Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619) (attributed to school of) • Elizabeth I (1533–1603) • Jesus College, University of Oxford
Deathly Pale
The beauty ideals for women in Elizabethan times was alabaster skin, ruby red lips, thin eyebrows, and a high forehead. Very little, if any, color was applied to the cheeks. Pale skin signified a woman of nobility, perpetually sheltered from the sun, with an abundance of servants to perform all the necessary functions of daily life. Tanned skin was for peasants laboring in the fields.
In the Elizabethan era, mercury was a common ingredient in makeup. At that time, it was used to clear the skin of spots and wrinkles, much like today's acne treatment is designed to do. However, the mercury was not treating acne; it was in fact removing the skin and corroding the flesh! If someone found that method didn't work, they might have mixed birch sap, elder leaves, and sulfur, applied it to their skin at night and removed it in the morning. Other forms of skin cleansers were made from urine, rain water, donkey's milk or red wine. If all this failed, bring on the leeches!
To achieve her signature, porcelain look, Elizabeth's favorite cosmetic was 'Venetian ceruse', a mixture of white lead and vinegar. The queen powdered her face and neck with the substance, transforming her skin into a porcelain canvas, slowly poisoning herself in the process.
To keep that tiny waist and show off one's best stomacher, women would swallow tapeworms that would digest most of the food they'd eaten.
Sources:
Elizabethan Costuming Page, stylecraze.com, The Flower Letters, fragrantx.com
