Elizabethan era - research

The Golden Age 

Introduction -
Within this project we are looking at all the different hair styles and makeup which were most popular within the Elizabethan era and experiment with these styles and techniques to create our own final product for the final assessment.

From my research i first went onto youtube and watched a variety of videos to inspire me for my own  personal project. Many of these included -

1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLVgXmOj7o8
Within this video Tiffany Beckwith -Skinner transforms Carol Burns for an Elizabethan photoshot. This transformation took Tiffany 90 minutes. Included in this video you see the application of the wigs, makeup, accessories and costume.

others i also found useful are -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01wsIn-6zA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Xlu-hyfLE

Within the Elizabethan era it was very important to be fashionable and to be noticed that you are wealthy and have class to be taken seriously. The whiter the face or the more red the hair was the more richer and successful you will achieve. 

Queen Elizabeth was born in 1533 in England. She claimed the throne at 25 years of age. The Elizabethan era is notably famous from the virgin queen but for the era itself and is written in many theatre productions infusing Shakespears. 

Elizabeth caught smallpox at the age of 28. ( 3 years after her coronation) which unfortunately left her with very harsh scaring. Many wealthy women in this era wore very pale faces, light hair and red lips. The pale face was a sign of wealth and nobility, This white face makeup was created by a mixture of white lead and vinegar. The upper class Elizabethans had bigger hair. If an upper class women had darker, brown or blonde hair the hair would most likely be dyed or bleached to achieve the light or red colour.

The lower class Elizabethans hair had natural shorter hair. The hair would tend to be hidden in fabrics as they couldn't afford to wear gems and pearls.

The Queen had many scars covering her face due to small pox, this is why she had to wear a very pale face to cover up any imperfections of the skin such as the scars. The foundation was made out of white vinegar which was unfortunately very poisonous for the skin. The population was warned against the precautions and found a new formula using egg white and flour for the base. After the pale face had been applied women would create fake veins onto the skin using madder, cochineal and ochre based compounds to create redness however vermilion was the most popular. This was applied thickly to make a smoother face. However this was also poisonous and the removal was very painful.

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/makeup.html