Fatal Beauty Trends From the Victorian Era

The Victorian Era lasted throughout most of the 1800s. This period of time was known for its technological advancements and for its increased social mobility. And with that came new beauty trends that spread from Britain to the United States by word of mouth and publications aimed at women - some beauty trends that would never happen in today's world.

Not all of these trends were good - many of them had deadly consequences.

#victorianera #beauty #weirdhistory

[theesweetieca]

In 200 years there’s going to be a weird history video about how women’s in the 2020’s were obsessed with injecting chemicals into their faces and butts to make them look like they had an allergic reaction to something or a baby with a dirty diaper 😂😂😂

[iwrk]

I'm sure that 100 years from now, when people look back at what we put into and on our bodies they will be horrified!

[megannelson]

Carmine beetles are still used in lipstick and blush today. In fact, it’s part of the reason why certain drinks were not considered vegan at Starbucks a while back. Because it’s still used as a food colorant as well.

[roberthofmann]

Gives a whole new meaning to 'If looks could kill'

[addictedtothewrittenword]

Tight lacing is what made corset uncomfortable and was frowned on at the time. Also some women who tight laced wore their corsets all the time. This is what caused health issues.

[heloisamariani]

The idea of corsets affecting women's health is actually more of a myth and exaggeration. Every woman wore corsets everyay, just as we wear bras. Some women had issues with their weight, much as we have anorexya and bulimia today and might have laced them too tight. But the whole idea of the corset and the stays are that theyre supoosed to be comfortable. If the corset is umconfortably tight, you're doing something wrong.

[macgyversmacbook]

The thing is, what you’re mentioning with damaging corsets is called “tight lacing” even then it was considered stupid to do that, corsets would help distribute the weight of over 20 or more pounds of fabric a woman was wearing so she wouldn’t be injured by her dress

[MeredithHagan]

The idea of corsets is still largely misunderstood. For 99.9% of women, corsets acted as support garments the way we wear bras now. Nearly all women wore corsets every day, without any problem. It was only high-class women who were expected to be fashionably thin who wore their corsets extremely tight. Women who worked - factory workers, maids, laundresses, nurses, school teachers, even nuns - wore their corsets at comfortable tightness which still allowed them to do their jobs unimpeded. And maternity corsets ABSOLUTELY existed, that served the same function as modern-day belly bands.

In some ways, corsets would have been more comfortable than modern bras, not less, because the pressure was distributed evenly around the torso instead of just at the shoulder blades and rib cage, and certainly underwires were not involved.

[monicapyle]

Certain wallpapers (especially a popular shade of green) in the victorian era also had arsenic in it and killed many people.

[EmmaErsblabla]

Carmine is still used for red dyes in common modern products, including cosmetics, paints/varnishes, fabric dyes, food dyes and more. It's often not listed in the ingredients list as "Carmine", but more commonly labeled by its other denominators (most often E120, "Natural Red 4", or Color Index 75470)

[TomoMomoDomo]

Honestly, I'm surprised the super wealthy didn't just use flour to make their skin look whiter than... uh... arsenic. Legit some of my extremely fair-skinned friends, because many brands don't sell shades light enough, just resort to using things like corn starch as a foundation powder.

Interesting still... in asian countries, the youtuber Liziqi made a video about ancient chinese makeup - they were all natural; the red was made from rose petals and bee wax which can be used both as a blush and as a lip gloss/tint and the black was made from collecting ash/soot.

Japanese - they used rice powder for the white makeup

Europe: ARSENIC GAIZ!!!!

[michaelpalmieri]

I've heard of how women used to lighten their skin by applying arsenic to it. Like the narrator said, people thought arsenic was only fatal if they swallowed it. Of course, that wasn't true, as evident by the many women who died from the arsenic on their skins. Incidentally, this is where the expression "drop dead gorgeous" comes from.

[jayjdietrich]

Thanks in large part to Weird History, not much surprises me anymore.

[janinedjohnson]

Corsets as torture is erroneous. It's no more damaging than the modern bra. The super small waists only look so do to padding, clothing proportion and posture manipulation; you know, just like now

[jman]

Great way to learn history with all of the little humorous comments to keep it fresh and fun! Another great video.

[mirthenary]

I would think having those eye drops would make it hard to see, that's what it did for me when I had to have my eyes dilated for an appointment. It was impossible to focus on anything inside my car, including the gauges. ...ironic, considering I drive a Focus

[artbyjennyray]

I can imagine that in the not too distant future people will look at how people use botox nowadays in the same light as we're looking at the Victorian era beauty trends.

[nickanthropocene]

I want to thank your channel for first getting me into history, which taught me that learning history can be fun. Addictive, even.

[btetschner]

@6:03 That Weird History video "The Deadly Trail of Arsenic Throughout the Ages" was incredible, it is hard to believe something has been such a consistent use of poison throughout the ages.

[Galaxxi]

obligatory "corsets were not and still are not that bad to wear, they were simply shapewear and many of the photos you see of women with highly slimmed waists are actually "photoshopped" - that is to say, they were shot on backgrounds that would be easy to paint or draw over to achieve that look" comment. any fashion historian can tell you this, i'm surprised it's still so prevalent. the TB comment is probably still accurate though, they're not unhealthy for you but they do still slightly restrict breathing, and if you have a lung disease that's not going to help lmao