Beauty in the Georgian Era

The Royal Museums of Greenwich offer a fascinating blog. One post explores the beauty standards and practices of the 18th century, providing a glimpse into the lives of women during this era:

Acne could be treated with mercury pastes, or a homemade cure which involved boiling a calf’s foot in river water, adding bread and butter, and smearing it all over the face. For wrinkles, just rub pineapple or a raw onion over the face before bed. The hair could be washed with egg whites, rum and rosewater, before achieving a gloss with the grease made from unsalted lard, beef marrow and brandy. For white teeth, there were a variety of tooth pastes – some including charcoal, brick dust or a touch of sulphuric acid – followed by a rinse of lemon juice and claret.

The rest of this post discusses some of the myriad other beauty standards and practices of the 18th century, drawing from the life of Emma Hamilton. It frames these standards within the context of the pressure on women to conform, which often involved dangerous and time-consuming beauty routines. The post also explores the double standards faced by women, with those of "loose virtue" more openly embracing cosmetics, while respectable women were expected to maintain a more natural look. It provides a useful discussion on the significance of beauty in shaping women's lives during this period, both positively and negatively.

You can find the original post here.

Emma, or Lady Hamilton, by the way, was the lover of the famous British admiral, Horatio Nelson. He later became Viscount, and his status helped elevate her beauty to wide renown.