My knowledge of Elizabethan Beauty is very limited as I have only studied the Tudor period when I was at school over 3 years ago, and history was never a strong subject for me. However, I do know that Queen Elizabeth was a strong iconic figure for other people to go by in them days. All the women looked up to her, all throughout her rein, for the latest and highest class of fashion of beauty that was around then.
In the 1500s, the Elizabethan view of beauty was a women with flaming red hair & a fine white complexion complimented with red cheeks and bright red lips. The pale complexion was a sign of wealth & nobility, I already knew that from my tutor. The pale white skin was only really achieved by people of a higher class as people of a lower class were expected to work outside and obviously gain a suntan. The white make-up that they used was created through a mixture of white lead and vinegar, which was poisonous! They went to some crazy levels to look beautiful in them days, even to the extremes of dying their hair with a yellow mixture of saffron, cumin seed, celandine and oil just so they'd look a little more like the Virgin Queen. With so much product going into the hair that isn't meant to, wigs & hair pieces also became a big thing due to the hair loss that everyone experienced. It was known that Queen Elizabeth owned over 80 wigs!
Image from; http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-make-up.htm
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