Overview on the use of Tudor cosmetics

Overview on the use of Tudor cosmetics

The rich women also known as Tudors wore make up to show others their status in the society - that they are wealthy an powerful. Elizabeth 1 set up all the fashion rules when it came to make up and hair, she used make up to cover up any skin diseases such as skin being burnt, smallpox, and other plenty skin damaging diseases that were caused by that toxic potion which involved vinegar and white lead as well as egg whiter however  she wanted to maintain her flawless beauty and be seen as 'Virgin Queen' no matter how damaging the make up was to her and any other upper class women that used this toxic potion to have a porcelain white skin in the Tudor era. The Tudor view of beauty was seen as light hair and deathly pale skin with red lips and cheeks. Pale complexion was a sign of wealth because the women who were poor had to work outside therefore could not maintain the pale skin appearance. Rich women in Tudor era wanted to achieve light hair effect by using saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil. This combination of ingredients achieved more of a yellow look to the hair which also made it look lighter, another way they achieved lighter yellow hair they used urine which sounds like a very unsanitary way of achieving the look however the women of the upper class did not care about the ingredients that need to be used in order to achieve the desired look. If the lighter hair could not be achieved by those ingredients, wigs and hair pieces were also a popular way, however they were very expensive therefore only the upper class women and men could afford such luxury, Queen Elizabeth herself owned over eighty wigs, because she was very wealthy woman the cost of the wigs did not matter.