felt much later in life through various forms of cancer. Once the radium was inside the women's bodies, it was there for good.
OPIUM & Ammonia Cleanser (19th century)
Rosewater and ammonia were used the make cleansers, to give the face a slightly bleached look. It was recommended to cover one's face with opium overnight as you slept, then rinse it thoroughly in the morning with ammonia, before applying one's paint for the day. Yes, that ammonia. The one that can cause serious burning on delicate tissue. Charming.
However, presences of poisons in everyday life, particularly for a woman, were hard to ignore: “Glass and tin bottles hide snug in a case, waiting for a woman’s daily ritual. She reaches for a bottle of ammonia and washes it over her face, careful to replace the delicate glass stopper. Next, she dips her fingertips into the creams and powders of her toilet-table, gravitating toward a bright white paint, filled with lead, which she delicately paints over her features.
So much toxicity in the name of "Beauty"...
Yours truly,
Melanie
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