For centuries after the Egyptian empire faded, the fashion norm around the world was a pale complexion. A tanned, sun-dried face was associated with being a commoner who worked out in the field all day alongside her husband. The upper class ladies of course did not participate in physical labor like that so they stayed inside and had white faces.
A white, pale complexion was also a symbol of wealth. If you had enough money, then you didnt have to work. So a pale complexion was extremely important to some people. To get this look, women (and men too) would use a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powder form to paint their faces and bodies. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes fatal side effect, lead poisoning.
To remedy this, chemists in the nineteenth century finally discovered a mixture of zinc oxide that didnt block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning sickness. It worked so well that it is still used today by cosmetics manufacturers.
In the Edwardian era of London, around the turn of the century of 1900, society women with a disposable income would throw lavish parties and...