13 terrifying beauty standards from the past

Goat hair monobrow

In ancient Greece, fused eyebrows were considered a sign of beauty and intelligence. The girls, whom nature has not very generously endowed with eyebrows, got out of the situation with the help of dark powder, as well as a mixture of goat hair and tree resin.

Complete absence of eyebrows and even eyelashes

High round foreheads were in vogue in England in the 1300s, and to make the face look longer and narrower, ladies plucked their eyebrows. Fully. And some even removed their eyelashes. The church had its own opinion on this matter; removing hair from the face was considered a mortal sin. But there was still a loophole – it was allowed to follow fashion in order to correct a serious deformity or to prevent her husband from looking down on her.

Whale oil and talcum powder for subtle pallor

The pallor fashion lasted quite a long time and affected almost all countries. In pre-revolutionary France, women, inspired by the fantastic styles of Marie Antoinette, applied generously with white powder. The powder was made from ingredients such as crushed bone, talc and white lead, and was combined with whale oil, wax, or vegetable oil to create a greasy mixture that would stick to the skin and last for a long time.

After the destructive effects of lead powder became obvious to everyone, they had to look for new ways. Women from Bavaria, Austria and the Czech Republic bathed in arsenic baths to make their skin look almost deathly white.

Veins entering through the skin

Vampires and phlebotomists aren’t the only ones who love veins. In Elizabethan Europe, women sought to make theirs as visible as possible. For this, leeches were used or the contours of the veins on the chest were drawn. This technique was often used on the neck and chest and the phrase “blue blood” was coined.

Extremely long nails

During the Qing dynasty in China (1644-1912), men and women grew nails of incredible length, to be precise, up to 25 cm. To preserve the manicure, they wore protective covers made of gold. This practice was spread among the upper class to show that they were wealthy enough not to do any work with their own hands. Their servants had to feed and clothe them.

A vinegar diet for slimness

In the early 1800s, poet, politician and leading figure in the romantic movement, Lord Byron was a trendsetter. He believed he had a “morbid tendency to be overweight,” and was so obsessed with maintaining his figure that he followed a diet that consisted mostly of vinegar. He drank vinegar every day and even ate potatoes bathed in vinegar. Unfortunately, this has led to a host of health problems such as diarrhea and vomiting. But that did not stop Lord Byron’s diet from becoming popular with young people in his day. Young women practically starved themselves to achieve an exceptionally slim figure. Even Queen Victoria was not immune to this practice.

Skull reshaping

As you know, “imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.” For the ancient Maya, the symbol of beauty was the god of corn. When a child was only four or five days old, he was laid on a bed and his head was placed between two boards, squeezed together and secured so that the skull could elongate.

Teeth whitening urine

Many of us will go to great lengths to have perfect white teeth, but there are limits to everything. Somehow the wealthy Romans came to the conclusion that the best way to whiten their teeth was to rinse them with urine. The Portuguese was considered the strongest in the world, so the cans were imported to Rome for top-class teeth whitening. Surprisingly, the urine mouthwash worked. Ammonia served as a disinfectant and was part of rinse aids until the XNUMXth century.

Widely spaced breasts

After a long dominance of corsets of varying degrees of inconvenience in the XNUMXth century, “adjustable” corsets came into fashion. Their task was to spread the breasts as wide as possible, forming as much space between them as possible.

Erotic piercing

Perhaps the last thing you would think about in connection with the Victorian era is sexy piercings, but life is full of surprises. For a short period in Victorian England, wealthy women would pierce their nipples, often connecting them with a chain.

S-shaped corsets that accentuate the hips

Women’s fashion during the Edwardian era was all about praising the mature female body. Then S-shaped corsets appeared, which made it possible to breathe easier without tightening the ribs and chest, but pushed the hips back at an unnatural angle. They forced everyone who wore them to take unnatural postures and walk, swinging their hips violently.