9 Bizarre Ingredients That Were Used In Beauty Products And Treatments Back In The Day
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It’s taken a long time for us to receive products that are safe for our skin and back in the olden days, it was even worse. When they say “beauty is pain”, they meant it literally as so many of the ingredients used in beauty products were dangerous for your body. Women (and even men) have done a lot of often reckless things to beautify themselves over the years. From radium to lead to actual animal feces, let’s take a look at nine crazy ingredients that were used in cosmetics:
1. Mouse Fur As Fake Eyebrows
Back in the 18th Century, people would often stick mouse fur on their foreheads. Besides hurting and capturing mice, this was also super unhygienic as mice aren’t exactly known for being clean. These days people are growing more and more intolerant towards the fur industry and are now switching to faux fur and other ethical options for clothing. We can’t imagine sticking mouse fur onto our forehead as something very pleasant.
2. Burnt Matches As Eyeliner
Back in Ancient Egypt, the “smokey eye” was popular among men as well as women. They even used soot as an eyeliner which led to a lot of eye infections and even conjunctivitis in certain cases. Ancient Romans too used burnt corks to make people’s lashes look thicker and darker. This is probably where the term “smoldering eyes” came from. We’re so glad that we have more skin-safe ingredients in our eye makeup these days.
3. Lead-based Foundation For Pale Skin
How do you think the British achieved that glassy white pale faced look that was so popular in the Victorian era? Lead was super popular in cosmetics in that era and was specifically used in foundations to give off a pale appearance. The pale-faced, lead-based look was made super popular by Queen Elizabeth as she was covered in red scars from her bout with smallpox (1).
4. Lip Tints Made Of Cochineal Beetle
Imagine smashing bugs and using their insides as makeup. Well, that is exactly what one of the most beautiful women in history, Cleopatra used to do. However, before you think that lipsticks don’t contain that anymore, the reality is that certain food dyes still use insect blood as a component, only it is listed as an ingredient in a not-so-obvious way. It is still widely used in many places like Peru.
5. Lard To Make Hair Look Puffy
Back in the terrible days of the French aristocracy, using pig fat or lard to give your hair the lift it needed was quite common. Marie Antoinette popularly used this method to make her hair look super poofy and extravagant. The downside to this is that it attracted a lot of bugs and other pesky insects and smelled awful. We can’t imagine how unhygienic this practice was. We’re really glad we have hair gels and styling sprays now.
6. Radium For Anti-Ageing
Radium would definitely help you not age by killing you before you even reached your middle ages. Many believed that this radioactive ingredient was a cure all and helped with making them look younger. Marie Curie discovered it in 1898 and sadly lost her life as she developed aplastic anemia in the year 1934 after being around the radioactive ingredient for so many years. That did not deter cosmetic companies from using the ingredient in popular makeup products even in the 1930s. What’s even more scary is that some of these radium containing products were even marketed to women in the form of intimate hygiene. So you can imagine how gruesome things turned out for these makeup users (2).
7. Arsenic For Skin/Hair Lightening
Arsenic wafers were sold in the 19th century as a skin lightening product. Many makeup manufacturers would ask the women to “nibble” on the wafers throughout the day to get a lasting, pale-faced appearance. But what these women did not realize is that they were slowly poisoning themselves to death by consuming the wafers. Arsenic destroys red blood cells and can even cause baldness. Eventually the person will die from consuming it. Long term exposure to arsenic can cause cancer, and even painful skin lesions (3).
8. Crocodile Dung For Bathing
Many ancient Romans and Egyptians believed that bathing in crocodile poop would keep you looking young and fresh. No wonder people in those days died before they even hit 30 years of age. The crocodile dung was mixed with clay or other types of mud and even used for a facial. While mud facials are still popular, people have skipped using Crocodile dung for them.
9. Sandpaper To Remove Hair And Exfoliate
Yes, exfoliating your skin is very crucial but using sandpaper to do so is a ridiculous idea. Not only will it tear through your upper skin layers and cause skin sensitivity, but it will also leave your delicate skin exposed to infections. In the 1940s, many economically challenged women would resort to using sandpaper to get rid of their body hair and buff their skin.
Which of the ingredients on this list surprised you the most? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.
