Victorian Beauty Ideals
For the Victorians ones physical appearance played an extremely important part in their lives, this is because an item of clothing would categories a persons status and what they did for a living. In the 1800's religion as well as modesty was very important and especially after the rise of Queen Victoria in 1837 there was a major decline in the use of cosmetics as it was looked down on and considered to be something women with without morals would wear, however they still did use some cosmetics. Even though these weren't the most important factors of being an ideal victorian, they still took care of their hygiene, fashion and body sculpting. Even painters in the late 1850's portrayed women with a pale complexion, hairless, and a feminine body with curves to show youth and purity. As at the start, the Victorian era was about modesty and natural beauty however even then upper class women used make up to give their skin a glow however very sparingly. Eyeshadows and lispticks were very pale and ladies that were respected wore lighter make up with natural tones to achieve the desirable look of very feminine and elegant with very pale skin and long curls to show there purity, kindness and love.
As the Victorians cared very much of their appearance, how they dressed in their thoughts revealed their emotions and thoughts which is why for example, actresses and prostitutes who were considered to be the same thing, always wore heavy make up and their make up was seen as the 'tools of the devil'.
Cosmetics
Pale complexion was something all women desired to have as it showed signs of wealth because it showed that they did not get a sun tan from working outdoors which was something that was looked down on. Although wearing make up was not encouraged and negligible women still wore it and went to the extremes to achieve the ideal pale skin. Actresses wore more of a theatrical white base and and normal women wore a softer and more natural base. One of the ways was by using a white mineral powder made out of Zinc Oxdie. Women would also eat white chalk and stay out of the sun because having pale skin was that important to their appearance which a lot of the time could consequent deaths and diseases due to the high toxins applied to the skin. However when there was a large decrease in the use of make up women simply avoiding the sun and started drinking vinegar.
The tricks that were used by women to look paler was to draw blue lines on their face and necks to bring out the paleness even more. Make up was still used despite being looked down on, however sparingly to achieve a natural look. Eyeshadows were made out of lead and antimony sulphide and lipsticks were made from beet juice. Make up had to be applied very neatly to make it less obvious to achieve more of a 'natural beauty' look.
It was Queen Victoria who made the use of make up to be seen as disgraceful. In the 1940's a product called 'Crème Cèleste' became popular, which was a mixture of white wax made from an organ from a whale's head, sweet almond oil and rosewater. This paste improved the use of make up as it could moisturise the face, hide blemished and create a light glowy skin. Although the use of make up was frowned upon in the mid 1800's, appearance was one of the most important things to women and men which caused them to use extreme measures to achieve desirable skin, eyes, lips, cheeks, hygiene. ' Kate Tattersall 2012, favoured lightly coloured lip balm, subtle eye paint, and on overseen a dusting of pearl powder.
A woman's toiletry case, from the 1850's which included mirrors, scissors, tweezers etc. which shows how important a woman appearance was.
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As stated by Kate Tatersall 2012 'Revealing the popularity of very pale complexions with rosy cheeks, somewhat red lips, and perhaps a bit of eye-liner. The most ostentatious adornment in these portraits is a pearl necklace.'
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