Tudor Cosmetics And Dangers

    The use of cosmetics or make-up was very frowned upon at some points in history, but not necessarily the Tudors, The rich women of the Tudors, Royalty and the Nobility wore make-up as an indication of their status. It was also used to hide any imperfections on the skin such as scarring from various diseases like smallpox. Although cosmetics might have been worn by the wealthy in Tudor times, in the early Tudors like when Henry VIII was king it was not fashionable to be seen wearing heavy amounts of make-up, however the use of creams to soften the skin way. These creams would of been made from ingredients such as honey, beeswax and sesame seed oil.

    Make-up was developed in the Middle East and used by the Ancient Egyptians as far back as 3000BC. Eye make-up in the Middle East consisted of providing colour to their eye lashes, eye lids and brows. Rouge was made from red ochre and was used to colour their lips and cheeks.

    Queen Elizabeth 1 set the fashion as she grew up she became more elaborate with make-up which was a result of hiding wrinkles and other signs of ageing. Queen Elizabeth had caught smallpox which ended up leaving her with scarring on her face which was another reason for her using cosmetics more and as she grew older the heavy white make-up which she favoured helped to hide this and maintained her illusion of beauty as the 'Virgin Queen'.
    The Tudors view of ideal beauty during the Elizabethan era was a women with light hair and "a snow white complexion" which was complimented with red cheeks and lips. However the famous white base would only be achieved by the wealthiest women, and women from the lower class was expected to work outside so they couldn't maintain that milky complexion.
    Queen Elizabeth loved to enhance and exaggerate the image of the white make-up and their favourite way of applying this base was called ceruse which was a mixture of white lead and vinegar but unfortunately poisonous. Other methods of getting this white base was using plant roots and leaves. Moving onto the lips and cheeks, expensive rouge would be applied using cochineal to stain the cheeks and lips, as well as madder and vermilion was also popular to create this reddening effect.