These days, having a 'healthy tan' is much admired and favoured over pale skin. In the past it was associated with the rich, who could afford foreign travel to exotic locations but later tanning salons and artificial tans followed so anyone could achieve the bronzed look. It seems strange that this is the fashion these days, as for hundreds of years women have been covering up their natural skin colour in favour of lighter skin which was greatly admired.

In Europe, the colour of your skin was once a statement of affluence and if you had pale skin, it meant you did not have to work for your living. Tanned skin was associated with the poor who usually worked outdoors, so having pale skin meant you were wealthy and upper class. Ladies, who went outside, would always be seen carrying a parasol and wearing hats and high necked dresses to keep their white complexions and avoiding the much disliked freckles. Some women even put lead-based creams on their skin in an attempt to whiten their skin tone, as well as arsenic and powders. One can imagine the side effects that these poisonous potions brought about! Women also felt that having dead-white skin made them appear more dainty and fragile.

During Elizabethan times, a mixture of ceruse was used to achieve the alabaster complexion, this contained white lead and vinegar which was mixed to a paste and applied thickly. It was said that some women even went to such extreme measures as to bleed themselves to obtain a paler complexion! Queen Elizabeth I wore very heavy white makeup, not only to keep up with the fashion of the times, but to also disguise and 'fill in the holes' left by the smallpox illness. Totally unblemished skin was extremely rare back then, as skin problems associated with the many prevalent diseases often left scars and blemishes. The trouble with these terrible concoctions that were plastered on one's face was that it made the skin grey and with a shrivelled appearance and old. Women therefore had to apply more and more to cover up their deteriorating skin and ended up looking quite ghastly!

Later, during the Regency era even more dangerous beauty aids were used. As well as white lead, mercury was used too, which ruined the skin and caused all sorts of other problems and sometimes resulted in death. Despite the dangers, women still continued to use these lethal whiteners!

Today, modern makeup cosmetic have changed so much with products available for all skin tones and types. So if you are looking for the healthy glow look, or want to create that mysterious pale appearance, buy on-line and discover the many products on sale to help you create your ideal complexion, minus the lead and mercury!