Tudor Cosmetics

I have listed and explained many of the products used as makeup in my previous post 'The New Elizabethans', however here I will go into more depth about the white face paint, skin care and dental problems.

There were many different concoctions that the Elizabethans swore by to make their makeup look, what they thought was, beautiful. Elizabeth I was the ultimate trend setter, meaning whatever products she used, everyone was trying to get their hands on! Some of these were harmful to the skin and caused skin problems, causing them to put even more of these products onto their faces! You can see how this was a vicious circle..

The make-up that the women wore was a sign of how much money they had and how high their status was; this meant that women would go to extreme lengths to achieve beauty. Having pale or even white skin was seen as the ideal as it was a sign of wealth and nobility. In the Elizabethan times, if you had a pale complexion, it was a sign that you were too important to work. Only poor people that had to work outside caught a sun tan, so this was not a desirable look! To achieve this fair skin look they would use a mixture of vinegar and white lead, called Ceruse, also known as Spirit of Saturn. This face paint was smooth in texture and dried with a shiny finish. It would really be taken off, but instead layered throughout the day to make the skin look as white as possible. As you can imagine, the layer of makeup was very thick, meaning the women had to be careful about moving their faces too much or the makeup would crack. Ceruse was very poisonous and harmful to the skin, causing scarring and blemishes. It caused hair loss and also, if it was used over a certain amount of time, it could lead to death! Some women would paint on veins over their necks and arms to give their skin a translucent look. Some Elizabethans would bleed their faces to achieve the white complexion they desired, also face paint from plants and leaves could be applied.

The Elizabethans, who could afford it, would use skin care products to help fix their skin problems. Lemon juice would be used to help clear their freckles and brown dots, also donkey's milk and mercury would be used to help recover their skin from the effects of the Ceruse. They would also put egg whites on their faces to cover and smooth their wrinkles.

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As Elizabeth got older, the makeup she wore got more and more extreme as she wanted to maintain her reputation as the Virgin Queen. She would wear layers of Ceruse to cover her wrinkles and scarring from smallpox. She also owned over 80 wigs so that she could achieve beautiful hairstyles. As Elizabeth grew older, her hair got very thin until it fell out, meaning she had to rely on wigs. Many women followed this trend of wigs and some even shaved their hair off! Women plucked or shaved their eyebrows to make them very thin and arched and also plucked or shaved their hair line to make their forehead look larger; this were both signs of wealth and nobility.

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Dentistry was a big problem for the Elizabethans as they didn't have the right equipment or the knowledge to keep their teeth clean and healthy. Elizabeth's teeth started to deteriorate as she got older, mainly because of the amount of sugar that was eaten, and they started to rot, go black and fall out. This meant that her cheeks sunk into her face more and because she didn't want anyone to notice, she padded her cheeks with rags to make them look more plump. However as people started to notice that the queen's teeth were getting black, they decided that this was the new trend and people would put products onto their teeth to make them look black. It was seen as another sign of nobility and wealth because only the rich could afford to have that much sugar. This trend did obviously not last for long!