Toxic Treatments – The Horrible History of Beauty

We might still use the old adage ‘Beauty is Pain’ from time to time, but we’ve got nothing on our historical sisters who sometimes, quite literally, had a beauty regime to die for. Here’s the Her.ie guide to five of the most horrifying historical beauty fixes.

White Lead

In Renaissance times women would use all manner of products to whiten their skin. Leading the way with white lead paint was none other than Queen Elizabeth I of England and her ‘Mask of Youth’. Of course this was later discovered to be toxic and is suspected of poisoning and even killing many women.

Iodine & Bromine 

Long before Cleopatra’s crushed ant and beetle lip stain was invented, ancient Egyptians were using various mixtures to stain their pucker. One such concoction contained plant dye taken from seaweed paired with iodine and bromine. Talk about a kiss of death.

Belladonna

Belladonna is a lovely name for a plant, and it sounds so sweet and harmless until you learn that it also goes by the moniker deadly nightshade. Highly toxic, it was used in the sixteenth century by Roman women to dilate their pupils and give them a permanently ‘starry-eyed’ appearance.

Aniline 

As recently as the 1930’s aniline was heavily promoted in America as a highly effective dye for eyebrows and lashes. It does work as a dye, but tinting leathers is one thing, while using the same substance on the super sensitive eye area is entirely another. Its use resulted in permanently impaired vision for many women. Incidentally, analine is related to paraphenylenediamine, which had been banned in Europe since the 1880s.

Mercury 

This odd beauty ingredient was only banned from use in cosmetic products within the EU in 1976, and the US did not follow suit until 1990. Prior to that, mercury was marketed as a skin lightener and a cure for blemishes. Unfortunately, mercury could be absorbed into the body through the skin and cause multiple health problems.