MORE FUN FACTS

Beauty Patches:
Make-up didn’t cause all the medical devastation throughout history. Some diseases and infections just popped up and those lucky enough to survive were still left with scars from the tragic ordeal.

One such illness was syphilis back in 18th century Europe. Thousands of people were infected and scarred from the infection's lesions.

To aid in covering up these unwanted marks, women started utilizing Beauty Patches. These little gems came in many shapes and sizes including stars, moons and hearts. They were extremely popular due to their ability to draw attention away from or cover the wearer’s unsightly blemishes.

Over time, an unspoken language was even developed:

• A patch near the woman’s mouth meant she was willingly flirtatious.
• A patch on her right cheek was a warning to men to stay away, as she was married.
• A patch on her left was still a gentle caution for it meant the woman was betrothed.
• A patch at the corner of the eye meant you were in the presence of a smoldering woman.

At one point the placement even denoted your political affiliation - Whigs on the right, Torries on the left.

As you might have already guessed, this fad eventually gave way to the practice of applying a penciled on beauty mark in later years.

You can read more about beauty patches here:  The Importance of the Facial Patch

Witchcraft:
Several attempts have been made throughout history to prevent women from painting their faces that had nothing to do with the medical repercussions of doing so. It had more to do with the male ego.

Greek theologian Clement of Alexandria drafted a law which prevented women from ‘tricking’ husbands into marriage by means of cosmetics.

British Parliament once demanded that ‘women of whatever age, rank, or profession, whether virgins, maids or widows, who shall seduce or betray into matrimony, by scents, paints, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, shall incur the penalty of the law as against witchcraft, and that the marriage shall stand null and void.”

So, as you can see, make-up has had a rocky history ranging from deadly poison to camoflauge for unwanted scars to source of sorcery. Yet it prevails. Powder on my friends!

Panati, Charles, Penati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, Harper Paperbacks 1989