Venetian ceruse and toxic Whiteness
What was the most toxic cosmetic ever used? Lead would be the favorite. Lead White carbonate was used in cosmetics because it could be caked on easily. It also was used by painters of frescoes, manuscripts and portraits, since it was easy to work with. Your face as a canvas...
Most paintings of Queen Elizabeth I of England show a garish white face, and it may have reflected her use of white lead cosmetics, but we don't know this for sure. Official portraits were then, as now, idealized propaganda. Consider this portrait below, informally known as The Cholmondeley Ladies or (long version): "Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed the same day." White lead cosmetics are shown, and white lead pigments were used to paint it.
Over the centuries, many wealthy "White" women have opted to further whiten their skin, just as in recent years the opposite is occurring with tanning salons. We have evidence that all of this is damaging, not just to the skin but internal organs as well. Do we really know what effect Botox has, or the effect of volatile organic compounds like toluene in nail products?
From the 16th century into the 18th, the cosmetic of choice for royals and the aristocracy was Venetian ceruse (aka Venetian White or "spirits of Saturn"), so named because it came from Venice and contained white lead. Several wealthy women actually died from lead poisoning this way, most notably Maria, Countess of Coventry, who was only 27 when she died in 1760.
This is not her. This woman painted by Gainsborough is unknown, but the white make-up and rouge are characteristic of Venetian ceruse made from lead, and the rouge might be cinnabar, made from toxic mercury, although it also might be non-toxic cochineal, which is made from crushed South American beetles. We don't know. But, it wasn't just the women: many men used Venetian ceruse to cover their spotty faces and smallpox scars. There is plenty of evidence that people knew of the risks, but used these lead and mercury compounds anyway.
"Whiteness" became a thing as Europeans began exploring other parts of the world and when they established the transatlantic slave trade. Equally, concepts of "Blackness" arrived at the same time and there are dozens of awful juxtapositions in European portraiture in the 16th and 17th centuries, like the one below. How ironic that extreme Whiteness could make people very sick and even kill a few.
Lead also can be found in black cosmetics, of course, such as kohl, which is from galena (lead sulphide). It has been widely used in the Middle East, South Asia, and parts of Africa, notably the black eyeliner used by the ancient Egyptians. Then it had a usefulness, protecting their eyes from the bright sun, and it helps make this famous bust of Queen Nefertiti so arresting. But, again, although it may not be as toxic as white lead, it's mostly banned these days.
Then there was drinkable gold... In the 16th century, celebrated beauty and royal mistress Diane de Poitiers probably poisoned herself with a mix of gold chloride and diethyl ether, which she thought would help her retain her good looks. When she died at the age of 66, she had 500 times the normal level of gold in her body.
By the Victorian era, a different toxin was favored in cosmetics: arsenic. It too was used to achieve Whiteness and a youthful glow. It was followed by radium!
To finish, two satirical cartoons about Lady Sarah Archer, a woman noted for her excessive use of cosmetics. The first is by Thomas Rowlandson in 1792:
This is The Finishing Touch by James Gillray in 1791:
