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Today, it’s common to find modern beauty trends puzzling and question their popularity. Historically, beauty standards were equally bizarre and perplexing. It’s both intriguing and alarming to discover the extreme measures people took to enhance their attractiveness. From peculiar to perilous practices, history shows that both women and men have always sought ways to transform their looks to align with societal ideals.
Let’s explore some of the peculiar and fascinating beauty rituals people once followed to meet their society’s standards of attractiveness.
10. The Greek Unibrow
While the 1990s celebrated thin, over-plucked eyebrows, ancient Greeks adored the unibrow. Women were deemed unattractive or of lower status unless their eyebrows connected in the center of their foreheads. Seen as a mark of intelligence and virtue, the unibrow was the ultimate beauty trend of that era.
If you were fortunate enough to have a faint unibrow, you could darken it by applying soot to the center. For those without a natural monobrow, the look could be achieved using clever methods. Fashion enthusiasts would dye goat hair and attach it to their foreheads with resin to create the illusion of a unibrow.
9. The Prominent Blue Veins of Pre-Revolutionary France
In the peculiar aristocratic society of pre-revolutionary France, pale skin was highly prized among the wealthy due to racist and classist ideologies. Marie Antoinette epitomized this trend, often using white powder to enhance her already fair complexion. The prominence of blue veins against pale skin became a fashion statement, with women using blue pencils to accentuate their veins.
Bright blue veins and artificially whitened skin were just the beginning of the era’s eccentric trends. Social status was often reflected in the height of one’s hairstyle. Those lacking sufficient natural hair relied on towering, elaborate wigs to achieve the desired look.
Paintings of Marie Antoinette and her Versailles companions vividly capture the extravagant and excessive styles of the time. Their towering wigs, often greased with lard, sat atop pale, powdered faces. Their bodies were squeezed into absurdly large dresses that overwhelmed their figures, showcasing the opulence and absurdity of royal fashion.
8. The Popularity of Codpieces in England
Men were equally influenced by bizarre fashion and beauty trends. For centuries, the codpiece cycled in and out of fashion, varying in size and prominence among high-ranking men in England and across Europe. During the 1400s, men’s fashion included snug linen leggings paired with tunics, leaving little to the imagination.
This revealing attire naturally drew criticism from moral and religious authorities of the time. Under Edward IV’s reign, men were mandated to cover their private areas, leading to the invention of the codpiece.
Over time, codpieces became symbols of virility and authority, partly due to their protective, armor-like design. They expanded to extravagant sizes, crafted from luxurious materials like velvet, silk, and cotton, often adorned with jewels and intricate embroidery. Henry VIII’s iconic codpiece remains on display at the Tower of London!
7. Gladiator Sweat as Face Cream and Aphrodisiac
If the thought of applying someone else’s sweat to your skin makes you queasy, you might want to skip this section! The Ancient Romans had many peculiar practices, one of which involved collecting and using the sweat of gladiators.
The belief was that the more skilled a gladiator was in combat, the more potent their bodily fluids became. Women would purchase small glass bottles of this sweat to use as a facial treatment, believing it would enhance their skin. The sweat was scraped from the gladiators’ bodies using a tool called a strigil, mixed with olive oil for a smoother texture, and applied as a moisturizer.
Both men and women also considered gladiator sweat and blood to be a powerful aphrodisiac, often consuming it mixed with wine. To each their own!
6. The Tuberculosis Aesthetic of the Victorian Era
The Victorian era was notorious for its dangerous and bizarre beauty trends. Corsets, introduced in the 1800s, were used to reshape women’s bodies into more desirable forms. High-society Victorians admired the “tuberculosis look,” characterized by pale skin, a frail physique, and reddened lips.
Some individuals intentionally contracted the dreadful disease, believing it enhanced a woman’s natural beauty. Men were said to admire the bright, fever-induced eyes and the frail, delicate appearance that came with the illness. The slow decline toward death was romanticized, as was the gradual thinning of the body as the disease progressed.
5. The Extraordinarily Long Nails of Chinese Nobility
In Ancient China, long nails were a status symbol among the elite, representing wealth and power. This practice not only indicated freedom from manual labor but also stemmed from cultural beliefs that valued the preservation of the physical body. Growing nails long was seen as a way to maintain the body’s natural state without alteration.
Since nails were highly prized by the wealthy, protecting them became essential. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, aristocratic women used ornate nail guards to shield and embellish their lengthy nails. These accessories were often adorned with jade and other precious gems for added elegance.
4. Ancient Egyptian Remedies for Baldness
Even in ancient times, men struggled to accept baldness gracefully. In Ancient Egypt, a common remedy involved mixing lead, onions, iron oxide, honey, and animal fat into a paste. This unappealing mixture was applied to bald scalps in hopes of reviving hair growth, though it was largely ineffective.
Another remedy involved grinding animal hooves and dog paws, mixing them with date juice, and applying the mixture to the scalp. Unsurprisingly, these treatments failed to work and likely caused skin irritation and unpleasant odors.
3. Gargling with Portuguese Urine
Dental hygiene has had its share of odd practices throughout history. While modern society focuses on achieving overly white teeth, Ancient Romans took a different approach—they gargled with human urine. Historians note that the Romans imported urine from Portugal for this purpose, believing it to be more potent than their own, though the reason remains unclear.
The ammonia in urine acted as a disinfectant and teeth whitener, which is scientifically valid but undeniably unpleasant. This practice became so widespread that Emperor Nero imposed a tax on the trade of bottled urine. It remained a popular mouthwash ingredient well into the 18th century.
2. The “Infantile Appearance” of the Medieval Era
Hair removal and enhancement remain significant in modern beauty trends, and this was no different in the past. Medieval women plucked their eyelashes and eyebrows while shaving their foreheads to achieve an unusual, childlike appearance. Large foreheads were highly admired and seen as particularly appealing to men.
This peculiar fashion involved removing all facial hair and pushing the hairline as far back as possible. A hairless face was associated with purity and innocence, creating a look that, by today’s standards, would hardly be considered attractive.
The trend of a high forehead and smooth, hairless face persisted into the Renaissance. Even Queen Elizabeth I embraced this style, famously plucking her eyebrows to achieve the desired look. [10]
1. Blackened Teeth in Japan
Ohaguro was a traditional Japanese practice where teeth were darkened using a blend of iron, vinegar, and tannins. This custom stemmed from the belief that pure black objects were exceptionally rare and aesthetically pleasing.
Although primarily adopted by wealthy married women, geishas also commonly dyed their teeth jet-black. This practice represented maturity, social standing, and beauty. It remained popular from the 1600s until the mid-1800s, when natural white teeth became the preferred look.
