A light skin complexion was sought after by men as it became a symbol of aristocracy, and suggested that the individual did not have to engage in labour work outdoors that would change the colour of their skin.
Cosmetics were used heavily in the 18th century, the use of cosmetics was not only for vanity but for practical uses too - they could hide the effects of disease, blemishes, the sun or age. Women would wear thick layers of white paint made from lead to conceal and lighten their skin.
Back in the 18th century, men did so because it was more of a social status. Much like women in the 16th century wore Venetian Ceruse to lighten their complexion like Queen Elizabeth I. Unfortunately, the Ceruse was composed of lead, and it caused lead poisoning, hair loss and it turned their actual skin Gray.
People bleach their skin for various reasons, including societal pressure, personal preference, and cultural beliefs. Skin bleaching is often associated with beauty standards and can be driven by the desire to achieve a lighter skin tone.
“Pale skin was a status symbol, showing that women were wealthy enough to stay indoors and avoid the sun,” says Young. Women took to extreme measures to achieve this pallid look, painting their faces with lead-based foundations and powders and even consuming arsenic to lighten their complexions.
During the 1700's and early 1800's, “beauty” was synonymous with “proportion”. A conventionally beautiful woman was neither too tall nor too short, neither “too thin” nor “too plump”, with a long neck, large breasts, and a tapered waist.
Colors held significant meanings: RED symbolized strength in battle and hunting, power, success. And because hunting and success in battle meant survival of the tribe, it also symbolized happiness and beauty.
Due to migrations of people in recent centuries, light-skinned populations today are found all over the world. Light skin is most commonly found amongst the native populations of Europe, East Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, Siberia, and North Africa as measured through skin reflectance.
After the colonization of the Americas and Africa, colorism evolved from racism primarily through the practice of slavery. Slavery was done systemically, designed to create division not only between black and white people, but between darker skinned black people and lighter skinned black people.
Skin whitening grew in popularity in the 1800s, as white women in the United States began to emulate the skin-whitening practices performed by those in Europe. As such, American women similarly used ceruse, arsenic wafers, and products that contained toxic dosages of lead and mercury.
White: The most frequent users of foundation, with 43 percent of Caucasian makeup wearers using foundation every day. But Grant said there is an overall change among women of all skin types in the forms of foundation they are choosing and the way they use it.
For generations, makeup has been seen as a "girls-only" enterprise, so we forget that it wasn't always that way. For millennia, from 4000 BCE through the 18th century, men traditionally used makeup in myriad ways. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that makeup was relegated to one end of the gender spectrum.
Due to the association with ruling classes in European monarchies, the wearing of wigs as a symbol of social status was largely abandoned in the newly created republics, the United States and France, by the start of the 19th century, though formal court dress of European monarchies still required a powdered wig or long ...
Deadly makeup
Instead of using lead-based paints popular in Georgian times, some Victorian women would nibble on wafers made of deadly arsenic to achieve bright eyes and a translucent complexion. They would also use drops of belladonna in their eyes to dilate their pupils and make their eyes look bigger.
The history of a geisha's iconic makeup goes back to the Heian Period (794-1185) where nobility wore the white paste in front of the emperor so that their faces would stand out in the candlelight. During this period, the influence of Chinese culture included trends in beauty and practice.
Due to natural selection, people who lived in areas of intense sunlight developed dark skin colouration to protect against ultraviolet (UV) light, mainly to protect their body from folate depletion. Evolutionary pigmentation of the skin was caused by ultraviolet radiation of the sun.
Racism is a specific historical force and type of prejudice that emerged through a belief in racial hierarchies which were developed by white Europeans from the Early Modern era into modernity. Although, proto-forms of racism did emerge in the Middle-Ages.
Outside the United States, colorism may be more related to class than to white supremacy. Although European colonialism has undoubtedly left its mark worldwide, colorism is said to predate contact with Europeans in Asian countries.
According to a study called “Shades of beauty,” light brown skin tones are often the most physically attractive skin color (Frisby et al., 2006). They used four models for that study. They did not change the skin tone, but they imaged each model to three different skin tones: light, medium, and dark.
The most lightly pigmented (European, Chinese and Mexican) skin types have approximately half as much epidermal melanin as the most darkly pigmented (African and Indian) skin types.
The team has confirmed that genes associated with East Asian and Native American ancestry, rather than the genes underpinning lighter skin in people with European ancestry, explain the lighter skin of people of East Asian and Native American descent.
In general, ancient and contemporary Native Americans were predicted to have intermediate/brown eyes, black hair, and intermediate/darker skin pigmentation. Keywords: Ancient Native Americans; HIrisPlex; HIrisPlex-S; IrisPlex; Snipper.
Throughout Mesoamerica the practice of using body paint was essential in battle. The Maya, Tlaxcaltec, Huastec, and Aztec all used body paints in warfare. Among the Aztec, the application of specific face paint was an indication of martial success.