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Back in the 1600s or so, the queen use to have beetles crushed to make red, red
lipstick. The poor people wanted to be
like her but they couldn't buy the beetles due to expenses, so they rubbed some
chemical (maybe mercury?) on their lips
so they would be red. Also, the queens face was very pale because she never
went
outside and since the poor people
worked outside all they time their faces were tan and to make thier faces
whiter
they rubbed something (a chemical) to
due that. These were very toxic and I was wondering if you knew, or could find
out, what they rubbed on their faces and
what happened to thier faces as a result.
Rebecca, I wish I knew where you got your information. Yes, historically women have used cinnabar (mercuric sulfide) and "white lead" (lead oxide) as cosmetics, but these cosmetics were more typically used by the upper classes than by the poor. It makes no sense that poor women would use these things, since, for example, the juice of red berries would have been much more easily available (and free!). For more information, you might try Reay Tannahill's Sex in History. As far as the physiological effect of cinnabar and white lead, they fall under the general category of "heavy metal poisoning." A good librarian will be able to help you find out more about the clinical effects; as a start, here's a link to a story about a recent, spectacular case of mercury poisoning.
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