Although time and expensive ingredients were lavished on appearances, beauty in the 17th century was seen as fleeting. Poor health and hygiene, with the use of poisonous materials meant a woman was thought to be ‘past her prime at 20, decayed at four and 20, and old and insufferable at 30.’

The use of these powders and ointments, especially ones containing lead and mercury, was very bad for the skin, and after a while resulted in scars and blemishes. To hide these it became the fashion for both men and women to wear patches on the face. These were cut into a huge variety of shapes and patterns, including stars, diamonds, crescent moons and even a tiny coach and horses.

Urine was also considered good for the complexion. Samuel Pepys’ (who presents a fascinating picture of the official and upper-class life in Restoration London and his well known diary is an explicit account of life at that time) wife tried the urine of puppies, although he did not report the effect! Another recipe to soften the skin, was to wash in your own urine, or with rosewater mixed with wine.

In the 17^th Century painters like Peter Paul Rubens immortalized young women launching an era in which a fleshy woman was renowned, her buxom abundance signifying productiveness and lushness along with health and wealth.

Women of that era were not model thin nor were they obese but they did have concerns about their weight. To shed pounds quickly, bathing in claret wine infused with “wormwood, calamint, chamomile, sage and squinath” was recommended. The Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for squinath, but lists squinanth as a kind of rush, whose flowers were used for medicinal purposes.

Those wishing to target particular flabby or sagging areas had more of challenge.  They were told to brew up a foul mixture of chicken and goose grease, pine, rosin, pitch and turpentine.  This was then mixed with wax, cooled, and allowed to set into a plaster on the desired body part in need of a lift.  This particular remedy is recommended under the heading: “Breasts hanging down or large; how to make them Plump and Round.”

These days, complimenting a woman on her decolletage is a surefire way to end up before a sexual harassment tribunal. But in Restoration times, it was apparently the fastest route to a lady’s heart.  A man’s guide to chat-up lines, written in 1661, suggests that bosoms are the best conversation opener with “ladies and gentlewomen”.

Until next time we will continue to explore the world of beauty Where Time Stops and Beauty Begins.

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