Ladies wore make-up
to enhance their natural beauty and complexion or to fake it. There was
makeup foundation, which hadn't been invented yet, instead ceruse was
used or lead white, which had to be applied with various agents, one being
eggwhite which had the danger of cracking when laughing. Pale powder though
was used extensively. There was no powdering of the hair, that is much
later in the 18th century. Rouge was worn, but not applied the way modern
rouge is, instead of on the cheekbones, it was worn in the hollow below
the cheekbones. There was no darkening of eyelashes, there is even an
account of a lady who was an albino and left her lashes white. Eyebrows
were always plucked to form a gentle thin bow, and they were not darkened
either. There are some accounts where ladies shaved their natural eyebrows
off and glued on artificial ones made from mouse fur higher than the natural
ones to give their faces a pained expression so to speak. A blue or dark
khol in form of a pencil was used, sometimes to colour in the veins at
the cleavage to pretend he white skin was very thin and fair, but those
khols threatened to smear terribly, and so were the red pencils for the
lips, because the idea to mixx the pigments with grease to make the colour
stay on better had not been had yet. The dark pencils might have been
used sparingly on the eyelids to enhance this hooded effect of the eyes
the restoration ladies were that much after.
Patches were widely used then, often to cover blemishes, and they were
made from thin black silk, saturated in gum Arabic.
1669
This bust shows very well the way rouge was applied as well as
the thin arch of the eyebrows. The mouth is shaped and painted into
the desire small heart form and the round face was the ideal. The
most fashionable hair colour was dark. |
This
mica picture shows patches in half crescent moon shape and round or
oval shapes. The rouge again is applied below the cheekbone in the
hollow and the lips are heartshaped and small. The eyes are hooded
and could well be darkened a little at the eyelids, the complexion
is pale. |
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