I've been known to try some crazy things in hopes of finding that one miracle beauty product. In fact, I've slathered everything from milk to Preparation H on my never ending quest for beautiful skin. I'm not alone, either. Ever since that first woman applied pigment to her cheeks and thought: 'Damn gurl, you look goooodddd", we've been trying out lotions, potions and more to look our very best. 

Though sometimes, this pursuit is quite misguided. You might even say deadly. Evidence: arsenic was all the rage when it came to beauty products. As in, arsenic the poison. You were sure to leave a pretty corpse! Through the ages, arsenic has been just one of many of the extremely dangerous beauty solutions. Want to know more? Read on! 


(via nymag.com) 

Lead Makeup: Lead was used as a foundation of sorts. In the 18th century, it was mixed with vinegar to produce ceruse, a foundation that gave the very popular pale look of the time. Lead is a poison and as women used it, they suffered side effects like grey hair, dried out skin, severe abdominal pain and more.

Arsenic: Arsenic was used in many products, or taken to clear skin of freckles, pimples and to achieve generally paler skin. Like I mentioned above though, arsenic is of course, a poison. So for those who took it, it might have lead to their death. Arsenic also played games with your skin, so if you stopped taking it, it would react and make the skin go bananas. 

Mercury: Mercury was a blemish-cure but along with curing your blemishes, it could cause birth defects, kidney and liver problems, fatigue, irritability, tremors, depression and a metallic taste in the mouth. 

Deadly Nightshade: Deadly nightshade was in the medicine cabinet of Italian women who used it as eyedrops to dilate their pupils (because I guess that was the hottest trend?). Like the name suggests, it isn't a fun time; it causes visual distortion and sensitivity to light and can kill you. 

Radium: We now know that radium causes cancer - but back then, radium was the hottest skincare product for glowing skin! 

X-Rays: Looking for a way to permanently remove hair? Before laser hair removal there were X-rays to get rid of unwanted hair. Some would go under X-rays for up to 12 hours! While the X-rays did remove hair, those who partook also experiences skin thickening, atrophy, ulcerations and cancer. 

Lard: Like the pageant queen saying goes: 'the higher the hair, the closer to God'. It seems women in the 1700's also believed this and to get the highest possible hair, they used wooden and iron frames, leather horsehair pads and extensions. Hair was curled with 'hot tongs', covered with lard to hold it in place then powered with lead. Now, here's where it gets super gross: vermin (rats and mice) would come to nibble on that lard. Uggghhhhh. Cringe.  

What's the most misguided beauty advice you've ever followed? 
 
(images via thebeautybubble.blogspot.ca, georgianacircle.wordpress.com, dailymail.co.uk, cosmeticsandskin.com, wikipedia.org, cosmeticsandskin.com, tetburyhospital.co.uk, theguardian.com, nourishedkitchen.com)