Crumbs and cat poo: Renaissance women’s ‘astonishing’ beauty tips revealed

Elizabeth I is renowned for the thick white mask of makeup that coated her face, a look that became fashionable for Renaissance women who would often also be portrayed with powdery cheeks. But women of that period were using beauty products that were far more sophisticated than previously thought, according to new research.

An art historian and a physicist, Jill Burke and Wilson Poon, have been trying out recipes dating from the 15th to the 17th centuries for the beautification of the face, hair and body. They were astonished by how advanced they were.

Thirty recipes for everything from anti-wrinkle cream to sun protection, toners