Queen Elizabeth I, also known as the Virgin Queen, was renowned for her beauty and intelligence during her reign as Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603. However, it is lesser-known that her obsession with looking flawless and youthful was driven by a traumatic experience in her youth.
At the age of 28, Elizabeth contracted smallpox, a highly contagious and often deadly disease. Though she survived the ordeal, the scars left behind left her mortified and desperate to conceal them. She became fixated on maintaining a pristine appearance, leading to her adoption of an intricate makeup regime that would have shocking consequences for her health.
Elizabeth’s makeup routine was both extensive and hazardous. Her foundation, composed mainly of white lead, was incredibly thick, giving her face an almost translucent quality. Along with this, she often used flour or rice flour as a base which would be lightened with lead white or chalk to conceal imperfections. She applied the mixture to her face, neck, and hands, using her fingertips to work it into her skin.
To add color and vibrancy back to her complexion, Elizabeth would paint her lips and cheeks red, using a dangerous and toxic mixture of red ochre, vermilion, gum arabic, and mercury sulfide. This created a bold, carmine-red tone that left her lips looking thick and luscious, however, the mercury in this mixture was highly poisonous and contributed to the decline of her health.
Though this combination provided Elizabeth with a beaming complexion, her makeup habits came at a high cost. The high mercury content in her lipstick, in particular, proved especially hazardous to her health. Mercury is a toxic heavy metal that can lead to kidney damage, neurological problems, and other severe health issues. It’s no coincidence that Elizabeth suffered from kidney failure and complications in her later years of life.
The intensive routines also stripped her skin of moisture and caused chronic dryness and irritation, with her skin becoming even more susceptible to aging and damage over time. The nearly all-white face mask and excessive use of white lead-based foundation also meant that any sun exposure would give her complexion a grey, washed-out hue.
Despite the significant risks to her health, Elizabeth was determined to maintain her flawless complexion, embarking on a rigorous routine day in and day out. In some instances, she even risked straining her eyes for hours on end, striving to make sure that every imperfection on her skin was completely covered before emerging from her chamber.
It’s a question that remains somewhat contentious amongst historians as to the exact effects of Elizabeth’s makeup habits on her overall health, yet it is widely agreed that the constant contamination of her skin with white lead, flour, and mercury may have stemmed the flow of time along with her body’s natural aging process.
In the long run, her vanity would have shaved years off her life; nevertheless, Elizabeth’s obsession with skincare and beauty speaks to a broader cultural movement, including other aristocratic figures of the era who were similarly preoccupied with their appearance.
As historians continue to delve into Elizabeth’s life and legacy, it’s remarkable to consider how the makeup habits that Elizabeth cultivated for herself laid out the foundations that we still see today in the skincare and beauty regimes of the ultra-elite. Her fixations elucidate the often insidious ways in which beauty norms and standards are enforced when in the hands of those who can afford to seek them out. They also demonstrate how tricky the line between beauty and danger can sometimes be when it comes to adhering to the impossible standards of society, whether in the past or in the present.
image sources
- A-Womens-Thing-Elizabeth-I-England-Sarah-Grass-Youngest-Nobel-Peace-Prize: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRXzQ1BPAHa1ZRxcs1uOEQQbtEVp8b6ZKGWOtf9FZe9afdNgUG
