History of Makeup with Many Cultures

The next prominent time in the history of makeup occurred when pale complexions became popular with many cultures during the 1400's to the 1800's. In China and Japan, rice powder was applied to the face, eyebrows were shaved and teeth were painted gold or black.

While in European countries the pale look was achieved sometimes by using egg whites or a potentially deadly combination of carbonate hydroxide and lead oxide to make a face powder. Lead which provided a white look and arsenic because it gave a metallic luster could also be found in eye shadows and lip tints.

Can you imagine choosing leeches to bleed the skin to make it look paler? And to compliment that pale look, belladonna, a poisonous herb, was dropped into the eyes to dilate the pupils and give them a dreamy look. It wouldn't be until years later that the safety of some of these natural materials was known.

When we look at the history of makeup we see that being pale became a sign of wealth and was very much the desired look for many years, how different from today. If your skin was tanned it meant you had to work outside not something wealthy women did.