Fatal Beauty Trends From the Victorian Era

The Victorian Era lasted throughout most of the 1800s. This period of time was known for its technological advancements and for its increased social mobility. And with that came new beauty trends that spread from Britain to the United States by word of mouth and publications aimed at women - some beauty trends that would never happen in today's world.
Not all of these trends were good - many of them had deadly consequences.
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#victorianera #beauty #weirdhistory

[@iwrk]

I'm sure that 100 years from now, when people look back at what we put into and on our bodies they will be horrified!

[@alexispennings380]

Yup- love the comments like “I can’t believe people didn’t know how bad that was for them!” Uhhh, there’s gonna be tons of stuff discovered in 50 years that’s awful for us that we do now.

[@giraffesinc.2193]

A lot of things we do now will be seen as idiotic!

[@HorseShow5]

@@giraffesinc.2193 A lot of things already are. Ever seen those "coca cola removing rust" videos? Yeah.

[@giraffesinc.2193]

@@HorseShow5 👀

[@jalapeno1119]

So much makeup has talc in it

[@megannelson7334]

Carmine beetles are still used in lipstick and blush today. In fact, it’s part of the reason why certain drinks were not considered vegan at Starbucks a while back. Because it’s still used as a food colorant as well.

[@gwen8859]

Wow😮

[@ybe7011]

Hawaiian Punch had carmine as a food coloring.

[@Lu-dm7rn]

Indeed, some of this ingredient is also present in sweets like those strawberry flavored cookies

[@carolinaroot3492]

Hawaiian Punch always gave me a sore throat

[@gwen8859]

@@carolinaroot3492 I loved Hawaiian Punch until now. Hadn’t had any in years but was just thinking of getting some. Oh my…

[@MeredithHagan]

The idea of corsets is still largely misunderstood. For 99.9% of women, corsets acted as support garments the way we wear bras now. Nearly all women wore corsets every day, without any problem. It was only high-class women who were expected to be fashionably thin who wore their corsets extremely tight. Women who worked - factory workers, maids, laundresses, nurses, school teachers, even nuns - wore their corsets at comfortable tightness which still allowed them to do their jobs unimpeded. And maternity corsets ABSOLUTELY existed, that served the same function as modern-day belly bands. In some ways, corsets would have been more comfortable than modern bras, not less, because the pressure was distributed evenly around the torso instead of just at the shoulder blades and rib cage, and certainly underwires were not involved.

[@ladylavacake4174]

yes! I strongly recommend people to have a look at Bernadette Banner's videos about the subject (I'm sure there are pleny of other ones out there too! I'm just a fan of Bernadette)

[@gwen8859]

More like girdles

[@maryalicefrazier2817]

I still wear corsets and do prefer them to bras. Better back support

[@TalyaEm]

Came to find this comment. Love how impossible it is to shade the corset anymore 😂

[@carinaelizabethpaul9785]

​@@maryalicefrazier2817I wear a bodysuit with underwire. I had them for decades .

[@theesweetie23ca91]

In 200 years there’s going to be a weird history video about how women’s in the 2020’s were obsessed with injecting chemicals into their faces and butts to make them look like they had an allergic reaction to something or a baby with a dirty diaper 😂😂😂

[@kaileyhylia1119]

I think people who do that are crazy now

[@chromicapop4595]

oh and being obsessed wirth annoying trends lk

[@pennyp7382]

It's men too. I know because I used to be a plastic surgery assistant in Beverly Hills. It's just as many men...also abdominal and calf implants. So stupid.

[@AllytheGumby]

girls way more tbh@@pennyp7382

[@addictedtothewrittenword3451]

Tight lacing is what made corset uncomfortable and was frowned on at the time. Also some women who tight laced wore their corsets all the time. This is what caused health issues.

[@roberthofmann8403]

Gives a whole new meaning to 'If looks could kill'

[@btetschner]

Good one!

[@PhDrSeuss]

🤣😂😅😂😅 🤣😂😅😞😁

[@heloisamariani]

The idea of corsets affecting women's health is actually more of a myth and exaggeration. Every woman wore corsets everyay, just as we wear bras. Some women had issues with their weight, much as we have anorexya and bulimia today and might have laced them too tight. But the whole idea of the corset and the stays are that theyre supoosed to be comfortable. If the corset is umconfortably tight, you're doing something wrong.

[@thelittlefashionphoenix]

There are exhibits in museums of livers literally indented by the bands of the corsets. They literally couldn’t breathe properly. They were, actually, very dangerous.

[@FieldTrip-sp7rl]

@@thelittlefashionphoenixlike op said, corsets that hurt your body are sized wrong or is CHEAP😂. Corsets hug around your body, and it is not supposed to be too tight or uncomfortable. If the corsets make you feel uncomfortable, then you are not wearing the right size. Corsets can give you the snatched look. The corset can take some time to adjust exactly to your body size and shape, but too much discomfort is a sign that you have to change the size of your corset. also link to that museum??

[@macgyversmacbook1861]

The thing is, what you’re mentioning with damaging corsets is called “tight lacing” even then it was considered stupid to do that, corsets would help distribute the weight of over 20 or more pounds of fabric a woman was wearing so she wouldn’t be injured by her dress

[@monicapyle]

Certain wallpapers (especially a popular shade of green) in the victorian era also had arsenic in it and killed many people.

[@jemandjemand2362]

more like lead, which made it green

[@monicapyle]

@@jemandjemand2362 the color that was very popular was called Scheele's green. It was an arsenic based pigment. Paint had a lot of lead in it though, so I'm sure if they decided to go with paint instead of wallpaper, they were still exposed to toxins. I'm surprised anyone survived!

[@ferociousgumby]

It was also used to dye fabric, which would be worn next to the skin, with disastrous results. Oh well, at least you'd look sexy as you wasted away!

[@MrBibi86]

there is a good series on KZbin of things from different eras in your house that could kill you. I remember the green wallpaper from that

[@EmmaErsblabla]

Carmine is still used for red dyes in common modern products, including cosmetics, paints/varnishes, fabric dyes, food dyes and more. It's often not listed in the ingredients list as "Carmine", but more commonly labeled by its other denominators (most often E120, "Natural Red 4", or Color Index 75470)

[@jayjdietrich]

Thanks in large part to Weird History, not much surprises me anymore.

[@TomoMomoDomo]

Honestly, I'm surprised the super wealthy didn't just use flour to make their skin look whiter than... uh... arsenic. Legit some of my extremely fair-skinned friends, because many brands don't sell shades light enough, just resort to using things like corn starch as a foundation powder. Interesting still... in asian countries, the youtuber Liziqi made a video about ancient chinese makeup - they were all natural; the red was made from rose petals and bee wax which can be used both as a blush and as a lip gloss/tint and the black was made from collecting ash/soot. Japanese - they used rice powder for the white makeup Europe: ARSENIC GAIZ!!!!

[@OTHERMRBABCOCK]

Flour was much harder to get then: also traditional flour is very thick and doesn’t stick well to anything dry, not making it good makeup. Also, for the wealthy flour was a “common” ingredient not something foreign, exotic, or exclusive that the Victorians loved.

[@metarcee2483]

I'm pretty sure I've seen lip gloss with the same ingredients as the Chinese recipe. It was like nine dollars because of its organic label, though.

[@evil1by1]

Liziqi's videos are so beautiful but I wouldn't take anything I see on them as a fact or how to. Shes primarily an artist and sells a vision of a lifestyle to urban Chinese people. More like the cottage core people we have, some truth, some truth stretching, mostly selling imagination, limerance and escape not facts. Like ash and soot.. those concentrate dangerous chemicals like lead, arsenic, cadmium and chromium. You dont want those anywhere near your eyes. Corn starch as powder or to set make up is 🔥

[@janinedjohnson]

Corsets as torture is erroneous. It's no more damaging than the modern bra. The super small waists only look so do to padding, clothing proportion and posture manipulation; you know, just like now

[@jman4817]

Great way to learn history with all of the little humorous comments to keep it fresh and fun! Another great video.

[@mirthenary]

I would think having those eye drops would make it hard to see, that's what it did for me when I had to have my eyes dilated for an appointment. It was impossible to focus on anything inside my car, including the gauges. ...ironic, considering I drive a Focus

[@expred]

Thanks for the chuckle.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

I've heard of how women used to lighten their skin by applying arsenic to it. Like the narrator said, people thought arsenic was only fatal if they swallowed it. Of course, that wasn't true, as evident by the many women who died from the arsenic on their skins. Incidentally, this is where the expression "drop dead gorgeous" comes from.

[@navret1707]

As well as mercury.

[@gohawks3571]

I thought it was lead... How did we survive🤔

[@Giantcrabz]

I imagine even if it it were only toxic through ingestion, you would inevitably swallow some over time during application and having it on your hands and in the air

[@TheCandiceWang]

Drop-dead gorgeous!!

[@artbyjennyray]

I can imagine that in the not too distant future people will look at how people use botox nowadays in the same light as we're looking at the Victorian era beauty trends.

[@HavianEla]

Oh I’m sure there’s many things humans in the future will think us morons for. Such is the progression of humanity, technology, and science

[@artbyjennyray]

@@HavianEla true, true

[@kathleenking47]

Look at Kylie Jenner 🤔

[@lostyetalive]

And pressurizing women to shave every inch and literally have "clean" bodies like babies. And those women who are "more hairy" and have problem shaving everyday need to do laser hair removal which is painful as hell

[@marisaroiz7678]

That arsenic green is a very lovely color though

[@btetschner]

@6:03 That Weird History video "The Deadly Trail of Arsenic Throughout the Ages" was incredible, it is hard to believe something has been such a consistent use of poison throughout the ages.

[@krokodilpil8335]

Man, I'm glad we don't have a pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry today that will sell you products with long term deadly side effects that they know of, because of shareholder pressure for profit.

[@Mel-so2rw]

Ikr, we’re so lucky they have our best interest at heart.

[@CwL-1984]

These are some killer beauty secrets

[@videogamevalley7523]

…..lets all be thankful that someone said ……”you know, I think these chemicals are hurting the body”

[@nickanthropocene6502]

I want to thank your channel for first getting me into history, which taught me that learning history can be fun. Addictive, even.

[@cynthiabotsko2449]

I knew about many of these... but arsenic baths?! What?! That one was the surprise.😮 Great info! Thank you!

[@jcfreak4ever1]

Same here; Weird History and its partner Nutty History, as well as Absolute History, taught me a bunch about the ways of the Victorian era, but that one was a new one on me! I didn't know they did arsenic _baths_ back then... 😳

[@Galaxxi]

obligatory "corsets were not and still are not that bad to wear, they were simply shapewear and many of the photos you see of women with highly slimmed waists are actually "photoshopped" - that is to say, they were shot on backgrounds that would be easy to paint or draw over to achieve that look" comment. any fashion historian can tell you this, i'm surprised it's still so prevalent. the TB comment is probably still accurate though, they're not unhealthy for you but they do still slightly restrict breathing, and if you have a lung disease that's not going to help lmao

[@Daud76]

How we ever survived the Victorian era is beyond me! 😄

[@theesweetie23ca91]

We survived but the rich people didn’t, poor people couldn’t afford to keep up with these beauty standards

[@Daud76]

@@theesweetie23ca91 ..and so the rise of the poor began! 😉

[@theshagnetwork]

@@theesweetie23ca91 Actually things became more affordable in the victorian era. There was still homelessness ofcourse but it was a period of enormous advancement and for the first time ever, people who weren't rich could afford to live in luxury and comfort. They just didn't realize the harm's yet but many everyday people were effected by Victorian life in some form. It was a very experimental period.

[@cherylbrooks7005]

Love your humor 😂

[@marionetteproject508]

can you do the pacific history? if so thank you, I love your content.

[@jacobfamily4544]

Exactly why, when people tell my wife and I "But everyone else does that to their daughter!!1!", we don't listen and do the right thing instead. Not everything everyone else is doing is necessarily any good.

[@woodworkingandepoxy643]

Yeah like when people would marry their daughters off at 12 or trade them for pigs like they still do in parts of Africa. Over in the smaller villages if someone was to be raped the parents get livestock as payment then force their daughter into marriage with that person

[@shelbyhudgins7981]

I’m ready for the 2000-2009 timeline! I hope y’all drop it soon!!

[@btetschner]

A+ video! Unusual and mindbending video, very unique and excellent.

[@rusteshackleferd8115]

Arsenic baths is what surprised me the most!

[@The7Reaper]

Thinking about tuberculosis makes me miss my boy Arthur 😢

[@jons.6216]

I had also read in an old book about fads that Victorian women used to drink vinegar in an effort to look "pale and interesting"! Haha!

[@Noah_E]

Vinegar isn't bad for you in moderation. I give my ten year old bluetick coonhound 2 tablespoons of vinegar twice a day for three weeks every four months. He used to get bladder crystals at least once a year before that. It lowered the pH enough that they dissolve and pass before getting large enough to cause cystitis or a UTI.

[@btetschner]

@8:19 I saw there is a Weird History video "The Shocking History of Lipstick, The Outlawed Royal Cosmetic," I will have to check that out soon.

[@crin28]

How could someone dilate their eyes and still be able to function at a party with lights? (assuming using nightshade has the same after-effect as having it done at an eye appointment)

[@Giantcrabz]

Dim lighting I guess lol

[@crin28]

@@Giantcrabz would have to be! Damn. 😂

[@spriggansiedeutsch6817]

Nightshade eye drops! That gave me the willies.

[@btetschner]

@2:29 In the film Once Upon A Time In the West, Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) is a railroad tycoon that is on crutches because of spinal tuberculosis. Much of the film is a battle about ownership of the land that the railroad was going to use.

[@btetschner]

@6:16 In the tv series Forensic Files, there are many cases of arsenic used as a poison. That is the gold standard of forensic science used for culturally significant cases.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Ah, yeah, the Victorian era. Weird History can't get enough strange topics in that era for our entertainment.

[@btetschner]

@0:01 A girl I used to go out with was a fashion student at Stephens College, the second oldest continuous women's college, in Columbia, Missouri. The fashion students (some of which were also my next-door neighbors) were hardcore, and probably thought of fashion all the time. At the end of the year, they would present their fashion designs at the fashion show on campus.

[@jalapeno1119]

Go Stars!

[@btetschner]

@@jalapeno1119 Are you from that area?

[@dunkel429]

The fashion historians are going to have a field day with this one

[@Kimmy-pw8tm]

The eye drops, I didn't think that there was anything else that outshone Dr Pepper tripped out.😂😂

[@amyosgood6044]

Corsetry info was false. Very few women "tight" laced. How would the everyday women do her house work if she had her corset so tight she couldn't do the simplest house work (which, at the time was not simple)?

[@Thalia_Rueli]

Hello from Massachusetts, USA

[@professorsprout3382]

Could you do a segment on those beetles that when crushed made a red pigment? When I was in Oaxaca, Mexico I learned about a parasite that when crushed made that color red. All those movies you've seen with Kings and important people receiving letters with a rich red wax stamp are showing you how the market for these bugs went crazy. I think it may have been Spanards who first brought it to Europe but soon this red substance was a must for the Red Stamp crowd. The elite could not get enough of it. It was from Mexico and it became more valuable than gold!! I specifically learned about it after seeing an indigo dye made from leaves. The dyes were used by native people to dye wool for very prized carpets.

[@cadillacdeville5828]

Thank-you

[@ethanaleman]

Hello from Bakersfield California

[@junejohns1517]

Carmine is still used in lipstick and other cosmetics today!

[@LoveRemains]

I had to get tested for tuberculosis as a kid, it sucked. Turns out I just had a really bad & long lasting case of viral pneumonia which almost killed me. 😅

[@livhuang4496]

There’s plenty of information out there about corsets and stays throughout history. Let’s not promote misinformation about how “awful” corsets are when for most people it was their version of a bra. It’s getting tiring hearing this old false tune that’s been proven time again to be untrue.

[@neenee666]

agreed. super surprised and disappointed they decided to further these lies. plus the photo @5:02 is a famous victorian doctored photo. it’s not even hard to tell either. so much for being a history channel

[@ferociousgumby]

@@neenee666 Also, better-quality corsets were reinforced with flexible whalebone rather than metal. Which is why whales were hunted to extinction.

[@Down_the_Wind]

@@ferociousgumbywe still have whales on this planet

[@erikaalexandraparrabernal2021]

@@Down_the_Wind yes, because whale hunting became illegal and that help the repopulation of the species...

[@Down_the_Wind]

@@erikaalexandraparrabernal2021 tell that to the Japanese. They still hunt whales and dolphins.

[@williamfoley5687]

I like this channel,and yogurt at Albertsons

[@charmedkitten]

So many makeup products use carmine, and I had no idea it was that toxic.

[@alrox1]

From what the video said it was the ammonia they used that made it toxic. I assume the "carmine" used nowadays uses the non toxic bugs for color but a (hopefully) less toxic replacement for the ammonia.

[@btetschner]

@1:54 Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) is considered one of the greatest westerns ever made. The tension of the film is greatest between "Harmonica" (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda, who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska)

[@stars-and-clouds]

I'm so tried of 'historically accurate youtubers' calling corsets a torture device.

[@elizabethhughes5371]

Good Sunday morning from lovely Middle Tennessee it's a beautiful day here not hot yet.... love love love the Victorian Era stories it's fascinating how things progressed this Era was a huge education in all things health buisness the beginning of all sorts of industries! Appreciate the knowledge 😀 have a fantastic day yall be safe out there I do have to say that in particular the makeup the need to change how you look so deep that you will do anything to achieve it is infinite since time began humans have died for it... Victorian women were right there for it! They sacrificed there bodies and today we are all safer for it

[@btetschner]

@1:01 In the classic film Say Anything (1989), Lloyd holds up a boombox under the open bedroom window of his love and plays "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel, the song which was playing when they became intimate. It is an iconic scene of all 80s cinema.

[@theesweetie23ca91]

Who cares?

[@sallykohorst8803]

Very interesting subject so thanks for sharing.

[@cdqa68]

Very reveling video. especially at 4:53

[@CHRISROYALSCHIEFSFAN]

Do 80s fashion.

[@carolinaroot3492]

Yes….the shoulder pads!! 😅

[@humblehummingbird2011]

Why do people follow trends? It must be a Trend 😑

[@Kangaroo_Poison]

Any new Timeline videos this year? :)

[@btetschner]

@5:27 - 5:37 Great voice acting!

[@feresmourali5783]

Please make a video about Emma Goldman!

[@mayflowerpdx5706]

Erin Parson is a make up artist and she loves vintage make up. She has a great make up channel and she actually tested some of these. Not the TB though 😂

[@MrBibi86]

thanks for the tip. I will check it out. I love that kind of stuff

[@Dev1nci]

0:37 HAHAHA! Brilliant!

[@btetschner]

@2:57 Some co-workers of mine at the supermarket SuperSaver used to joke that whenever someone was eating a lot but still looking skinny... that they must have a tapeworm.

[@btetschner]

10:03 The University of Missouri (Mizzou) held the first homecoming as we know today (with a parade and a football game).

[@dianerayner8349]

I loved watching Mr Ed when I was young

[@NASCARFAN93100]

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Give us an update on Season 4 of the Timeline Series!

[@MsDisneylandlover]

Please do 20s 30s 40s fashion

[@user-nf6bh3nc5c]

@WeirdHistory Have you got any "World History: Timeline: The 2000's (from the year ad 2000 through the year ad 2009)" videos? You know, Y2K, ten years from the beginning with the year 2000 to the end with the year 2009?

[@btetschner]

@0:50 Steampunk, the subgenre of science fiction, is inspired by both the Victorian Age and the "Wild West." (wikipedia)

[@MrBibi86]

*You need to do a video on fashion trends that were started by men that moved to women. high heels for example. I don't know why some people go crazy when a guy wears women's clothes today because they started with men in the 16th and 17th centuries*

[@janetduncan87]

Soaking in Arsenic is new to me. The Egyptians were first to create cosmetics. They used bugs for eye shadow, khoal, for rimming their eyes. They also used berries for lips and cheek color. They bathed in milk. Chewed on mint leaves for fresh breath.

[@kathleenking47]

Also, the 1st recorded music 78s were made by crushed beetles

[@janetduncan87]

@@kathleenking47 huh?

[@seekertosecrets]

0:44 HOW?! 10:17 Except for Radium and lead, all of them!

[@johannaschonberger6182]

In highschool I wore a corset but it was more for style than function

[@HabrenOdinsdottir]

I love corsets!

[@btetschner]

@0:01 - The Met Gala is "popularly regarded as the world's most prestigious and glamorous fashion event." (wikipedia) It is an annual fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute in New York City (wikipedia).

[@eidelleannejavier9936]

I gotta make a confession. I always play videos of these videos to sleep

[@ajaye2021]

Has there been one on socks 🧦?

[@triggeredcat120]

Flushed by Consumption sounds like a British 80’s pop band.

[@OnizukaAllMighty]

I have never seen more nightmare fuel 00:06-00:12

[@btetschner]

@0:37 Lyrical reference to the song "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred (1991). In the song he is a model on the catwalk.

[@daniellewis2133]

A high price to pay to look ugly in attempt to look beautiful.

[@kaileyhylia1119]

CORSETS ARE NOT TORTURE DEVICES! If you actually took time to research them properly you would know this. Tightlacing was at its peak in the late 1800s/early 1800s, but was still very uncommon. Only tightlacing shifted your organs, not a corset in itself. Corsets are actually more comfortable than modern day bras and were used as not only an undergarment, but to support your back. Each undergarment had its purpose. I've seen historical costumers try corsets on for a week, and Bernadette Banner who even wore a back brace for years, which is in its own right a "modern day" corset, and everyone has said they are infinitely more comfortable. The thing with corsets though is they need to be made correctly and for your specific body, if not, of course they weren't comfortable; it would be like wearing the wrong size bra. I urge a channel that is supposed to tell us the "facts" to research more on the topics you include in your videos. I've loved watching your videos, but this error has now made me cautious to believe anything you say.

[@tanyagarcia3721]

From what I heard corsets are bad when tight laced only not everyone wore them tight laced

[@alexblakney4860]

TRYING to keep up with beauty trends is fatal... and I will die on that Jonah Hill.

[@gabrielchavez4706]

Do one in Gilberto Bosques Saldívar

[@gwen8859]

All of it surprised me except corsets. But weren’t there some cultures that used non toxic plant based colors for makeup?

[@starglow2016]

Crazy 😮😱😱😱

[@sadgal2419]

As someone who still wears Victorian era corsets… its a myth that it is uncomfortable

[@raya4599]

The way i am not trying to be tempted by the fact that arsenic cures acne

[@902pacific]

grazie

[@btetschner]

@9:38 That is very interesting.

[@sessalymobley4868]

"Like Tuberculosis" 😂

[@clarityashtons4273]

The red surprised me tbh. I thought he was gonna say vermillion

[@Dev1nci]

8:44 you've probably eaten it though, it's a common food colouring :)

[@erfelgamazig]

These are all so insane, aren't they?

[@LGSW-mh2vz]

Corsets are really out here getting slandered