ShortHand: Deadly Beauty Practices
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
S-pankin säästäjäpalvelussa säästäminen on aivan liian helppoa. Säästäjässä voit siirtää joka kuukausi kerrytämäsi luonnuksen automaattisesti rahastoon. OTA säästä käyttöön S-mobiilissa. S-pankki. Suomen mutkottomin pankki. Säästäjäpalvelun tarjoaa S-pankki Oyi. Tutustu lisää Spankki.fi.
Sähköasioiden ei tarvitse olla vaikeita. Me Forttumilla haluamme varmistaa, että saat sähköasiat haltuun talveksi, fiksusti ja luotettavasti. Fortumin sovellus auttaa pitämään sähkönkulutuksen hallussa ja hinnat kätei ulottuva. Vaihda Forttumiin. Pohjoismaiden valituimpaan sähköyhtiöön.
They say that beauty is pain, and anyone who has ever battled with the miniature torture device that is an eyelash curler will be able to attest to that fact. Today we live in an image obsessed world where aesthetic treatments are everywhere. Botox, filler, BBLs, laser hair removal, you name it, no matter what the perceived flaw, beauty boffins can inject, sculpt, pluck, and laser us into perfection. And this obsession is far from a modern idea. Since the dawn of time, we humans have been taking drastic measures to look hat. Sometimes even risking our own lives in the process. From lead makeup to arsenic wafers to X rays and botch plastic surgeries, the pursuit of beauty has always come at a cost. How much would you risk for the ideal glow-up?
This is the Drop Dead Gorgeous Shorthand.
Now you might think ancient civilizations might have had too much on their plates for vanity, with all that empire building and whatnot. But as it turns out, They were just as concerned about looking fit as we are today. In ancient Egypt, Cleopatra wasn't the only one rocking that iconic eyeliner. Coal, a black powder made from a mineral form of lead sulfite, called galena, was used by men, women and children across all Egyptian social classes. And if your alarm bells started ringing at lead, trust us. We'll get back to that. But in small amounts, it actually protected the eyes from harsh sunlight, repelled insects, and also helped to prevent eye infections. Who knew? I mean, maybe the Egyptians, but not me.
They knew loads of stuff They did, didn't they? Then over in ancient Rome, the wealthy were said to swear by crocodile gung face masks. Because nothing says fresh face like smearing reptile shit on your cheeks, apparently. Romans also reportedly used urine based mouthwash, believing the ammonia would give them pearly white smiles. And if you're thinking these methods seem pretty tame, well things are about to get a whole lot gnarlier.
In tenth century China, the truly toe curling practice of foot binding began. The story goes that it all kicked off when the Southern Tang Emperor Li Yu asked his concubine Yao Yang to bind her feet with white silk in the shape of a crescent moon and dance on the points of a golden lotus sculpture that he had created. Yao Yang's sexy routine went down a store, with upper class women copying her. The lotus feet craze spread through all social classes over the centuries and eventually becoming a core beauty standard for Chinese women. The horrific practice involved breaking young girls' feet and binding them tightly to stop them from growing too large, creating an unnaturally deep arch. Special lotus shoes were created with freakishly tiny feet seen as a mark of feminine beauty and grace.
Needless to say, this caused many women intense pain and lifelong disabilities. The practice finally died out in the early twentieth century after anti footbinding campaigns, but as recently as two thousand and seven, a handful of elderly Chinese women still held their scars.
Back in medieval and renaissance Europe, some very dodgy beauty hacks emerged. Women reportedly used literal cat shit as hair remover, while balms and tonics containing decidedly witchy ingredients like newts, bats, frogs and snakes were also popular. And things even got a bit vampiric. With one famous physician recommending skin conditions be treated with three liters of blood. From healthy red headed men.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–4:50
2
Why does the episode open with a warning about deadly beauty hacks?
4:50–16:14
3
How did foot‑binding become a painful status symbol in medieval China?
16:14–21:50
4
What bizarre medieval European beauty treatments involved animal waste and bloodletting?
21:50–28:13
5
Why were Belladonna eye drops used for “bedroom eyes” despite being deadly nightshade?
28:13–29:37