I researched 19th century makeup for my Amelia Island's Mark of a Man historical romance novel and discovered a few fascinating things.
(Click on the link to learn about
Amelia Island's Mark of a Man )
(Click on the link to learn about
Amelia Island's Mark of a Man )- Because great amounts of lead-based potions and dressings were applied to the face and hair by women and men, there was often hair loss, including eyebrows. They used a pencil to fill in the thin spots. That seems reasonable. More interesting is that pet mice became popular for the single purpose of using bits of their fur to make false brows. The glue/adhesive required was not so reliable and often times, or so I read, the glue let go, resulting in oddly shaped brows.
- The ladies would sleep the night away wearing slices of raw meat, beef preferably, lashed to their faces. The reason is obvious, isn't it? It reduced wrinkles.
- Because there was no real deodorant in 1858 and other bodily functions were less than sweetly odoriferous, the Great Stink of London was named, and a sewage system was implemented.
- Theatre folks burned corks and used the char for eyeliner.
- Finally, there was a young girl named Mabel who mixed Vaseline with coal dust to create a kind of mascara. Her brother, T. L. Williams, thought it a fine idea, and formed the now world-renowned Maybelline line of make-up. The name is a combination of Mabel and Vaseline!
Thank you to Jan Glazer, Beyond the Barricade, www.actingouttheatreco.org, for putting such educational things online for all of us to enjoy! Click on the link to find out more fun stuff about the theatre.
