7. Using lipstick was a thing that only women of loose morals did.
Queen Victoria thought that makeup was vulgar and unattractive. This is why if a woman used beauty products, she could have easily sparked negative rumors about herself. It was relatively acceptable to use powder and nothing else. Only actresses and prostitutes (and people didn’t see much of a difference between the 2 back then) could freely use lipstick and any other cosmetics. Up until 1921, the most trendy women in London used makeup secretly.
But all women wanted to look beautiful. So women used chemicals that contained arsenic and lead to bleach their faces, they put mercury on their lips, and ammonia on their faces and hair. They used some less dangerous things, too, for example, pinching their cheeks for blush or biting their lips to make them rosy.