The Elizabethan Era was a time when makeup started to becomesomething of everyday use and defined you as a person. Queen Elizabeth became an inspiration, her pale base and rosy cheeks became the look that portrayed an upper class woman. A look that was viewed as pure beauty of that era.
From what I understand the Elizabethan view of ideal beauty was pale snow-white skin with light hair and rosy cheeks and lips. Pale was beautiful because only upper class women could achieve this look, lower class women worked outside a lot therefore couldn't maintain a pale face as they would easily tan in the sun. Therefore the pale complexion symbolized wealth and nobility.
Queen Elizabeth used white make-up to achieve the look and make it as dramatic as possible, this is why in a couple of portraits of her she looks ghostly white. The complexion was that desirable that women went to the extremes of draining their blood and using white makeup called ceruse that included lead and vinegar, this was extremely poisonous. An upper class Elizabethan women may also dye their hair lighter to look more like Queen Elizabeth, they used a mixture of saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil which made a yellow hair dye.
From other research I also learnt that women of high class desired a high forehead meaning many of them would pluck hairs out to reach a hairline that was very far back. They also plucked there eyebrows out to give them the image of an even larger forehead. In this era a high forehead meant beauty and nobleness.
Another big aspect of the era was skin products. Elizabethan were obsessed with their skin and making it as clear as possible, they used lemon juice to try remove freckles and age spots, they also used donkey milk to try help the damage that the ceruse has caused. Another thing that I found interesting and would love to try is they used egg white on their face to glaze their complexion and hide and fill any wrinkles. I find this really strange and I think I would like to see if it actually does work.
I find the whole Elizabethan era interesting as I like the fact they went from wearing no makeup at all and makeup being frowned upon to a very dramatic look that was suddenly portrayed as beautiful because the Queen did it. I am excited to find out more about the Era and hopefully learn some more interesting facts and techniques to achieve the Elizabethan look.
References
Facial Beauty http://elizabethanmuseum.weebly.com/facial-beauty.html 2013
Elizabeth Era Makeup http://www.elizabethanenglandlife.com/Elizabethan-Make-up.html 2015
Beauty in the 17th Century http://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/history/fact-files/beauty-in-the-17th-century 2015
Queen Elizabeth used white make-up to achieve the look and make it as dramatic as possible, this is why in a couple of portraits of her she looks ghostly white. The complexion was that desirable that women went to the extremes of draining their blood and using white makeup called ceruse that included lead and vinegar, this was extremely poisonous. An upper class Elizabethan women may also dye their hair lighter to look more like Queen Elizabeth, they used a mixture of saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil which made a yellow hair dye.
From other research I also learnt that women of high class desired a high forehead meaning many of them would pluck hairs out to reach a hairline that was very far back. They also plucked there eyebrows out to give them the image of an even larger forehead. In this era a high forehead meant beauty and nobleness. Another big aspect of the era was skin products. Elizabethan were obsessed with their skin and making it as clear as possible, they used lemon juice to try remove freckles and age spots, they also used donkey milk to try help the damage that the ceruse has caused. Another thing that I found interesting and would love to try is they used egg white on their face to glaze their complexion and hide and fill any wrinkles. I find this really strange and I think I would like to see if it actually does work.
I find the whole Elizabethan era interesting as I like the fact they went from wearing no makeup at all and makeup being frowned upon to a very dramatic look that was suddenly portrayed as beautiful because the Queen did it. I am excited to find out more about the Era and hopefully learn some more interesting facts and techniques to achieve the Elizabethan look.
References
Facial Beauty http://elizabethanmuseum.weebly.com/facial-beauty.html 2013
Elizabeth Era Makeup http://www.elizabethanenglandlife.com/Elizabethan-Make-up.html 2015
Beauty in the 17th Century http://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/history/fact-files/beauty-in-the-17th-century 2015
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