1370 Charles V of France receives a gift of Hungary water, a body rub made of an alcohol base with rosemary, cedar, and turpentine. Soap is a luxury, but the use
of these waters sweetens the smell of the body.
c. 1400 Cosmetics, including a white paste made of flour to cover the face, become increasingly popular among the French aristocracy. Women pluck their hairlines
and even remove their eyebrows in the name of beauty.
c. 1500 Renaissance women use a mixture of honey and egg whites to condition their skin. White lead is applied to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Mercuric
sulphide is used for rouge. To keep complexions clear, some wash their faces in urine or a mixture of rose water and wine. To reduce ruddiness, raw veal soaked in
warm milk for several hours is placed on the affected area.
c. 1550 Catherine de Médicis uses a skin tonic made from crushed peach blossoms mixed with almond oil.
1597 Gerard’s Herbal is published. This is one of the first printed publications to include recipes for various skin creams, including one for acne.
c. 1600 To soothe chapped lips, it is recommended that sweat from behind the ears be applied to the affected area.
1603 Queen Elizabeth I dies and is rumored to have an inch and a half of makeup on her face at the time of her passing. This is not uncommon in an era when no
one washes their faces, and makeup is used to cover the horrible scars left by smallpox.
LATE 1600s A doll-like look with a pure white face and scarlet cheeks is all the rage. A foundation of white ceruse, which contains lead, is mixed on a palette
with water or egg white and applied to the skin. Rouge is commonly applied by rubbing a piece of Spanish felt or wool that has been dyed scarlet onto dampened
cheeks.
LATE 1600s TO 1700s Silk taffeta or thin leather patches in shapes like flowers, stars, and moons become a popular product to temporarily conceal smallpox scars
on the face. More than just cover-ups, however, the patches signal a woman's availability if placed near the lips. Engaged women wear them on the left cheek and
switch to the right after marriage. Some even carry small patch boxes with them to social events to replace any that fall off. Small scenes are sometimes pasted over
an eyebrow, and profiles of family members are sometimes worn on the face.
c. 1830 Women put a few drops of belladonna into their eyes to dilate the pupils, creating a dreamy look. Belladonna is a plant extract used since ancient times as a
poison.
1846 Pond’s Extract, a commercial cold cream, is introduced.
1867 The department store B. Altman and Company opens a “making up” department to teach women to apply rouge, powder, and eyebrow pencil.
1886 Avon, the door-to-door cosmetics line, is founded by David Hall McConnell, a former door-to-door book salesman.
c. 1900 Guerlain introduces the first lip colors to come in stick form.
1891 Polish-born Helena Rubinstein opens the world’s first modern beauty salon, in Australia. She sells a simple face cream inspired by her mother's beauty cream.
The product is an instant hit among Autralian women. In 1902 Helena expands her business to London, followed by Paris in 1906 and New York in 1912.
1908 Actresses are the only people who know much about makeup, as it is used exclusively for the stage. No woman dares to go out in public with more than the
lightest dusting of rice powder. Rice powder makes the face appear lighter but also swells up in the pores of the skin, enlarging them. Helena Rubinstein starts to
produce a tinted face powder that is more natural looking, does not have harmful side effects, and has a broad appeal.
1909 Rubinstein’s lifelong rival, Elizabeth Arden, opens her Fifth Avenue salon.
1909 The Russian immigrant Max Factor opens his first makeup studio in Hollywood.
1909 Eugène Schueller, a French chemist, opens the French Harmless Hair Dye Company, selling the first safe commercial hair dye product. A year later, he
renames his product L’Oréal.
c. 1910 The first pressed compact powders—complete with mirrors and puffs—are introduced.
1910 The Daily Mirror Beauty Book is published. The makeup hints and recipes for homemade lotions reflect the fact that cosmetics have become publicly accepted
for the first time in almost one hundred years. The little booklet includes references to a device that curls lashes, a homemade eyebrow darkener, and astringent
lotion, and it suggests using a pencil line to elongate the eyes.
1910 Tattoos are extremely popular in Britain. George Burchett, a famous tattooist, practices his art on men and women alike. His card indicates that he can tint and
shade complexions and remove moles, blemishes, and other marks.
1914 After seeing his sister Maybel apply petroleum jelly to her lashes, T. L. Williams formulates the first mascara. He forms a company, named Maybelline after
his sister, to manufacture the new product.
c. 1920 Coco Chanel makes tans chic, calling a suntan an important “fashion accessory.”
1920s The flapper Clara Bow is everyone’s favorite “it” girl. Her look includes heavy eyeliner and ultrathin eyebrows.
The opening of chain stores, in which products and prices can be examined by all, make inexpensive cosmetics available to everyone.