14 “Obscure Beauty Trends” Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now

Today the global beauty industry is worth $532 billion and our demand for things to improve our looks feels like it has never been bigger. But the wish to look our best is as old as history itself, and people in the past were just as eager to go great lengths to fit beauty standards of the time. And trust me, they were heckin’ weird. Like weird squared.

The TikToker Zachary Margolis has collected some of the most eyebrow-raising, obscure, over-the-top and plain dangerous historical beauty trends that he shared in a series of viral videos for his “Offbeat History” account.

From Romans whitening their teeth with urine to 18th-century women sculpting their enormous wigs with lard, it makes you wonder whether today’s beauty favorites like the ‘no makeup’ makeup look, laminated brows, and brightly colored hair will look just as freaky in hundreds of years.

@offbeathistory
Obscure Beauty Trends 💄Do not try these at home. #makeuproutine #beautytips #learn
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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the 19th century many women ate deadly arsenic wafers to whiten and even out their complexions. Some of the side effect include cancer, baldness, epilepsy. In 1902 you could actually buy arsenic wafers from Sears.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

179points

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Gabbinzola 3 years ago

The fact that it says "safe" in the title... 🙄

81points

F. H. 3 years ago

They knew it was dangerous by that time, so the manufacturers had to claim otherwise.

17points

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Vic 3 years ago

It gave a fair complexion with a tinge of blue..

3points

مها أبو اليزيد 3 years ago

And harmless to anybody too 🤔

0points

naimah yianni 3 years ago

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Michael Sanders 3 years ago

“That’s why I always use Dr. James P. Campbell’s Arsenic Complexion wafers. They are 10x safer than other leading brands”

17points

A B C 3 years ago

Because other leading brands use lead instead of arsenic? ;P

5points

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Cora Fields 3 years ago

They would eat arsenic to diet and powder their faces with arsenic to whiten

8points

tmw 3 years ago

I was told this arsenic trend is what created the phrase 'drop dead gorgeous' b/c people using them would be very ill ... and faint? i can't imagine they actually dropped dead. at least I hope not.

7points

Brian Bennett 3 years ago

Doctors in those days recommended a lot of "SAFE" deadly formulas for the beauty babes!

6points

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

makes you wonder about what doctors of today recommend and if in 100 years people will be horrifyingly making fun of us.

2points

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Sur Mer 3 years ago

You don't even want to know what products are being touted as safe today that generations later will be horrified of.

4points

Maria Schneider 3 years ago (edited)

Finally you die beautiful.

3points

Chuckie 3 years ago

its year 2021 and people are still using harmfull chemicals to get "beautiful"

2points

Teufel Wulf 3 years ago

And Libertarians wonder why we don't trust the freemarket to regulate itself.

2points

nunya bussiness 3 years ago

the words "safe" and "arsenic" don't go together.

2points

Cathy Carey 3 years ago

Yes, but did it whiten their skin?

1point

Pamela Blue 2 years ago

Well it did do just that. They looked lovely and white lying in their coffin.

0points

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tikki tikki mango 3 years ago

"Guaranteed absolutely safe"

1point

Sara Kerschbaumer 3 years ago

Harmless to enybody...wtf!?

1point

Eglė Bukauskaitė 2 years ago

That puts in the perspecive of that crap are we adding to our products thinking they're safe

0points

Vicky Mann 3 years ago

Is it the 19th century or 1902?!?!

0points

Randy Klefbeck 3 years ago

As well as electric belts and tapeworms to lose weight and .....uhhhh..masturbate without touching yourself.

0points

Jason Nicholls 3 years ago

Crazy

0points

Mary Ross 3 years ago

Yes, some white women in the 19th century actually did that. Trouble is, you can never stop taking the pills, because your body has become habituated to them.

0points

Onion rings like to make your breath smelly 3 years ago

the irony

0points

Donna Hall 3 years ago

amazing!

0points

Mazer 3 years ago

For those who don’t get that science belief systems change, often for the better.

0points

ベンジーBenji 3 years ago

Its safe and harmless but will give you cancer, baldness, and/or epilepsy?? I'll take 10!

0points

Lesbian dragon 3 years ago

Mmhmm definitely safe

0points

kjorn 3 years ago

a Doctor who sells Arsenic... kinda ironic

0points

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

not really. didn't you know? doctors are NEVER wrong!

-2points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the mid-1920's, a bronze, suntanned complexion became popular after Coco Chanel fell asleep on her yacht on the French Riviera. The suntan became a status symbol for a person who could afford sunny vacations, especially for those privileged enough to travel during the winter.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

168points

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Sofia Di Tutti 3 years ago

Before withe skin was considered "noble" because poor were forced to work outside and got tanned...

127points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the middle ages the forehead was considered the most beautiful part of the woman's face. Many women removed their eyelashes to accentuate their foreheads. They also plucked their hairlines and eyebrows to achieve a long and oval face.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

159points

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Aski Markup 3 years ago

Man, I woulda been the belle of the ball.

158points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now To white their teeth, Romans would rinse their mouth with urine. Specifically urine shipped in from Portugal.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

147points

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Otter 3 years ago

Well-aged urine that hadn't been refrigerated during transport, because refrigeration didn't exist! Tasty!

74points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the 18th century, before invention of hairspray, women would use lard to sculpt their wigs. Yes, lard. One of the downsides is that the wig would become a literal rat's nest. Sometimes rats would live in the wig for weeks. Women had to sleep with cages around their heads to keep the rats away.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

142points

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Otter 3 years ago

And at least some people whitened the wigs with flour, which meant they were basically wearing a pancake on their heads instead of hair. You bet the bugs loved it!

107points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In pre-revolution France, accentuated veins were all the rage. Some people would color their veins with blue pencil to make them pop. Others would use leaches to make their veins more noticeable.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

139points

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Andy Acceber 3 years ago

Visible veins meant they didn't work in the sun. It was a sign of status.

96points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now During the Japanese Edo period, blackened teeth were popular amongst aristocrats and married women. Blackened teeth were considered a sign of beauty and the practice helped preserve teeth into old age. In 1870, this practice was banned by the Japanese government. Blackening teeth wasn't just popular in Japan, and some people still practice this today.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

132points

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Toko Danganronpa 3 years ago

I'd like to know who practices it today...

65points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In 1936, Isabella Gilbert invented the Dimple-Maker. The machine consisted of a spring that fit around the face and two tiny knobs that pressed into the cheeks. I don't know what Isabella was thinning but the machine didn't work.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

124points

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Softsquatch 3 years ago

can totally imagine this being sold on wish today, and people buying it

152points

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14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In ancient Rome many women would moisturize with the sweat of gladiators. Whiles of sweat were sold as souvenirs outside the fights. The sweat was thought to be an aphrodisiac.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

123points

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Prilsy 3 years ago

Well the sweat probably had tons of pheromones so that makes sense

74points

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#10

14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the 1800s, eyelash transplants were all the rage. A specialist would sow the hair directly into the eyelid with a needle.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

121points

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Toko Danganronpa 3 years ago

That's sound eyewful!

76points

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#11

14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In ancient Greece the uni-brow was considered the sign of purity and intelligence. It was ideal to have eyebrows that melded together in the middle. Some women would darken their eyebrows with powder, while others would wear fake eyebrows made from goat's hair.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

116points

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Jayne Kyra 3 years ago

Give me two weeks and I would be stunning in ancient Greece.

152points

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See Also on Bored Panda

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#12

14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the 1400s, Italian women wanted to have thin lips that were barely there. The paintings at the time didn't highlight or emphasize the lips in any way.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

116points

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Jo Choto 3 years ago

There has to be a century somewhere where I would have been considered attractive!

68points

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#13

14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now Shortly after the invention of the x-ray machine, people used the machine to treat acne, eczema and for hair removal. Some of the side effects included atrophy, ulcerations, and cancer.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

112points

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Toko Danganronpa 3 years ago

Some side effects include: DEATH

91points

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#14

14 "Obscure Beauty Trends" Throughout History That Sound So Bizarre Now In the 1920s the portable hair dryer came on to the market. This was a more convenient alternative to the bulky hair dryers of the time. The device was very dangerous though and would cause burns, electrocutions, and death.

offbeathistory Report

Final score:

100points

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M O'Connell 3 years ago

If anyone is wondering why, appliances of the time did not have a chassis ground connection (no third pin), nor did they have polarized plugs (there was a 50/50 chance of the metal chassis being live at mains voltage depending on how you plugged it in). This hadn't previously been a problem because 'regular people' hadn't been using electrical appliances much prior to the 1920s.

65points

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What do you think ?

POST

Toko Danganronpa 3 years ago

This was a great read! My thanks to the author :)

38points

Martin Kaine 3 years ago

And in 500 years, #15 will be: "Filters"

24points

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Jo Choto 3 years ago

Wait a century and see what people have to say about us sucking fat out of some bodies, and putting silicon in other bodies to change the shape of everything.

32points

Chris 3 years ago

And injecting botulism in to your face

27points

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Brian Bennett 3 years ago

Makes you think - what dumb stupid things are we doing today that we will regret in the future. Not so long ago if you had the sniffles and went to your Doctor he would give you penicillin for 10 days, more or less to shut you up, he knew the sniffles would be gone in 10 days. This is why we now have antibiotic resistant germs .

14points

Amy Dodds 3 years ago

"in the early 21st century, women often thought it was attractive to insert implants into the breasts and pump their rears with anything from fillers, fat to cement. Ostensibly to create an 'hourglass figure, but the achieved result was often more akin to localised gigantism...... The face would would often be subjected to similar brutality, with lips pumped close to splitting as the' blow up sex doll' look was considered the epitomy of class and grace. Brows would be thickly pencilled and frozen in place, quite fittingly, in eternal bemusement, as the overall look caused them to resemble someone with the IQ of a ladle."

37points

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Rai Grant 3 years ago

Why on so many of these posts, am I no longer getting any pictures? I don't understand, other people are getting pics, n it's the same app, surely?.....

4points

The Boss 3 years ago

Every time they don't have pictures, I just skip it until I feel like reading it. But ya, honesty it isn't same app as it used to be

4points

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Me 3 years ago

BP has a mobile app and a website. The website shows more images, even on mobile devices.

1point

Martha Meyer 3 years ago

I'm not using the app. I'm using a browser.

1point

CanidaeVulpes 3 years ago

I’d be beautiful if I had only been born at a different time. And in the upper class. And didn’t die of some childhood disease.

3points

S. Tor Storm 3 years ago

Good stuff! Not often on here these days

1point

Chloe *Leah* Pheonix 3 years ago

In 1000 years there will be a list, number one would be "Implants" followed closely by steroids.

1point

millac 1 year ago

The inside of the mouth is considered vulgar/ disgusting in Japanese culture. The blackened teeth make the inside of the mouth less conspicuous. It's lessened up a bit in modern times, but you'll still notice that Japanese people will still cover their mouths when laughing, only smile without teeth, do this interesting little vacuum-bite thing when eating to ensure they aren't opening their mouths really wide, and think sharing stuff which has touched their mouths (such as a drink bottle) as extremely intimate.

0points

Dorothy Cloud 2 years ago

So interesting. But, my goodness what we ladies would do to ourselves to achieve what "others" would think was beautiful!!!

0points

Jason Nicholls 3 years ago

This was fun

0points

Bryn 3 years ago

Imagine getting paid to pee.

0points

Meami 3 years ago

I have a copy of an old ad from the early 1900s that advertises sterilized tapeworms to ward off obesity. "Eat anything you want and never get fat."

0points

ivan bolitekurac 3 years ago

I hope that one day we will say "tiktokers once had influence on masses".Maybe people will learn from bad things from the past...

0points

Soggy Crumpet 3 years ago

(In 300 years) “They changed the fashion to make being bigger more fashionable as the population was losing the war against obesity.”

0points

Donna Leske 3 years ago

I find about half of these impossible to believe.

-1point

Golden beach 3 years ago

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POST

Toko Danganronpa 3 years ago

This was a great read! My thanks to the author :)

38points

Martin Kaine 3 years ago

And in 500 years, #15 will be: "Filters"

24points

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Jo Choto 3 years ago

Wait a century and see what people have to say about us sucking fat out of some bodies, and putting silicon in other bodies to change the shape of everything.

32points

Chris 3 years ago

And injecting botulism in to your face

27points

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Brian Bennett 3 years ago

14points

Amy Dodds 3 years ago

37points

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Rai Grant 3 years ago

Why on so many of these posts, am I no longer getting any pictures? I don't understand, other people are getting pics, n it's the same app, surely?.....

4points