Cosmetics again
Late in her reign, after many years of mourning over the death her husband Prince Albert, Queen Victoria declared the excessive use of make-up to be vulgar. The ladies of the realm were not amused. English women, having achieved the requisite pale to the point of transparency complexion, needed to obtain the rosy cheeks and other details which indicated to the observer a woman of refinement and distinction.
After cleaning the eyes with a drop or two of citrus, which brightened the white of the eye, a drop of belladonna would follow. The belladonna would dilate the pupil, which while detrimental to vision contrasted the color of the eye with the white, creating a lustrous effect. Belladonna is, of course, a deadly poison which can lead to tachycardia, hallucinations, convulsions, delirium, and several other symptoms.
Eye paint (eyeliner) could be made of many natural compounds, some toxic, some not. Toxic materials included lead tetroxide, mercuric sulfide, and antimony. Symptoms of antimony poisoning include nausea and vomiting, in its severe stages it closely resembles arsenic poisoning.
After completing the application of what was then known as face paint, many women had their hair put up in elaborate styles held in place by combs made of tortoise shell if they could afford them, or celluloid if they were more budget minded. Celluloid combs were not poisonous but they did have an annoying tendency to explode when they became too hot, igniting the hair. This was a hazard not only in summer months, but in crowded rooms lit with multiple candles or lamps, warmed by multiple stoves.
In the Victorian Age advice columns containing tips on what makeup to wear and how to wear it became common in magazines. These columns, besides advising on the proper manner to wear makeup, also provided counsel to those who were harmed by it, comparing the pros and cons. Harper’s Bazaar published a column so popular that it was reprinted as an anthology. The column presented women who believed themselves “homely” with advice which if followed would make them “charming” when the right “inventions” (such as those above) were followed.