15 Bizarre Fashion Trends You Won't Believe Once Existed

11. Lead Makeup

Reign: 4000 BC - 1800 AD Lead makeup (especially in the form of paint) is, was and always will be, toxic. It's been blamed for physical problems, including facial tremors, muscle paralysis and death, and yet it was popular for centuries. It all started with Ancient Egyptian women, who would colour and define their faces with mesdemet and malachite, made from lead and copper minerals. Then the Grecians jumped on the bandwagon using white lead over their faces and used crushed mulberries as rouge. Fast forward to 1400 AD and obviously the rich and fabulous from Europe had to try it out too, believing that the whiter your skin was, the more beautiful you were. The English, the Italians and the French then tried the lead paint thing along with Arsenic to lighten their skin. Queen Victoria seemed to be the only sensible woman at the time and placed a ban on makeup of all forms. She led everyone to believe it was vile and unnatural, but that did precious little to dissuade the users. Luckily makeup became tamer (and with no lead in sight) and from the 1900's makeup was a trend - and a necessity once more.