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Strange History

15 Gross, Gloomy, and Downright Weird Victorian Practices

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5. Arsenic Beauty Treatments

5. Arsenic Beauty Treatments
Victorian women pursued pale, translucent skin with arsenic products, risking deadly health consequences.

Pale, translucent skin was the height of Victorian beauty—and many used arsenic-laden lotions and wafers to attain it. Unaware of the poison’s cumulative toxicity, some suffered severe health effects or death in the pursuit of the fashionable ‘delicate’ look. BBC recounts the fatal risks tied to this beauty trend.

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