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.
