Elizabethan era medical practices skin#
Elizabethan era medical practices full#

They did not know that continuous exposure to these chemicals were fatal. Following her lead, many women died from the arsenic- and lead-based cosmetic powder. To create the perfect pale white appearance on her skin, white arsenic and lead were used as powder for the face, neck, and shoulders.

Elizabethan era medical practices skin#

Believing that only the wealthy had fair skin because they did not work outside in the sun, she wanted her face to be white.

Elizabethan era medical practices full#

With reddish curly wigs, over-embellished attire full of fanciful adornments, and plentiful jewelry draped around her neck, Queen Elizabeth started the white face movement. Queen Elizabeth, the astute monarch of the Elizabethan Era, adopted a fashion that others followed in pursuit. The human fascination with beauty has trickled down throughout the years, sometimes creating life-threatening applications and methods. In Ancient Japan, geishas believed the whiter their skin, the more beautiful and appealing they were to men so they used the droppings of birdsвЂ™ excrements, combined with oil, as the base for lighter colors on their face. The lower-class Chinese could paint a stain on their fingernails, but they were forbidden from wearing bright colors. The brighter the fingernail color, the higher the wearer was in the hierarchy of that society. In Ancient China, the royalty and extremely wealthy stained their fingers with Arabic gum, gelatin, beeswax, and egg. Makeup was so popular in Ancient Persia and the Middle East that a single volume, out of the 24-volume medical encyclopedia, was dedicated to the medical purposes of cosmetics. So much makeup was worn that a law was created to forbid excessive makeup to prevent creating deceit from its wearer. In Ancient Persia and the Middle East, makeup adorned the faces of the people. The frankincense and myrrh at that time had been used in temple rituals as incense for aroma and spiritual healing and for the body as healing against certain ailments. In Bible scriptures, Jesus was gifted frankincense and myrrh when he was born. They believed that certain fragrances and oils brought medicinal healing to the body and spirit. The Ancient Hebrews found beauty in scent from herbs and oils. They believed that the kohl would вЂњstrengthen the childвЂ™s eyesвЂќ and fight against eye infections. In Ancient India, mothers used kohl and lined the eyes of their newborn babies. The Egyptians believed that kohl protected their eyes from the sunвЂ™s burning rays and acted as a repellent against insects. Beginning with the Ancient Egyptians, beauty started with lined black eyes from the use of kohl, a black sulfide mineral grinded into powder. Our ancestors stamped our desire for beauty and passed its practices from generation to generation.