Victorian Era Cosmetics For Women

Victorian Era Cosmetics For Women

Every Day Makeup

Getting ready in the morning was a long process and couldn't be done without maid. Their dressing tables were covered with products of all kinds. Makeup was usually bought at the local apothecary store. Actresses and prostitutes were really the only sorts of people who wore a lot of makeup, so women would hide the fact that they wore makeup and would stick to natural shades. In the Victorian time, ladies found interesting hiding spots to hide their makeup, both photos shown demonstrates hiding spots such as in a hair brush and in a bracelet. 'Makeup' was not a common term used until the 1870's. Some women would draw thin blue lines on their face giving an illusion of there skin being more translucent showing their veins. Since everything was tight one of the makeup products was a powder to help slip your hands in to a very small and tight glove, with the help of some glove stretchers. The every day makeup was usually whitening cream, spot treatment (concealer), some blush, lip colour, and eyeliner.

History

Danger In the products

The Victorian Era was from 1830-1900. Although women weren't aloud to wear makeup, it was still done, but done in a way where it appeared to be natural. Women were more into skin care then makeup. They wanted there skin to be white, no freckles, and no flaws. In the Victorian Era hair was also a big part of beauty. The less you did to your face, the more you did to your hair. They made wigs, and extensions using real human hair. After World War 1 a lot of things changed. Women got rid of corsets, they started showing there ankles and arms, and the first shaver came out. Makeup stayed the same, but maybe they would add a bit more here and there.

Makeup was very dangerous in the Victorian Era. Chemicals were everywhere, and having no listed ingredients, and no law about ingredients was highly dangerous. In the white powdered makeup it did a great job with making the face white, but there was a lot of lead in it which ended up to start eating away at the skin. these powders lead to a lot of premature deaths. Complexion Wafers was a product used to whiten the face. This product worked, but how it worked was it poisoned the blood so there were fewer red cells and that created less oxygen for organs. cinnabar is a poisoness red sulfide of mercury which Victorian women used to blush there cheeks and tint there lips. this was easily transported into their system transferred across the placenta to an unborn fetus which caused a lot of miscarriages.

Skin Care

Skin care was a huge thing in the Victorian time. Women would do just about anything to get there skin to be white without any flaws. There were many commercials and products guaranteeing to give the customer a lily white complexion. Getting ready in the morning was a long process, they would have mask after mask on and constantly be using whitening treatments for their skin, as well as moisturizing. They would avoid the sun and fresh air, and would use parasols when outdoors to protect their skin from the sun and they would even drink vinegar. Also In the Victorian Era, women would eat chalk and drink iodine hoping that it would make their face whiter

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