Do you like reading beauty related books?

Beautiful with brains says: I enjoy reading books about the history of beauty and biographies of famous makeup artists, but I rarely read those about techniques and tips as I feel you can find the same information online for free these days. But the beautiful pictures they contain are very inspirational.

If you think that misleading advertising and individuals without scruples exploiting women’s desires to look beautiful and young forever by selling them “miraculous” treatments of dubious efficacy are a modern phenomenon, think again. Women have always wanted to look beautiful and younger and in mid-Victorian London the trade of beauty products was already a very lucrative one.

At the time, cosmetics were frowned upon but women simply didn’t care. They were becoming more and more concerned about preserving and enhancing their natural beauty and so many turned to those who sold “beauty”. There were a lot of them around who advertised their magical creams and concoctions in the papers. One of the most famous and popular at the time was Madame Rachel, of Bond Street.

Who was Madame Rachel?

Madame Rachel, whose real name was Sarah Rachel Leverson, was born in 1806. An illiterate woman deserted by her husband, Sarah was a fish-fryer from the slums of Clement St Danes and later a dealer in second-hand clothes before entering the beauty business and opening a store in the smart Bond Street. Madame Rachel claimed she decided to start her career in beauty after her beautiful locks, of which she was very proud, were shaved off when she was ill with fever and a medical man told her he would give her a lotion that it’d make it grow back quickly and more beautiful than before. Apparently, the product worked and Madame Rachel decided to enter the beauty business herself. Soon, she made a fortune.

A professional beautifier

Madame Rachel claimed that she could restore youth to her clients and make ugly people look beautiful. She sold numerous beauty products, such as “Jordan Water”, “Magnetic Rock Dew Water of Sahara, for removing Wrinkles” and “Venus’s Toilet”. Despite the exotic and intriguing names, they were just simple concoctions and some of the ingredients used were toxic too. Also very popular was her famous “enamelling process” which involved: removal of facial hair, followed by alkaline toilet washes, application of a thick paste (which usually included arsenic or white lead among its ingredients) to fill in wrinkles, and finally a touch of rouge and powder.

She also released a book, called Beautiful Forever, about “Female Grace and Beauty”, in 1863. Despite her products being very pricey (the “Jordan Water” cost £1500 in today’s money!) and just not as effective as they claimed to be (she also claimed she and her daughters were a lot older than they appeared), not to mention the dangerous ingredients they contained, she had lots of clients and made thousands of pounds a year. Some clients became addicted to her products and would spend enormous amounts of money on them, sometimes piling up debts they were unable to repay!

A trickster and a criminal

Had she stopped at that, she may have been able to live comfortably and tranquilly for the rest of her life. Instead, she engaged in more sinister activities too. It seems, for instance, that she would encourage her clients to take an Arabian bath and then would make men pay to spy on them! But what eventually got her into trouble was cheating vulnerable old spinsters out of their life savings by convincing them that aristocratic bachelors wanted to marry them. Obviously the marriages never took place. One of her victims was Mary Tucker Borradaile, a 43 year old widow.

Mary Tucker Borradaile first met Madame Rachel in 1864 and became a faithful client. Two years later, Madame Rachel suggested her to try a treatment, which cost £1000, that would make her beautiful forever. To convince her, Madame Rachel made the widow believe Lord Ranelaigh was in love with her and wanted to marry her. Mary believed her lies and paid, only to find out that her “lover” knew nothing of what was happening and had no intention of making her his wife. Madame Rachel was charged with obtaining money under false pretense. A trial ensued and she was found guilty. She spent 5 years in prison and, once out, she went back to her beauty business and sinister activities. She ended up in jail again and died there in 1880.

If you want to know more about Madame Rachel, then I highly recommend Beautiful For Ever: Madame Rachel of Bond Street – Cosmetician, Con-Artist and Blackmailer by Helen Rappaport.

Nowadays women turn to plastic surgery, cosmetic treatments and expensive creams that promise miracle results in an attempt to turn back the clock. But the desire to look young forever is not new. Women always felt it and some went as far as to use poisonous remedies that eventually killed them. One of the most famous victims of this desire was Diane De Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, King of France. She was twenty years her senior. But who was Diane De Poiters? And how has she managed to keep her young royal lover enthralled until his death?

Who was Diane De Poitiers?

Diane was a beautiful woman, with flawless porcelain skin and luscious golden locks. But it wasn’t just her looks that enchanted men. Diane, a widow with two children who had served as a lady-in-waiting to a succession of French Queens, was a well-educated woman for the standards of her time, witty, clever, elegant and a keen sportswoman and art lover. And when the young 12-year-old Prince Henry, who had spent a few years as a hostage of the Spanish king, finally returned home, Diane was chosen to teach him courtly manners. Henry was already enthralled by her, but for a few years nothing happened.

In 1538, Henry and Diane finally became lovers. She was in her thirties, he was only nineteen. And married to Catherine De Medici. The two women were rivals for Henry’s affection, but it was clear that Diane was the winner (but she did insist that Henry pay more attention to his wife in public and fathered children with her). And when he become king in 1547, she was the power behind the throne and in charge of pretty much everything. The king even allowed her to sign official letters (which she had also written) with “HenriDiane” (and you thought nicknames such as Brangelina and Zanessa were a modern invention..). But royal mistresses hold power only until the king lives and when Henry suddenly died in 1559, Diane had to pack her bags and retreat to one of her country estates.

Diane De Poitiers’ beauty secrets

Diane was said to still be remarkably beautiful even in her 50s. But this beauty came at a very high cost. Diane exercised by running daily, hunting and riding, swam in cold river water and followed a strict diet. Every day, she would also take a bath, which was followed by massages performed with perfumed oils and other beauty concoctions. All this undoubtedly helped, but Diane had another, more dangerous beauty secret: she drank gold.

Drinking gold was quite common among wealthy women during the Renaissance. Back then, gold was considered to be an elixir of life and so was a treatment prescribed for a wide variety of illnesses. In addition, gold was also thought to have aphrodisiac properties and to preserve youth and beauty, all things that it was essential for a mistress to have, especially when her lover was a much younger king. While the trick seemed to have worked (Henry wasn’t always faithful to her, but his fascination and love for her never stopped), it also poisoned her.

When her remains were exhumed and examined in 2009, forensic experts noted that, for a woman that led such an active and healthy lifestyle, her bones and hair were very fragile. Both are symptoms of gold intoxication. Her white complexion was also caused by anemia, a result from consuming drinkable gold. When a lock of her hair still preserved at the Chateau d’Anet, the place where she died, was tested, it was found it contained 500 times the normal level of the precious metal! Eventually, it killed her. She died at 66, still beautiful. And while it is true that she had a remarkably long life for the standards of her time, it could have been even longer if she hadn’t poisoned herself.

Is the price to pay for eternal youth really worth it in the end?

Hannah Glasse was the Julia Child of her day. Born in London in 1708, but grown up in the North of England, she moved back to her birth place after her marriage to Irish soldier John Glasse. The couple had eight children. In addition to taking care of her big family, Hannah spent time writing a book, The Art of Cookery, which was published by subscription in 1747. The book was a huge success. Written in a colloquial style, it features both English staples such as Yorkshire pudding and French (although she wasn’t too fond of their cooking), Jewish and Indian recipes! But what has this to do with beauty? Well, at the end of the book, Hannah also shares a couple of DIY beauty recipes. I thought it’s be nice to share them, so here they are:

A fine lip salve

Take two ounces of virgin’s wax*, two ounces of hog’s lard, half an ounce of spermaceti**, one ounce of oil of sweet almonds, two drams of balsam of Peru, two drams of a alkanet root*** cut small, six new raisins shred small, a little fine sugar, simmer them all together a little while; then strain it off into little pots. It is the finest lip salve in the world.

*pure beeswax
**sperm-whale wax
***it is a rare pink dye

How to preserve hair and make it grow thick*

Take one quart of white wine, put in one handful of rosemary flowers, half a pound of honey, distill them together; then add a quarter of pint of oil of sweet almonds, shake it very well together, put a little of it into a cup, warm it blood warm, rub it well on your head, and comb it dry.

* This was a method practised by Mrs Dukely, Queen’s Charlotte’s tyre-woman.

If you’re interested in food history and recipes of the past, you can read the whole book, The Art Of Cookery at Google Books, for free.

Photo: Frontispiece to Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.

The Empress Elizabeth of Austria, also called Sissi or Sisi, was one of the most beautiful women of her time. And she knew it. It was her beauty that got her the crown that was supposed to be worn by her elder sister, Helena. Their parents hoped Helena would end up marrying the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, and was trained and groomed since childhood for this. But when Franz Joseph laid eyes on Elizabeth, he instantly fell in love with her and a proposal from the Emperor just couldn’t be refused. But the marriage wasn’t a happy one. Sissi was a woman who always longed for freedom and independence, but found herself imprisoned in a golden cage for the rest of her life.

Maybe it’s because of this that she became obsessed with her beauty and staying thin was so important to her. She hated what pregnancies did to her body and the thought of growing old. She once exclaimed: “Ah, the horror of growing old, to feel the hand of Time laid upon one’s body, to watch the skin wrinkling, to awake and fear the morning light, and to know that one is no longer desirable! Life without beauty would be worthless to me.” Sad, isn’t it? But how did this beautiful Empress take care of her appearance? Read on to find out..

How she maintained her slim figure

Empress Sissi had a slim figure (her waist was only 19 inches/50cm) and was very proud of it. And she went to great lengths to keep it that way. She hardly ate anything all day and exercised a lot. While walking was a common, even recommended, exercise for women at the time, she went for very long walks, which could last up to 10 hours! The protests of those poor, exhausted souls who had to accompany her on such walks never stopped her from walking so much, only physical pain or illness did.

Sissi was also obsessed with gymnastics which attracted a lot of criticism as it was considered very eccentric. She even had a gymnastics room installed at her palace and could be seen dangling from the rings! In addition, Elizabeth was also one of the best horse riders of her time. It is thought by many historians nowadays that the Kaiserin had anorexia. It was her looks that made her husband fall in love with her and made her Empress, leading her to live a life that though envied by many, is full of pressures, restrictions and demands. Her life was strictly regolated by etiquette and she couldn’t control it. What she could control though, was her looks..

Empress Elizabeth of Austria order card and bills for cosmetics

Skincare

Empress Elizabeth of Austria used lots of creams and lotions on her face. She doesn’t seem to have stuck to something specific but liked to try new things all the time. Some of these recipes are rather yummy, like the strawberry cream used as a facial mask, while others a bit gross, such as the raw veal she applied on her skin at night or the slug cream made with lard, marshmallow roots and ground slugs, which took more than 4 hours to make!

One of her lotions was called Cream Celeste, made by mixing spermaceti, cera alba, sweet almond oil and glycerin. This is a rich cream and she would use it to keep her skin well-moisturized during the long winters. Cold Cream, instead, would be made with beeswax, sweet almond oil, rosewater and cocoa butter. This cream, which gave a pleasant and refreshing cooling sensation was appreciated by many ladies at court too. To tone, she used rose facial tonics.

But who made all these recipes? They were either prepared in the court pharmacy or by one of her ladies-in-waiting. This could, depending on the recipe, be quite a time-consuming task. Some of these recipes, in fact, had to be stirred up to 12 hours! But that’s not all. To keep her skin soft, Elizabeth would bathe in warm water infused with olive oil and at night, thinking it would help her stay slim, she would sleep with cloths soaked in vinegar above her hips.

Dressing table of Empress Elizabeth, Emperor's apartments, Hofburg, Vienna

Makeup

Empress Sissi may have been starving herself and exercised to exhaustion to maintain her thin figure and tried every possible concoction to keep per face looking young and beautiful, but when it came to makeup, she wanted nothing to do with it. She loved natural beauty and thought makeup interfered with nature’s work. She didn’t wear makeup herself and was also very critical of women who she thought wore too much of it. One of those women was the beautiful Princess Pauline von Metternich. Of her, the Empress said: “She wears two inches of red powder on her lips and is dressed in material from countries that are far away even though she is too flat’. Ouch!

Hair Care

Empress Elizabeth had long, luscious, chestnut brown hair that almost reached the floors. One of her best assets, her hair was her pride and glory and she spent two to three hours a day taking care of it! She hired Franziska (Fanny) Angerer Feifalik to take care of it, which attracted lots of criticism at court because Fanny was a former theatre hairdresser. The Empress would sit on a low chair in the center of her dressing room, while her hairdresser, all dressed in white, including white gloves (she had to remove her rings too) would proceeded to comb and style her hair into elaborate hair-does. Once done, stray hair would be collected from the comb and cloth and counted. If too many had broken off, the Empress would get upset.

This operation would last from two to three hours so the Kaiserin kept herself busy by learning languages such as Hungarian and Greek. Washing her hair was another very time consuming operation, performed every fortnight with a mixture of cognac and egg yolk. Considering how difficult it is to remove egg from hair, albeit beneficial it is, and how long her tresses were, it’s no wonder that it took the Empress the entire day to wash her hair!

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The Second World War (1939-1945) is one of the most important events of the twentieth century, and one of the most disastrous too. Sixty million people (the majority of which were civilians) lost their lives in the conflict and incomparable destruction was left behind wherever it was fought. But during this terrifying time, while worrying about theirs and their loved one’s safety and watching the destruction of the world as they knew it, women would still worry about looking good.

It may sound silly to some to worry about such a thing as beauty while your town was being bombarded and people dying all around you, but a swipe of lipstick or using hair dye was a way to retain their humanity and dignity (wars always bring out the worst in people) and femininity, to put on a brave face, to boost their morale as well as that of the soldiers, and have some fun, even if only for a little while.

Cosmetics in Europe during World War II

During the war cosmetics were expensive and hard to find. That’s because everything, including the ingredients used to make them, were used mostly for war efforts. And everything was rationed too. In such circumstances, even taking a bath or washing your hair wasn’t easy. You would have only a few inches of water available, which certainly weren’t enough to fill a bath tube and shampoo (if you were lucky enough to get it) was rationed. Soap was another luxury during the war and most of the time, people washed themselves using only that little bit of water they could get.

Because everything was scarce, women had to be creative and resourceful: if they wanted to dye their hair they could only use vegetable dyes and if they wanted to shave but didn’t have a razor, they’d use a soapy pumice stone instead. As for hair, it was usually wrapped in scarfs or hairnets which served two purposes. It would hide a bad hair day (after all, not everyone had shampoo, remember?) and, if the women had a job (and many did as they had to do the jobs men left behind when they went to fight) it’d avoid their locks from getting tangled in machinery.

Cosmetics in the USA during World War II

The situation was better in America. The USA too participated in the war but it was fought predominantly in Europe, eastern Asia and the Pacific so America was spared most of the vast devastation that hit those parts of the world. But even if this meant that cosmetics were more easily available and people didn’t run the same risks as those under bombardments, lots of American men enlisted and bravely fought in the war. Those who were left behind weren’t in the mood for excess, celebration or show off their wealth.

Because so many men were away fighting, more and more women had to go to work. To retain their femininity and boost their morale, women (encouraged by society) would apply makeup. The beauty ideal of the time was a sophisticated and glamorous but natural and subdued look. On the eyes, women would apply natural eyeshadows in brown and grey tones, a touch of eyeliner and mascara, while the brows were kept quite thick but had to be perfectly arched and defined with an eyebrow pencil.

On the face, they would first apply a dark but warm foundation and, on top of it, a powder that was actually lighter than their skintone. This would give skin a rosy glow. Natural pink shades were used on the cheeks while the nails were painted in lots of different colors, from pinks to reds and mauves, to greens and blues. And what about the lips? Red lipstick was all the rage and was considered a natural look back then!

The popularity of the red lipstick was partly due to Elizabeth Arden. She was invited to create a makeup kit for the American Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. The aim was to boost their morale and Arden created a red lipstick that matched their uniforms. It was also during this time that companies started to realize how popular camouflage products (back then used on wounded soldiers) could be. They are now known as concealers and widely used by women (and men) worldwide.

After the end of the war, cosmetics became less expensive and easily available everywhere. Women finally had the money to buy what they wanted and the beauty industry soared. And even if nowadays the recession and economic crisis mean most of us can’t spend as much money as we’d like or were used to on cosmetics and other trifles, just thinking about what our grandmothers went through and, even today, what’s happening in other parts of the world where people are affected by natural disasters, wars and poverty, just puts everything in perspective, doesn’t it? We’re so lucky and can’t often appreciate it!

The Edwardian Era in the UK is the period that corresponds to the brief reign of Queen Victoria’s son, King Edward VII, from 1901 to 1910. However, some historians extend this period, also known as Gilded Age or Belle Epoque, to 1919 because this era of opulence and social changes, mass produced abundance and new revolutionary inventions, luxury and wealth was brought to an end by the First World War.

Cosmetics, magazines and makeup counters

Cosmetics, which were frowned upon in the Victorian era (but still very used, only in a very natural manner), become very popular. Even back then women felt the pressure to look younger than their real age and now, thanks to industrialization and mass publishing, more women had access not only to mass produced cosmetics but also to magazines giving beauty advice and tips on how to take care of their skin, hair and beauty.

Cosmetics could be easily bought at beauty salons but women were ashamed to admit they needed help to look pretty so, when visiting such shops, they would often use the back door! This started to change in 1909 when Gordon Selfridge in Oxford Street, London, began to place cosmetics on open counters, encouraging women to try cosmetics before buying them. Imagine how shocking this must have seemed to the older generations of the time! But beauty counters like we know them today were born and very soon, other shops followed suit.

The Edwardian ideal of beauty and how to achieve it with makeup

But what was the ideal of beauty women aspired to in the Edwardian Era? Well, pale skin was still in (although after the First World War, tanned skin will soon become popular), but blonde hair was out. The Edwardian beauty was a brunette with a pale complexion and rosy cheeks. To whiten their faces, Edwardian women used enamel, a white face paint made with white lead (which we now know is toxic). Rice powder or pearl powder could be applied on top of the skin as well.

To get that healthy rosy flush on the cheeks, rouge was applied, while the lips were stained with geranium and poppy petals. Instead, eye makeup wasn’t that common. Burnt matchsticks were sometimes used to darken the eyelids but it was eyebrows that were the main focus for Edwardian women and eyebrow pencils were very popular. So were belladonna drops, which would dilate pupils and brighten the eyes. Tinted powders and creams could be used on the nails as some sort of nail polish. The nails were then buffed shiny.

Skincare

Just like women today, Edwadian ladies wanted to keep the wrinkles at bay for as long as possible. At the time wrinkles were thought to be caused by a lack of oil in the body, which would damage skin tissue. To fight wrinkles, a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and plenty of water was recommended. In addition, using olive oil in salads and drinking rich milk and cream were said to help too. But that wasn’t the only concern women at the time had. For those that wanted birthmarks, scars, superfluous hair and moles removed, this could be done by a beautician with the help of an electric needle (electrolysis). And if you just needed to remove excess shine from your face, you could use papier poudre, which were available in books of colored paper for that purpose. Concoctions and creams with Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Lanolin, Petrolatum, Witch Hazel and Glycerin were also used to take care of skin.

Perfume

Perfumes changed a lot in this period as well. While in the past fragrances were made with natural ingredients and essential oils, their supplies started to become scarcer and scarcer because of the exploitation of resources in colonized countries. These natural ingredients were thus substituted with synthetic ones, with some perfumes containing both types of ingredients. In any case, synthetic perfumes weren’t as complex and rich as natural ones were, but they were cheaper.

Hair

In previous centuries, hair (just like the rest of the body, eww) wasn’t washed often. This too is something that changed in the Edwardian Era when women started to take better care of their locks. Shampoos started to appear around this time and brillantine was applied to give hair shine. Henna, spread with a small toothbrush throughout hair (which would then be wrapped up in a hot towel for at least 15 minutes) was used to dye hair in beautiful copper shades. Sulfate of iron was used to darken hair but if you wanted to bleach it instead you would opt for dioxogen and ammonia. And to prevent grey hair, which was though to be caused by dryness, concoctions of glycerin, oil, rum and oil of bergamot was applied on the locks.

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Nowadays, beauty and makeup books written by both makeup artists and magazines’ editors and journalists sharing the tricks of their trade abound. Women (and men too) rush to buy them to learn the secrets on how to apply blush, how to properly care for skin, what tools and products should never miss in their stash and more from the experts.

And just like these experts today decided to make money by publishing books, so did Lola Montez with her book The Arts Of Beauty in 1859. Who was Lola to be such an expert on beauty? Born in Ireland, (her real name was Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld) she was a dancer and actress (although not a very good one), courtesan and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria!

Because of her lifestyle, this lady knew a thing or two about beauty! In the 1850s she moved to America and needing money, she reinvented herself as a lecturer. Some of her lectures were about beauty and because they were successful, soon the book followed. So, I thought it’d be nice to share some of Lola’s recipes and advices with you and see if they are still valuable today.

The three secrets of beauty

According to Lola, the secret of beauty lies in three simple words: exercise, temperance and cleaniness. And how true is that!

Exercise: Lola thought, and rightly so, that to develop beauty, a woman had to be healthy. And already in the nineteenth century, she recommended getting plenty of vigorous exercise in the open air to stay fit.

Temperance: Lola also knew that excesses and lack of beauty sleep would take its toll on health and appearance. “A young lady, were she as fair as Hebe, as charming as Venus herself, would soon destroy it all by too high living and late hours”.

Cleaniness: “The frequent use of the tepid bath is the best cosmetic I can recommend to my readers in this connection” (the pursuit of beautiful skin). “By such ablutions the accidental corporeal impurities are thrown off, cutaneous obstructions removed; and while the surface of the body is preserved in its original brightness many threatening disorders are prevented.”

Beauty recipes

In her book, Lola also shares lots of homemade beauty recipes to make people look their best:

1. Brightening facial wash:
“Take equal parts of the seeds of the melon pumpkin gourd and cucumber, pounded till they are reduced to powder; add to it sufficient fresh cream to dilute the flour, and then add milk enough to reduce the whole to a thin paste. Add a grain of musk, and a few drops of the oil of lemon. Anoint the face with this, leave it on twenty or thirty minutes, or overnight if convenient, and roash off with warm water. It gives a remarkable purity and brightness to the complexion.” Apparently this was a very popular recipes among French women at the time.

2. Increase the size of your bosom
Apparently, Lola also had a diy recipes for those women that wanted a bigger chest. The ingredients are as follows:

- Tincture of myrrh 1/2 oz
- Pimpernel water 4 oz
- Elder flower water 4 oz
- Musk 1 gr
- Rectified spirits of wine 6 oz

Simply mix the ingredients together and rub the mixture on your bosom for 5 or 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day.

3. Tooth powder
Lola knew that to have perfect teeth washing them after every meal was mandatory. And she has a recipe for this too! “I need not remind the ladies that clean white teeth are indispensable to a beautiful month, The lady who neglects to brush her teeth with pure cold water after every meal, not only loses the benefit of the natural whiteness of her teeth but she renders herself liable to have the disgusting evil of an impure breath. The best tooth powder I know of is made as follows:

Prepared chalk 6 oz
Cassia powder oz
Orris root 1 oz

These should be thoroughly mixed and used once a day with a firm brush.”

4. Hand pomade
And what’s the point of having a beautiful face if your hands are ugly and show your age? Lola came to the rescue of the nineteenth century women with this easy recipe used by French and Spanish women that would make hands soft and pretty: “Both Spanish and French women – those at least who are very particular to make the most of these charms – are in the habit of sleeping in gloves which are lined or plastered over with a kind of pomade to improve the delicacy and complexion of their hands. This paste is generally made of the following ingredients.

Take half a pound of soft soap, a gill of salad, oil an ounce of mutton tallow, and boil them till they are thoroughly mixed. After the boiling has ceased, but before it is cold, add one gill of spirits of wine, and a grain of musk.”

These are just some of the many recipes and tips Lola provides in her book. A must read for those interested in beauty secrets of the past, you can read the entire book, The Arts of Beauty at Google Books. If instead, you want to know more about Lola and her fascinating life, Scandalous Women has two posts about her: you can find the first one here and the second one here. Yep, Lola’s life was too interesting to fit only in one post!