Tudor Cosmetics

During the Tudor periods cosmetics were generally not used until the reign of Elizabeth 1. Elizabeth
was 25 at the time of the coronation. At this time she was a young girl who presented and dressed herself in a subtle way. It was all her natural beauty at the time. Cosmetics were introduced after Elizabeth became the Queen of England. She influenced many people with her beauty and looks. She was known to be a very attractive charming woman. As time went by, Elizabeth had her cosmetics imported from Italy and made some cosmetics herself as she was obsessed with beauty.  During this era an ideal Tudor woman was known to have pale white skin, reddish gold hair, rouge cheeks and lips. However, only the upper class women had a pale complexion as the lower class were outside working in the sun.

To achieve a pale complexion they used products such as, white lead, mercury, ceruse, ground alabaster, bear's grease and egg whites. Turpentine was used to get rid of blemishes. To get rid of wrinkles fat of a puppy was used. Catholic priests were severely critical of the use of these cosmetics.

Due to no hot water in the medieval times, hygiene was very poor. People hardly had a bath which lead to people smelling. To get rid of this situation perfumes were created. Some of the ingredients used in them include, apples, rose water, and nutmeg. Mouth wash was made from, vinegar, bole and rosemary.As there were no dentists during the 16th century toothpicks were the most popular and expensive form of dental care used. The queen's toothpicks were made of gold, silver and ivory.

A red ochre colorant made from white lead, ground alabaster, sandalwood and cochineal were used to create rouge cheeks and lips.

Red hair was extremely popular as the queen had red hair. Red dyes were made so that women could have the luxurious red hair. The dyes were made using ingredients such as, sulphur and quicklime were used.

However, Critics would argue that there is a difference between cosmetic and dangerous paints which could cause harm to a person. Using all these toxic ingredients on the face, questions the fact that would queen Elizabeth look so attractive in real life as she is in her portraits? In the year 1598, Paul Hentzner described a few characteristics of the queen.

He described her having a long wrinkled face, hooked nose and black teeth. In the 21st century, there is always a question raised on whether a campaign images are overly photoshoped. Relating this point back to Queen Elizabeth's portraits a her skin was terribly damaged from all those toxic ingredients, yet why were her images so flawless?

Also, today in the 21st century celebrities have treatments like, chemical skin peels and botox. Linking these treatments to the Elizabethan era wouldn't a chemical skin peel have the same effect ceruse would on the skin? In my opinion I think that I think that all artificial creams and treatments are given fancy names like a chemical skin peel, botox or facial implants. There can be several side effects of these treatments and if people really knew what they were applying on their skin they would never use it. For example, today if there was a treatment or cream called white lead people would not use it.

References
Gunn, F., 1973. The Artificial Face: a History of Cosmetics. Hippocrene Books, New York.
Ribeiro, A,. 2011. Facing Beauty: Painted Women and Cosmetic Art, Yale University Press.
Sherrow, V. 2006. Encyclopedia of Hair: a Cultural History. London, Greenwood.