5 Beauty Trends From History That Were Actually Poisonous
Women have always been willing to suffer for beauty. But some went a lot further than plucking their eyebrows. They ate poison, painted their faces with lead, and rubbed radioactive material into their skin. They didn’t know any better at the time. But looking back, these five beauty trends are less “pampering” and more “slow, agonising death.”
Lead-Based Ceruse — The Foundation That Killed You
From the Elizabethan era through the Victorian age, pale skin was the ultimate status symbol. The solution? Ceruse, a foundation made from white lead and vinegar. Women applied it to their faces daily, unaware that lead is a neurotoxin that causes hair loss, rotting teeth, and organ failure. Elizabeth I famously coated her face in it for decades until her skin was permanently scarred. The more they applied, the more their skin corroded—so they applied more. It was a loop of poison that many never escaped.