History of Make-Up

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Most of us present ourselves with some form of cosmetic, so it’s strange that historically there’s been so much judgement around the use of it.

It’s something that’s been there from the Ancient world to the present day, and speaks to so much of the human experience.

Today we’re joined by Susan Stewart, author of Painted Faces - A Colourful History of Make-Up, to answer questions such as, how did religion shape beauty trends? What does make-up tell us about different social standings through time? And what were the effects of Queen Elizabeth’s lead-based face powders? Spoiler: it wasn’t the most beautiful result.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

If you're enjoying Betwixt please vote for us at the British Podcast Awards here. It would mean the world to us!

Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians like Kate Lister, Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Mary Beard and more.

Get 50% off your first 3 months with code BETWIXT. Download the app on your smart TV or in the app store or sign up at historyhit.com/subscribe.

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello my lovely Patwixters, it's me Kate Lister, I am here once again to help you stay safe.
0:08.8	This is a podcast of an adult nature, it's spoken by adults to other adults in an adult
0:14.1	way about a range of adult subjects and you should be an adult too.
0:19.4	And if you persist in listening to this and you get offended, well, don't come crying
0:24.3	to us because fair do's, you were warned.
0:27.6	Well hello Patwixters, won't you come in and join me at my dressing table.
0:38.3	Today we are in a Versailles and I am just colouring my veins with blue, you know, so they
0:43.2	really pop and people can see them through my delicate, uber-pale thin skin.
0:48.4	I've just put some white flour in my hair, washed my face with a cleanser made of
0:52.5	stewed pigeons, which have been fermented for around about two weeks and I'll be applying
0:58.2	a white creamy powder, a slight rouge to my cheeks and lips and of course I'll be covering
1:04.1	up my small pox scars with faux beauty spots.
1:07.7	I like to draw them in little heart shapes, don't I, Sandsexy?
1:12.1	This is 18th century France my dear and we do like to look good.
1:16.7	So today we are going to be twix the powder stain sheets to take a closer look at makeup
1:21.7	throughout the ages, from ancient Egypt to pre-revolutionary France right up to the present
1:27.5	day.
1:51.7	Hello and welcome back to Bitwix the Sheets, the history of sex scandal in society with
2:06.5	me, Kate Lister.
2:07.8	If you're over the age of 10 and you should be if you're listening to this podcast, then
2:12.6	you have already lived through multiple beauty trends, thick eyebrows, thin eyebrows,
2:17.9	untouring, don't contour, a dewy look, a matte look, winged liner, bright eyeshadow, crimped
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.