There has always been a sense of beauty in every culture throughout all of time. But what you think might be normal now was not necessarily the standard back in the day. Sure, some of what we do might have a basis in history, but that doesn't mean it's the same. More than that, there were things people did back then that we just don't do now at all whether due to going out of style or being declared dangerous. If you want to know what our ancestors were up to, keep reading.
Plucking Hairlines
No, we're not talking about the technique people use to thin out wig hair. We're talking full-on hairline tweezing. In medieval England, this was all the rage. And it must have been super painful.
The reason this was so common was that it was more of a beauty standard to have a long, ovular face with a large forehead. And as we'll see, the hairline is not the only thing they were interested in tweezing...
Removing Eyebrows Completely
Many people pluck their eyebrows. You probably do this yourself. Though while we typically do this to give it some shape and avoid the dreaded unibrow, women of the 15th and 16th centuries had a different idea.
By removing their eyebrows, too, they would achieve a more oval face giving them a more regal look. The church wasn't happy about it though, and they considered it a sin to do so without a true purpose.
Unibrows
Back in Ancient Greece, however, it was actually more popular to grow out your unibrow than to pluck them. It was considered a sign of purity and intelligence, so some women would even darken their brows or add fake hair.
Now, we don't necessarily think the same way. Though we try not to stigmatize it, it's definitely the more popular opinion that anyone should shave or pluck their brows. Otherwise, some people see it as the opposite: a sign of stupidity and dirtiness.
Removing Eyelashes
Nowadays we like to give ourselves a fresh look by grooming ourselves in a multitude of ways. But whereas we only pluck our eyebrows, the ladies of olde used to pluck their eyelashes as well.
We're not here to judge, we're sure this was a way that people made themselves and others feel good about their look, but the thought of having to sit there while each and every lash gets plucked is just gut-wrenching. There's no way it was any kind of comfortable.
Tanned Look History
Before tanning was in, it was all about getting as pale as possible. You'll often see higher-class citizens in movies about the times of yore being as pale as a ghost (mostly the women, you'll see them putting on a lot of powder).
So when did that change? How did we get so obsessed with having the most bronzed bodies? Well, in the 1920s it became a symbol of status for being able to afford bright, sunny vacations when Coco Chanel reportedly fell asleep on her Yacht while vacationing on the French Riviera and receiving her tan.
Lead Face Paint
As we mentioned before, in the past, people wanted to look as white and pale as possible. In fact, that's probably the basis for these bad beauty standards nowadays. Though one of the ways they achieved this look would never be acceptable today.
They would rub lead-based creams on their faces to give themselves a more whitened complexion as well as get rid of blemishes. Needless to say, they were all getting pretty sick from lead poisoning. And that wasn't the only whitening process making people sick.
Arsenic Baths
If you were wondering in what other ways we were alluding to that woman used to whiten their complexion, we've got it right here. They would bathe in pools of the element arsenic, giving them a glow and a soft pale look.
This wasn't a very good idea, as you might have surmised. Arsenic is highly toxic when ingested. Though they probably weren't ingesting it through water, it's still not the safest route to take for a cleanse. They were, however, ingesting it through other means.
Arsenic Wafers
This is what we meant by that. These arsenic wafers were also used for cosmetic purposes. You would eat the wafer and it promised the removal of all blemishes (including freckles, which were not commonly thought of as cute the way we see them today) though it probably added more to their faces.
Though some might have used these to help whiten their skin, that was not their main purpose, unlike the arsenic baths. In fact, after long-term use, people would probably start to notice their skin darkening, as that is one of the many symptoms of arsenic poisoning. It's a wonder how these remained popular for so long.
Beauty Patches
After all the damage people were doing to their faces and bodies, what with all the lead and other chemicals, people needed some way to cover up all of their new scars. Enter the beauty patch.
These handy things would be stuck to your skin to cover up all the shame that came with bad decisions and uneducated use of certain materials. they would come in all sorts of shapes and colors so they also became a sort of fashion statement.
Mouse Fur Fake Eyebrows
There's a lot of eyebrow stuff going on here. And it makes sense that we've always been obsessed with figuring out our eyebrows since it's the most noticeable facial hair from the time we're born.
Well, there also needed to be a solution to the loss of eyebrows from all that poison lead that women spread on their faces. Georgian women found their solution in mouse fur which they would apply for bigger, bushier eyebrows.
Acid Teeth Whitening
Women from Georgia also used to make tooth whitening chemicals from tooth powders made from cuttlefish and combining it with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Unfortunately, they weren't exactly using safe chemicals.
Instead, they were unwittingly creating sulfuric acid and using that to whiten their teeth. It was painful and likely cause a wide array of issues like tooth loss and ruined gumlines. At least they wouldn't have to worry about white teeth anymore!
Sulfer And Lead Hairdye
Not only was fair skin and a pale complexion highly idolized, but it was the same for people's hair. Blonde and lighter hairs were favored over dark brunette hairstyles.
In order to achieve this, the people in Tudor times would use a mixture of sulfur and lead to remove the color from their hair. To no one's surprise (except the people back then) the dye was highly toxic.
Bloodletting
We all know what this is. People would use leeches or self-inflict wounds in order to make themselves more beautiful. How, you ask? Well, it's actually not that unbelievable.
When you lose too much blood, you become anemic, which is the lack of iron in your body. This lack of iron leads to pale skin, and that's the look they were going for. The thing is, it worked, which enabled the bad habit.
Using Belladonna To Dilate Pupils
You probably don't know what Belladonna is by the name of it, but you might have actually seen these berries at some point in your life. They're the little blackish-blue berries that grow on wild bushes that you're always told are poisonous.
Yeah, that's right. And the people back in the Tudor Age probably didn't get the memo. They would use the berries to dilate their pupils and make their eyes "shine". This, however, came with temporary vision problems. Or more permanent ones with repeated use.
Footbinding
This one is not for the squeamish. If you were wondering about some of the beauty trends in China, this is probably one of the oldest, most infamous ones. It was common practice for women to bind their feet to make them look smaller.
Some common effects of this included broken bones, deformed feet, and lots of pain. However, women wanted to be beautiful and this was, unfortunately, one of the ways to do so. The trend was outlawed in 1912 but didn't really stop until the 1950s, so you might still be able to find some women suffering the ill effects.
Drawing On Veins
You might have actually done this while bored in class one day. We certainly have. People back in the Victorian era would do so as well, but they did it for comsmetic reasons.
It all comes pack to pale skin. By accentuating the veins in their arms by drawing over them with a colored pencil or some other coloring apparatus, they would give their arms the appearance of being translucent, or half see-through. This provided the illusion that their skin was much paler than it really was.
Mercury Face Masks
Skincare routines have been around for a long time and so have face masks or face peels. Back in the 16th century, it was commonplace to use a slew of different recipes t try to clear some of your blemishes. It just so happened that they used mercury in some of them.
That's right, the awesome liquid-at-room-temperature elemental metal also known as quicksilver that happens to also be highly toxic. It's what inspired the Mad Hatter since many hat makers in the early days used this metal and would subsequently go mad from the toxin.
Pee Shampoo
Back in the day, the Incans devised a way to cure their heads of the itchy, highly aggravating dandruff that would plague their scalps. It was to use their urine. Yes, they didn't have shampoo, but rather shampee.
After allowing their pee to ferment for several weeks, they had the perfect formula to rid themselves of their awful snowfall. Some indiginous groups might actually still use this method today. We'll stick with the Head & Shoulders, though.
Pee Mouthwash
Shampoo was not the only product that consisted of urine. The ancient Romans would also use this natural substance as a way to freshen up their mouths.
It's not that surprising if you know what the chemical makeup of urine is. It contains ammonia, which is a type of cleaning agent. Thing is, they definitely didn't know that. Also, they somehow preferred Portugese urine, and Emperor Nero even taxed it due to its popularity.
Gladiator Sweat
If you thought that was bad, get a load of this. Ancient Roman women also use to moisturize with the sweat of gladiators. It was sold outside the arenas that they fought in as souvenirs.
It was also thought to be an aphrodisiac. We wonder why. Maybe it was because the sweat was laden with pheremones. Whatever the case, it's pretty kinky, and would be considered super weird to do these days.
Crocodile Dung Baths
But wait, it gets even worse. Ancient Romans (and Greeks for that matter) would bathe in the poop of crocodiles mixed with mud. Talk about an unhygienic society.
They thought that it had restorative and beautifying properties to it. To be fair, we also still use mud for skincare methods, but this is taking it too far. Nobody want to dip themselves in poop.
Bird Poop Rogaine
It was said that Hippocrates from Ancient Greece had created a mixture to help men regain their receding hair. This concoction consisted of nettles, horseradish, cumin, and worst of all, pigeon droppings.
Apparently ancient Egyptians also used a similar recipe, but instead of poop, they used different animal fats instead. It goes without saying, however, that neither of these potions worked out for them.
Drawn-On Stockings
In 1941, during WWII, the British government imposed rationing on clothes. One of the first things to go were nylon stocking which were a popular way to cover up women's legs at the time.
Instead of facing the music and allowing more skin to be shown, however, the stocking trend stuck and women would look for all sorts of ways to get theat nylon look to their legs. Some would even use gravy to paint themselves.
Black Teeth
In Japan, a trend developed in which women would use certain dyes to make their teeth black. This practice was called Ohaguro and would continue until the 19th century.
There were still some women who continued the trend after that time too. The trend also spread throughout other parts of Asia as well, and you can still find people whose teeth are permanently stained black.
Dimple Machines
Have you ever looked at someone with dimples and thought they were so cool or cute that you just had to have them too? Well a certain woman named Isabella Gilbert decided to make a device to give you dimples back in 1936.
All you had to do was wear the device for 5 minutes a few times a day and you would have new or enlarged dimples. It obviously didn't work, and the American Medical Association even stated that it could cause cancer, though they didn't say how.
Mouse Mouth Wash
If you lived in ancient Egypt and perhaps needed a remedy for a toothache or bad breath, you might have ended up using a concoction made from mouse carcasses.
Sounds incredibly unhygienic, right? It was also mixed with other ingredients, so maybe it didn't taste as bad. That doesn't change the fact that it is what it is. We just wonder if it actually helped at all.
Egyptian Makeup
As beautiful and inspiring as Egyptian makeup was and still is, it was not without its detriments. Their makeup was full of nasty toxins that potentially contributed to shorter lifespans, though in that era pretty much everyone was short lived
Some of the minerals used in their makeup are malachite, which is a type of copper ore, and of course lead-based ingredients like galena. While it was very useful for smoky makeup (and to be fair, lead is super useful in many applications), it is super toxic to handle.
Lard Wigs
The people of the Victorian age were a proud people and were very fond of their hairstyles. After Marie Antoinette debuted her famous wigs and hairstyles, people were clamoring to get bigger, bolder hairdos.
In an effort to replicate her big, boisterous hair, they would apply lard to give it volume and definition. As if lard wasn't used enough in food back in the day, this was on a whole other level.
Dangerous Corset Trends
While we might have mentioned elsewhere that wearing corsets too tightly was mostly done by the upper-class, it was not without its risks. Many people used to tight lace, which was very constrictive on their bodies.
Side effects included broken ribs and ill health, and some people thought it may have caused internal organs to get crushed, moved, or herniated. The above image is a depiction of what doctors believed happened during tight lacing practices.
A Back Breaking Look
During the brief Edwardian era in England, it became standard for women to wear more than just their regular tight-laced corsets. In came the s-bend corset, which relieved women of some of the pressure they put on their abdomens.
By forcibly holding the woman at a more "S" shaped angle, they would put more of the pressure on their back and hips and would present a more bustled look. While this became quite a trendy look, it also left them with a slew of permanent back issues, not to mention the unnatural gait to their walk.
Tapeworm Diets
This was all the rage back in the 1800s. No one had to worry about any false advertising laws and the people would just take the word of anyone who promised them health and wellness, so it's no surprise that this took off.
The idea was that you would take a pill with a tapeworm egg and it would grow and eat your food so that you could eat as much as you wanted and still lose weight. We guess they didn't think about how to get it out, cause that stuff kills. Worst of all is the "No ill effects!" plastered on the ad. You know they did that because they definitely found some ill effects.
X-Ray Spas
Okay, there weren't exactly any "x-ray spas" out there, but people were going in for treatments using x-rays. They were typically going in for blemish treatments, especially for acne.
The x-ray was only discovered in 1895 with the first death directly linked to x-ray exposure being 9 years later, so it's no surprise that in between people were trying to come up with all sorts of uses for this discovery without thinking it had consequences.
Deadly Hairdryers
The portable hair dryer came to markets in the 1920s and with it came a lot of inherent risks. These included burns, electrocution, and even death. That didn't stop anyone, though, because now we have safer ones. Just don't drop it in water.
The reason these things were happening was that they didn't come with that third pin that plugs have which is typically used as a safety measure, and the other pins weren't polarized (don't ask us what that means).
Skull Elongation
The ancient Mayan people were all about changing the shape of their skulls. Starting around 1000 BCE, they would take their babies and starp their heads to a board using various materials and their skulls would reshape themselves.
It was not known to be tied to any sort of social standing and was done to both males and females. Most likely, it was simply done as a form of ornamental beauty. This technique also has roots in other cultures all over the world.
Big Calves
Nowadays, it's all about the big muscles, defined abs, and sleek figures. Many people also neglect their legs by skipping leg day. But it wasn't always about our upper bodies.
Back in the day, it was all about men's calf muscles. Understandably so because most of the time people were so covered up that the only things you could see were their stockings. Men would do what they could to get that definition showing through, even going so far as to stuff their socks.
"Divorce Corset"
At some point in time, it became more acceptable to show a bit more cleavage rather than covering absolutely every bit of skin up. And eventually someone decided that the more cleavage the better.
Enter the "divorce corset", so named because it seperates the breasts as far apart as possible. Forget cleavage, this was straight up seperation. It also doubled as a corset so you could keep it all in as well.
Short Teeth
Teeth are an easy one to find beauty trends for. Our teeth are visible every time we smile and so we want to be able to keep them as appealing as possible. we like it big and bold now, but that wasn't always the case.
Back in the Renaissance, it was all about the short teeth. Whether they were covered up by gums or filed down to size didn't matter because they were all considered beautiful. White was still right though.
Today's Freckles
There will always be new trends and beauty tips and tricks. We're always redefining what it means to be beautiful and what kinds of things will be acceptable and pretty. But it can be a slow grind.
While pretty, it's not exactly common to see people accentuating their freckles with different colors. Maybe one day people will be coloring in freckles on their faces, but it also feels like we just got back inot the freckle groove. Only time will tell.
Plucking Private Areas
We pluck hairs all the time. We also wax and use products that are designed to remove hairs easily and without razors. Shaving, however, remains the most popular method of choice. Just wait till you here this though.
There are some cultures that will actually pluck their pubic hairs because it isn't considered socially acceptable to have hair. But the thought of having to pluck each and every one down there sends a shiver down our spines. Let's just stop thinking about it.
Eyebrow Swag
China has a lot of beauty trends going on in its history. in fact, they have some of the more artistic and influential beauty trends in the world. And when it came to eyebrows, they liked to change them quite often.
Depending on the trend, you could see women in China changing the colors of their brows, or even the shape altogether. One year short would be in and the next long would be. There was even the "sorrow brow" which saw their eyebrows arched in a sad-looking way.
Powdered Wigs
You've seen them before, and they have quite a bit of history to them. Used for everyday tasks and depicted in movies as the wig of choice for big court cases, these wigs are known for their infinite curls and white, powdered look.
They became pretty popular due to a lot of reason, the first of which was syphilis, which had a huge outbreak in the late 16th century. One of the symptoms of this STD was the loss of hair, so the solution was wigs. Then the kings of France and England used them for their own hair problems and the trend stuck.
Plumpness Was In
During the Tang Dynasty in China, it was a lot more acceptable to be of a bigger frame. Women who had more round faces, plumper cheeks, and wider foreheads were considered to be the most beautiful.
If they could do it, so can we! It's sad to see that our society prefers people to have an unnatural-looking skinniness to them. Some people are just not born to fit that frame and they get stigmatized for it.
Thin Lips
These days people like to fill their lips or use makeup to give them the illusion that they're plump and full of volume. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. It's also potentially dangerous, so it's odd that it's so common these days.
In Italy, however, it used to be about having thin lips. Maybe it's because the option to fill them wasn't there, but that doesn't necessarily account for those whose lips were naturally voluminous. Either way, naturally thinner lips can look just as good as full ones, so rock what you've got.
Long Fingernails
In China, it used to be common (though potentially still in practice) for both men and women to grow their nils out as much as 8-10 inches. Some women would even cover their nails with golden guards.
They would do this as a symbol of wealth. If you had long finger nails, it meant that you didn't have to toil or do manual labor with your hands sybolizing that you have the money to pay someone to do it for you.
Erotic Piercings
You probably didn't see this one coming, but back in the Victorian age it was actually common to have piercings in more private areas. This is sirprising because of the amount of skin people used to cover up.
Apparently, it became popular for wealthy women to pierce their nipples and where them connected by a chain, while men got their privates pierced which supposedly made it easier to wear their increasingly tight-fitting pants.