During the Tudor era the rich women use to wear makeup royalty and nobility to show their status. The more pale the skin was the more rich the woman was, as the poor had to work outside and would get darker in the sun. Queen Elizabeth I started the fashion of wearing heavy makeup as she grew older the heavier her makeup got to cover up her small pox and wrinkles. She wanted to give the illusion of her purity by wearing this pale white thick makeup and give the illusion to her people that she is forever young and beautiful.
The ideal beauty of the Tudor era was to have this pale white skin red lips and cheeks, light blonde and red hair and the blue, green or grey. Elizabethan women also used to pluck thier eyebrows and forehead to make thier forehead look bigger so it look like they was more intelligent. Women use to bleed them self to death by trying to achieve that look and sadly enough women even now till this day especially in the Asian countries would bleach there skin so that they can be pale white they would even bleach thier bodies so it looks like they was naturally pale, they will bleach thier hair blonde and wear light colour contacts so that thier eyes could look lighter then what it really is. I believe the fashion that Elizabeth I had started still is very popular in most countries and it also showing the status of how rich you are is the same to have this pale skin.
Before the Elizabethan era in early Tudor times women did not wear makeup but would use products to soften the skin that was influenced from the Middle East they would make creams out of honey, bees wax and sesame seed oil.
The Tudor cosmetics
Ceruse- ceruse is a mixture of white led and vinegar which was this thick white paste that women wore to make thier skins paler and to hide wrinkles and small pox. This was highly toxic and women would usually die from led poisoning because it was applied on and barely washed off.
Cochineal- was used to redden the lips and cheeks to get that desired pure and innocent look. Cochineal comes from Mexican beetles blood and was very expensive at the time it was used to even dye clothes and is now even used in red food colouring and is not harmful to the skin.
Red salves and rouges for cheeks- there was also another mixture used that I found during my research that women used to redden the lips and cheeks the mixture was vermillion, gum Arabic, egg white and milk from figs. This was also very harmful to the skin.
White face paint- white face paint was made from egg whites, powdered egg shells, alum, borax and white poppy seeds. This would bleach the skin and would harm and irritate the skin if worn a lot it was commonly use for neck, breast, arms and hands.
Ochre- was used to slightly redden the cheeks and lips.
White powders- this was a loose powder foundation.
Kohl- was used to darken eyelashes.
Research Links
http://www.sixwives.info/tudor-make-up.htm
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-make-up.htm
http://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/exploring-elizabeth/npg_tudor_makeup.pdf
http://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/history/fact-files/beauty-in-the-17th-century
http://www.mylearning.org/the-painted-lady--tudor-portraits-at-the-ferens/p-2281/
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