30 Crazy Things Women Have Done Throughout History In The Name Of 'Beauty'
As a woman myself, I can comfortably and unashamedly say (well, maybe a little ashamedly lol) that I've done some pretty weird stuff in the name of beauty. I love lash extensions, but when you think about it, paying someone to glue tiny little hairs onto each of your individual eyelashes is a little wild.
I also love me a good spray-tan, but again, when you really think about it, paying a person to spray your skin so that is looking darker is also a little strange. Not to mention the smell of a spray tan being absolutely gross.
It might be a reflex reaction for boomers to say that all these odd beauty treatments are caused by social media, or celebrity pressure, or by millennials just being their usual difficult selves, but in reality, women have done strange things in the name of beauty for centuries!
The only thing has changed is beauty trends throughout the ages. Check out some of the weird stuff women did back in the day!
"A Full-Faced Swimming Mask Helped Protect Women’s Skin From The Sun, 1920s"
Hulton Archive"Portable Hair Dryer, 1940s."
Easyart/PA"Faceless Beauty Contest In Cliftonville, 1936."
Austrian Archives"A Young Woman Holds Her Arms And Legs In Four Water Bathes With Electric Current, To Improve Blood Circulation, Circa 1938."
vintage.everyday"Woman Tans Using A Suntan Vending Machine, 1949."
ahtisham-ahmed"You Have A Beautiful Face But Your Nose?"
"The Bra Claimed To Develop And Strengthen The Bust And Was Designed To Vibrate While The Person Wearing It Was At Work. Brussel, 1971."
"French Breast Washer, 1930s."
"Rita Perchetti And Gloria Rossi Try Out Their New Portable Bathhouse So They Can Change Their Clothes After Sunbathing On Coney Island Beach, 1938."
"X-Ray Of Female Torso With Corset (Left) And Female Torso Without A Corset (Right), 1908."
nyamcenterforhistory.org
"Rubber Beauty Masks Used To Get Rid Of Wrinkles In The 1920s."
Wellcome Collection
"A Perm In Germany In 1929."
Everett Collection
"Contestants In The Miss Lovely Eyes Beauty Pageant In Florida Wearing Masks To Obscure The Rest Of Their Faces, 1930."
FPG
"Dimple Machine In 1936."
Unknown
"Ironing" Hair, 1964." - I did this in the '90s... so this one lasted a while!
"Freckle Removal. A Complicated Apparatus Is Employed. Eyes Are Covered With A Special, Air-Tight Piece, And The Nostrils Filled In. Breathing Is Done Through A Special Tube. Sensitive Parts Of The Face Must Be Treated Separately, 1930."
Mansell
"Taking Precise Measurements Of A Beautiful Young Woman's Head And Face With A Contraption Like An Instrument Of Torture, 1933."
Hulton Archive
"Wooden Swimsuits, 1929."
"Facial Warming Mask, 1940."
"Max Factor's 1931 Ice Mask."
International News Soundphoto
"Customers Have Their Legs Painted At A Store In Croydon, London, 1941."
G W HALES
"Tape Worm Diet, 1900s."
Unknown
"Hair Dryer, 1920s."
"A Woman Having A Seam Painted Onto Her Leg, To Make It Appear That She Is Wearing Stockings, 1926"
Fox Photos
"Women Who Had Just Given Birth To A Baby Weren't Prohibited To Smoke In The Hospital. 1940s."
Unknown
"A Fruit Mask From The 1930s."
vintage.everyday
"A Policeman Judges An Ankle Competition At Hounslow, London, 1930."
Prismatic Pictures
"Before The Invention Of Sun-Screen In The Mid 1940s, Bathers Wore Garments Like This Freckleproof Cape To Protect Themselves From The Sun. The Cape Also Features Built-In Sunglasses."
"10th Century Chinese Tradition - Foot Binding."
Jo Farrell / Living History Project
"A Traditional Japanese Sign Of Beauty- Black Teeth, 17th – 19th Centuries."
Pierre Dieulefils
