Victorian Beauty Ideals

Queen Victoria was the Queen of England from 1839 to 1901, making the years between these dates the Victorian period. 

When I think about Victorian beauty, I do tend to associate it with the Gothic fashion due to how long Queen Victoria wore black for after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. I also see the women as quite independent due to there being a Queen and Price rather than a king. However this isn't the only style associated with the Victorian era.

"Literary annuals portrayed female beauty as delicate, innocent but sensuous, intensely moral and emotional, and these characteristics were embedded in the fiction, poetry, engraved illustrations, authors, material product, and targeted readerships of literary annuals, although readers and authors could be either male or female." (Ledbetter)

Puffed sleeves were very popular among women during this era and they would often wear quite pale colours. Corsets and bodices were also extremely fashionable. They could be particularly strict when it came to the clothing, especially when it clothes that were allowed to be worn by someone while they were in mourning. For example, if a woman became a widow, she would be expected to wear black for over a year.

Women would take time in to get ready and "as part of their “toilet” in the morning ladies of leisure would ensure well plucked eyebrows, perhaps trim their eyelashes, and daub castor oil onto their eyelids and lashes" and  "they could dust on rice powder, zinc oxide or, the most expensive option, pearl powder, which was a mixture of chloride of bismuth and French chalk (talc) and provided a silky white and lustrous cosmetic powder" in order to keep their skin looking young and pale, "the only good complexion was a pale complexion".

They would also take care of their lips and "they might apply a clear pomade (like beeswax) for a shine and to provide protection from the elements, and some contained dye to discreetly accentuate the lip colour, crushed flowers and carmine." 

Carmine (which is made from a cochineal insect) along with red beet juice was also often used in order to add a blush to the cheeks. Eyeshadow and eye paint also became very popular, but this was made out of some toxic ingredients such as "mixed lead tetroxide, mercuric sulphide, antimony, cinnabar, vermilion, and secret ingredients."

Women often had long hair in Victorian times so would mostly wear it up. In the earlier years, plaits in the sides of the head and buns at the back were popular. Curls on the front of the head were popular during the later Victorian years.

Parts of the back of the hair would often be worn down, in curls and it was not uncommon for women to wear hair pieces or wigs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_fashion#Mourning_black

Fleming, R.S. (2012) Kate Tattersall adventures. Available at: http://www.katetattersall.com/early-victorian-era-make-up/ (Accessed: 10 Feb 2016).

Inline Citations: (Fleming, 2012)

Ledbetter, K. (2009) British Victorian women’s periodicals: Beauty, civilization, and poetry. Edited by Marilyn Gaull. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Inline Citations: (Ledbetter, 2009) 

L, C. (2015) Available at: http://www.xovain.com/makeup/victorian-era-beauty (Accessed: 10 Feb 2016).