10 Outrageous Ways Women Have Suffered To Be Beautiful
2. Lard In Hair And Wigs
In the 1800's, it was fashionable to wear your hair as big as possible (sit down, 1980's). Women would don wigs so big that they would have to use lard to attach it to their real hair to keep it in place, and they'd keep it in for a substancial amount of time (weeks and sometimes even months on end).
The problem was not only the heavyness of such flamboyantness, but that rats liked to nibble on the lard while these ladies were asleep. The women were forced to wear cages over their heads to keep the rats out, however not everyone could afford these cages and that meant rats and other rodents would nuzzle up snuggly in their hair.
Luckily the style went out of fashion when men's wigs started to make the rounds - and they didn't need lead to keep their short wigs in place.