history of cosmetics
The Bloom of Ninon
DELICACY of Complexion.—The incomparable BLOOM of NINON DE L’ENCLOS, superior to any thing yet discovered for rendering the skin soft, smooth, and beautiful in the extreme. Its wonderful effects in removing freckles, morphews, worms, &c. justly entitle it to that preference so long bestowed on it by the most elegant beauties in this kingdom. It […]
Read MoreEmpress Josephine Face Bleach
In a testimonial included in another Empress Josephine Toilet Co. advert, “Mrs Jos. C. Morton” wrote: Some years ago I ruined my skin and complexion by the use of worthless face powders. Pimples would raise up in large lumps all over my face. They oft times resembled more closely a boil than a pimple. Modesty […]
Read MoreDr MacKenzie’s Improved Harmless Arsenic Complexion Wafers
‘Dr MacKenzie’ was one of several brand names attached to arsenic products – similar ‘wafers’ (pills) were sold under the names Dr Simms, Dr Rose and Dr Campbell. The wafers made the skin fashionably pale by destroying red blood cells. Although it was possible to build up a tolerance for arsenic by taking regular small amounts, it […]
Read MoreAlex Ross's Complexion Globules
This double advert shows only a fraction of the cosmetics range sold by Alexander Ross. He sold several products for the hair, including his famous Cantharides (Spanish Fly) Oil for curing baldness, and Golden Hair wash that turned the hair “a golden colour after a few usings.” Other products included a Skin Tightener liquid for […]
Read MoreTricosian Powder, Huile de Cachmere, etc.
As someone with a “countenance of moderate pretensions,” I can see the allure of some of these products … TRICOSIAN POWDER. For rendering Red or Grey Hair and Whiskers a beautiful Black or Brown. THIS POWDER, which is a very curious dis- covery in Chemistry, will be found, upon trial, much […]
Read MoreCosmeticon
This is another of the ads from Defoe’s A Review of the Affairs of France, which I have mentioned previously. COSMETICON: A most excellent wash to Beautifie the Face, &c., rendring the Skin sur- prisingly white and clear: It takes away all Hard- ness, Tan, Sunburn, or other Discolourings: All Morphews, Scurfs, Freckles, Lentils, &c., tho’ of […]
Read MoreCrinilene
Image: Whiskerandos, by John Leech, 1854. Courtesy of the John Leech Sketch Archives from Punch LUXURIANT HAIR, WHISKERS, EYEBROWS, &c. THE TESTIMONIALS daily received by Miss DEAN establish the fact that CRINILENE is the only preparation that can be perfectly relied upon in producing those acknowledged orna- ments of manhood in three […]
Read MoreThe Royal Essence for the Hair
This is the oldest advert featured on The Quack Doctor so far – it’s from a 1705 edition of Daniel Defoe’s periodical A Review of the Affairs of France. Defoe began the publication in February 1704 as a weekly opinion piece, but by the time of this example he was publishing it every Tuesday, Thursday and […]
Read MoreAlfred's Royal Composition
Image: Portrait of Madame Récamier, by François Pascal Simon Gérard FEMALE ATTRACTION TO obviate the unpleasant sensation experienced by those Ladies who may have SUPERFLUOUS HAIRS growing on the Face or Arms, and to render their persons more lovely and attractive, was the chief motive that […]
Read MoreButler's Vegetable Restorative Tooth Powder
Image: Le Baume d’Acier by Louis Leopold Boilly. Courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. BEAUTY, HEALTH, and a PEARLY SET of TEETH, may be preserved to old age, by the use of BUTLER’s VEGETABLE RESTORA- TIVE TOOTH-POWDER, a specific for the Tooth Ach, and its cause, the Scurvy in the Gums. Of the […]
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