Top 10 Dangerous Things Women Have Done in the Name of Beauty
By: Renata Gomes
Tags: Health, History, Life Lessons, Beauty, Lifestyle

Top 10 Dangerous Things Women Have Done in the Name of Beauty

The pursuit of beauty throughout history

Photo by Gabriel Brandton Unsplash

Beauty standards have changed throughout human history, varying according to different cultures and traditions, but beauty standards and goals have always existed, putting a lot of pressure on women. In an attempt to reach a certain beauty standard, women have broken the bones in their feet, compressed the organs in their stomach and chest, applied poisonous makeup, and more.

Here are the top ten dangerous things women have done in the name of beauty:

10. Foot binding

The practice of foot binding is recorded to have begun in China around 960 A.D. and it wasn’t outlawed until 1912. Despite being forbidden, some women continued to bind their feet in secret up until the 1930s. Having tiny feet was a status symbol, and a way to secure an advantageous marriage.

“First, her feet were plunged into hot water and her toenails clipped short. Then the feet were massaged and oiled before all the toes, except the big toes, were broken and bound flat against the sole, making a triangle shape. Next, her arch was strained as the foot was bent double. Finally, the feet were bound in place using a silk strip measuring ten feet long and two inches wide.” — Smithsonian Magazine

The process was painful, and it resulted in terribly deformed feet that hindered mobility for the rest of the woman’s life.

9. Poisonous eyedrops

In Edwardian England, it was considered fashionable to appear with dilated pupils to emulate the look of being in love. To achieve this look, women used belladonna eyedrops, extracted from the poisonous plant of the same name (also known as deadly nightshade).

At best, the belladonna eyedrops caused blurred vision, at worst, irregular heartbeat, and blindness.

8. The tapeworm diet

Eating whatever you want without gaining weight, that is the dream of many women who are constantly pressured by beauty standards to remain slender at all costs. In the 1800s it was no different, and one solution for this particular problem seemed perfect: tapeworms.

The idea was simple, you would ingest a pill containing the tapeworm egg, which would hatch in your intestines and a worm would grow. As you ate to your heart’s content, the worm would consume most of it, and you’d stay thin and beautiful without any effort or sacrifice.

The complicated part was getting rid of the worm later since treatments for that sort of thing weren’t as efficient as they are today.

7. Lead makeup

Lead was used as an ingredient in makeup from Ancient Rome until the 1800s. It was used mostly to make women’s faces look paler, to cover blemishes, and hide pox scars.

Queen Elizabeth I, whose face was badly marked by pox in 1562, is known to have used lead-based makeup to cover the scars and achieve her white-face signature look.

Lead, however, is extremely poisonous. Applied to the skin, it slowly poisons the body and can lead to death, in the meantime, it causes dry skin, abdominal pain, constipation, and other unpleasant side-effects (Source: The Cut).

6. Face bleaching and arsenic creams

White skin was a beauty standard through much of human history, and women have gone to extreme lengths to achieve that pale look, including washing their faces with bleach, ammonia and using creams made of arsenic.

These products were particularly popular in Edwardian England. Before rigorous testing and labelling of beauty products were enforced, manufacturers had free rein to use any substance they wanted and claim their products were perfectly safe, which of course, they weren’t.

5. DIY Botox injections

Women have been engaged in the war against aging for centuries. Now, neither arsenic nor lead are used in beauty creams, but toxins are still used in cosmetic procedures to prevent aging, like in botox.

Cosmetic botox is made of a toxin, Botulinum A, which comes from the bacteria that causes botulism, a deadly disease. Mishandling botox is, therefore, extremely dangerous.

Even doctors run the risk of making a mistake and botching a procedure, so it would be dangerous for a lay person to attempt to do it herself. Yet, women buy botox online and attempt to do it themselves.

A badly applied botox injection can have severe consequences.

“If the wrong area of the face or neck is injected, the bacteria can disrupt those muscles that allow a person to breathe, chew or swallow.” — Plastic Surgery Specialists

4. Formaldehyde for straightening hair

Formaldehyde is a compound used in building materials such as pressed wood products. It’s also used for preserving corpses and in taxidermy. It is considered a carcinogen, meaning that long-term exposure to formaldehyde causes cancer.

Yet, women used it for straightening hair.

During the hair straightening process, a solution containing formaldehyde is applied to the hair. It’s later sealed in by heating, which causes the product to evaporate. These vapors can cause breathing problems, skin and eye irritations, and prolonged exposure has been linked to certain types of cancer.

3. Tight lacing corsets

In the 1800s, the desired figure for a woman was as slim-waisted as possible. To achieve the desired 17-inches-waist, women began using corsets at a young age and only tightened them up more as they grew up. Some women wouldn't even take off their corsets to sleep, or in pregnancy.

Tight lacing corsets can cause the internal organs to be squished, and even lose some of its functions. Breathing becomes more difficult, so you tire out easily, and there’s even the danger of piercing a lung with a rib.

2. Extreme dieting

The quest for being thin at all costs didn’t end in the 19th century, it still plagues women today.

Women will try all sorts of extreme diets to lose weight. From soup-based diets to simply refusing to eat, which can trigger eating disorders. Developing anorexia or bulimia are possible consequences of extreme dieting.

Anorexia is a disease that can lead to death.

1. Radioactive beauty creams

Radium was considered a wonder element when it was first discovered by Madame Marie Curie. It emanated energy, glowing in the dark, and it enticed the imagination of both scientists and inventors.

In the beginning, the long-term dangers of radium were unknown, which opened the door for it to be used in several areas of life, including the making of fluorescent paint and, eventually, beauty creams.

The idea of applying radium directly to the face seems completely insane to anyone in the 21st century, but back in the early 1900s, radium was seen as beneficial. Radium was used in all sorts of beauty products, from toothpaste to anti-aging creams.