We’ve all become accustomed to historical inaccuracies in period TV shows (including Bridgerton) but fans of Regency-inspired romance fantasy can’t seem to get over the modern beauty techniques on show. “Acrylic nails, fake lashes and ‘BOTOX’,” screams a recent headline in The Daily Mail . Modern beauty magazines are full of tips and tricks to extend, enhance or conceal.
Young ladies from the Regency era (1811-1820) were also interested in beauty advice, but their regimen was a bit different from ours. Across Europe , young ladies and their mothers were bombarded with beauty advice from physicians, perfumers and moralists alike. For early 19th-century debutantes , the heavy application of cosmetics, commonly associated with the mid-18th century, had become passé.
A natural look was the hottest new beauty trend. True beauty, these ladies of the ton (fashionable society) were told, came from cleanliness, rather than in the make-up aisles of some 19th-century equivalent of Sephora or Boots. Regency recipe and advice books typically included tips for skincare rather than cosmetics.
Natural beauty, medical writers made clear, began with good health. Health came from regular exercise (walking or riding), moderation in diet and cleanliness. Clean skin had moral implications.
According to medical writers of the time, clear skin signalled good health, which in turn suggested potential fertility – a major preoccupation in the marriage mart. This emphasis on skin was set.
