FMS406RoweLNewElizabethans: Introduction and Elizabethan make up trends

Today we were given the brief for our first unit! We have to create a 'new Elizabethan' by combining both Elizabethan and contemporary influences. I am going to begin this unit by researching some Elizabethan beauty trends-

Extremely pale skin was one of the most popular trends of the era. Women with pale skin were seen as noble and wealthy as it showed that they did not have to go outside to work. As well as being used to uphold a certain status, dying the skin was also done to hide blemishes and scarring, particularly from the pox. Elizabeth herself was already very pale, but it is said that she began to dye her skin after she caught the pox.

There were several methods used to achieve pale skin. The most popular (and most expensive) was ceruse, this was a mixture of lead and white vinegar. It is surprising that this was so popular as it was actually poisonous and after time would leave the skin looking grey and dry. However, this is was the formula used by Elizabeth and other royals. Once this stage was completed, white lead powder would be applied to the face to intensify the pale complexion.

Once the snow white skin was achieved, women would apply ‘rouge’ to the cheeks and lips. This was made out of plant and animal dyes. Although a lot of women would have left the eye area bare, some women chose to use a kohl to line the eyes to make them appear wider. Some women were so desperate for big, sparkly eyes that they used belladonna eye drops to dilate the pupils! Another bizarre trend was to pluck the eyebrows into an extremely high and thin arch. Although, a lot of the time women would pluck their eyebrows off completely to create a higher forehead. Women would even pluck the hair from around the temples to achieve this look. This particular look was so popular as a high forehead as is was a sign of nobility and aristocracy.

After reading ‘The artificial face:a history of cosmetics’ by F.Gunn, I learned

that For most women, the final step would be to glaze the skin with raw egg whites. This was done to smooth out the complexion and give the skin a more youthful appearance. How revolting!!

Elizabeth is said to be the most influential royal to this day. Everyone was dying their skin and removing their eyebrows just to look like her. Although she was she main influence of the era, her cousin, Lettice Knoylls was looked up to by many women. She was supposedly one of the most beautiful women of the court. She was seen as the ‘ideal’ woman with pale skin, fair hair, small red lips and a high forehead. In many of her portraits she has red hair, but in her younger years her hair was more of a strawberry blonde shade. Women would dye their hair with urine in order to imitate Lettice’s locks. Lettice was so beautiful that Robert Dudley (Elizabeth’s previous love) married her in secret. Elizabeth was furious and could no longer deal with the jealousy, so she was banished from the court!

'The eyebrow' by Robyn Cosio, talks about how beauty evolved during Elizabeth's reign. At the beginning of her reign, hair would have been hidden under a headpiece. This combined with a thin brow created a 'dome like forehead'.Women wanted to have an 'aristocratic forehead', as a sign of their wealth and status. In later years, the trend was taken to another level and women would actually shave their hairline and they would completely get rid of their eyebrows, as they were so desperate for a broad forehead.