i think we’ve all seen the portraits of important looking people, posing for pictures that would hopefully last for centuries. and i don’t know about you, but one thing i’ve always wondered was how those people got such clear skin. their flawless glowy-ness entranced me and led me on a research spiral into, yes you’ve guessed it, lead makeup!
but one thing that really peaked my curiosity was what happened to the people who used the popular concoction Continuously, wouldn’t that much lead damage them significantly? would it kill them? well today, as shown by the title, we will have a look into the results of these toxic cosmetics.
a brief history
all across the world lead has been a popular ingredient. throughout different societies and times lead has been used in and around makeup. according to this article lead (or cerussa) was used to prepare cosmetics to be applied to the face, as well as being used to create pots and containers to keep the roman cosmetics.
another example was it being used by ancient egyptians such as cleopatra and nefertiti as an eyeliner to protect them from the sun and illness. oddly enough, some french researchers in 2010 believed that the eyeliner, which included lead salts, increased the Wearers use of nitrous oxide, supposedly boosting their immune system. kohl is still used today, mainly across asia, the middle east and africa. though nowadays they use a different formula, excluding the toxic ingredients in old lead makeup! cleopatra’s eye makeup became iconic, with her and other middle eastern icons being seen as major makeup inspo.
and of course i can’t talk about lead in makeup without mentioning people such as marie antoinette and of course, the ever famous, elizabeth the 1st. Venetian ceruse or spirit of saturn was used by both ladies to create a smooth, whitening look on top of the skin, with elizabeth using it to cover smallpox scars. lead white makeup gave a glowy look that enhanced the wearers beauty.
during the 16th century whitening your skin was done in order to make it seem like you stayed inside all say, which Would’ve been a sign that you were of a higher class, as unlike the working class, who largely had to work outside in fields all day, you had the Privilege of constant shelter.
did women die from it?
yes, some women from the 16th to the 18th century died of lead Poisoning. a medical report named “three cases (of) lead palsy from the use of cosmetics” details the deaths of three women from absorbing the toxic lead. Other women such as maria gunning are confirmed to have died from lead makeup, whilst elizabeth the firsts 1603 death is Rumoured to be because of her use of lead paint over her 70 years of life.
but, even though many women died of lead poisoning, it does not mean that all women who used lead makeup died from lead poisoning. according to the conversation most women who used lead based makeup did not die of lead poisioning, though some who used more toxic formulas, that were more easily absorbed through the skin, did.
furthermore, the cases of death coming from lead poisoning did not just exist in the 16th to 18th century europe. the lead used by people such as the romans and the ancient egyptians would’ve also had effects, though these would’ve been far less documented. also for many it might’ve never had an effect on them as the life expectancy of those times was low. indeed the life expectancy for an ancient egyptian was around 30 to 40 years old if they lived passed childhood.
what effects did it have on women?
lead makeup had a serious effect on many. “lead palsy” as it was called had a main symptom of death, but a few other symptoms included-
- skin damage (discolouring, bumps ect)
- hair loss
- lead poisoning
- rotted teeth
Unfortunatly, for many women the social pressure of the 1600s to the early 1900s were incredibly pressing, so as some of these symptoms began being made clear, the women would just cover them with more lead based makeup.
The mabinogi 
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