Dangerous Beauty: The World of Victorian Makeup
Can you not bear to leave the house without even the slightest amount of makeup on? Perhaps you feel like to be feminine you have to spend hundreds of pounds every year on cosmetics, or that wearing makeup is simply what society expects from you? Well, this has not always been the case, in fact for the Victorians wearing makeup was a big old no-no!
For the Victorians, your natural beauty was a gift from God and should be protected at all costs, that meant no makeup or other beauty cosmetics. The overarching beauty ideal was to be fair of skin, to have lightly rosy cheeks, dark hair and dark eyes, and if you looked like this you were said to be far more likely to successfully find yourself a good husband. You know a couple of years ago when ‘take her swimming on the first date’ was a thing, well yeah, back then the patriarchy also didn’t want to feel fooled by their lovers wearing lots of makeup. Did this stop people from wearing cosmetics? Of course, it didn’t! There will always be beauty standards, and there will always be people trying to achieve those ideals, so Victorian ladies found their ways to wear makeup in a very subtle way. The original no-makeup makeup-look so to speak.
There were, of course, more natural ways one could maintain their beauty, going on brisk walks for rosy cheeks, eating a light diet to reduce getting any pimples etc. You could also avoid things that created an ‘ugly’ appearance such as playing cards, laziness and jealousy. This quote from the Gems of Deportment, 1881, sums up the Victorian thoughts on beauty very well: “And, after dressing for the evening, look again at your reflection in the mirror, and study the effect. Do you resemble a painted doll or an elegant woman? Is the expression killed by cosmetics or improved?”
An actual advert….yes, ‘safe’ arsenic.
Let’s focus on the bit about resembling a painted doll. In earlier centuries, like the Elizabethan era and the reigns of the 4 King Georges, white face paints were common use among society, and in the Georgian era, this wasn’t just reserved for the ladies, with men often lightening their appearances too. Elizabeth 1 was the great virgin Queen, and to maintain this image she would often wear white clothing, with white being a colour signifying purity and virginity. This also meant that she would use white creams on her skin to make it look pale, but you see there were some rather stark issues with this. Firstly, Elizabeth had suffered from smallpox in 1562, leaving her with scars all over her face. How would she hide these scars? By piling more white face paints and powders over her face. The issue is though, these paints were made from lead and including many other poisonous chemicals. Doesn’t take a genius to realise that this created a never-ending cycle of wearing the paint to cover skin issues, the paint creating more skin problems, so putting on more paint! You would think this would have stopped people from wanting to lighten their skin? But you’d be wrong. Even the Victorians would lighten their skin with powders, one of the only acceptable makeup products at the time. Face powders were primarily used by the middle and upper-class and they could be lightly scented. Pure white face powder would brighten the complexion, while colour tinted powders could cover up blemishes and rosacea.
1889 advert
Another acceptable cosmetic was cold cream, and it was marketed to all classes, especially to younger girls who were far more likely to be struggling with hormonal breakouts and pimples, which the cold creams were said to aid. National brands began to sell these creams, creating a low-cost cosmetic that the lower and middle-classes could both afford, although it was still seen as a bit of a luxury. These cold creams could include ingredients like almond oil, white wax and even sometimes sperm whale oil (ew gross!). Many ladies’ magazines would also include homemade DIY versions. Actresses and performers, small influencers of the time, would endorse cold dreams and actress Lilly Langtry also helped spread the word about the new beauty industry in general. Although, this had the negative effect of reinforcing the idea that makeup began in the theatre and was therefore only worn by immoral women and prostitutes (basically the same thing then).
One would not wear eyeshadow, and if you were born with light hair (not ideal then) you would very lightly and subtly shade your eyebrows darker with charcoal. Lipstick and rouge were the absolute biggest no-nos, however, if you wanted to tint your lips or cheeks you had to be incredibly subtle, using natural dyes like beetroot. Brighter makeup colours could be purchased in places like pharmacies but they were generally hidden until asked for as to not bring any attention to them and the person buying them.
I guess we can all be thankful to be living in an era where wearing makeup and being able to express ourselves via that medium is far more accepted, and even encouraged. And uh, not having cosmetics packed full of lead!
