30 Crazy Things Women Have Done Throughout History In The Name Of 'Beauty'

Women have been doing strange things in the name of beauty for a very long time, and history is full of proof. From sun protection that looked more like a sci-fi prop to gadgets promising smoother skin, bigger busts, or a more “perfect” face, the obsession with appearance has always found a way to get weird.

This roundup pulls together some of the most bizarre beauty trends women tried across the decades, and the results are equal parts fascinating and unsettling. Some of these inventions were meant to protect, some were meant to enhance, and some just seem impossible to explain now.

Either way, the past had no shortage of beauty experiments, and a few of them are truly hard to believe.

"A Full-Faced Swimming Mask Helped Protect Women’s Skin From The Sun, 1920s"

Hulton Archive

"Portable Hair Dryer, 1940s."

Easyart/PA

"Faceless Beauty Contest In Cliftonville, 1936."

Austrian Archives

"A Young Woman Holds Her Arms And Legs In Four Water Baths With Electric Current To Improve Blood Circulation, Circa 1938."

vintage.everyday

"Woman Tans Using A Suntan Vending Machine, 1949."

ahtisham-ahmed

"You Have A Beautiful Face, But Your Nose?"

"The Bra Claimed To Develop And Strengthen The Bust And Was Designed To Vibrate While The Person Wearing It Was At Work. Brussels, 1971."

"French Breast Washer, 1930s."

"Rita Perchetti And Gloria Rossi Try Out Their New Portable Bathhouse So They Can Change Their Clothes After Sunbathing On Coney Island Beach, 1938."

"X-Ray Of Female Torso With Corset (Left) And Female Torso Without A Corset (Right), 1908."

nyamcenterforhistory.org

"Rubber Beauty Masks Used To Get Rid Of Wrinkles In The 1920s."

Wellcome Collection

"A Perm In Germany In 1929."

Everett Collection

It’s like the “Old Masters” portraits that turned beauty into a full-time influencer campaign, in these fascinating paintings.

"Contestants In The Miss Lovely Eyes Beauty Pageant In Florida Wearing Masks To Obscure The Rest Of Their Faces, 1930."

FPG

"Dimple Machine In 1936."

Unknown

"Ironing Hair, 1964." - I did this in the '90s... so this one lasted a while!

"Freckle Removal. A Complicated Apparatus Is Employed. Eyes Are Covered With A Special, Air-Tight Piece, And The Nostrils Are Filled In. Breathing Is Done Through A Special Tube. Sensitive Parts Of The Face Must Be Treated Separately, 1930."

Mansell

"Taking Precise Measurements Of A Beautiful Young Woman's Head And Face With A Contraption Like An Instrument Of Torture, 1933."

Hulton Archive

"Wooden Swimsuits, 1929."

"Facial Warming Mask, 1940."

"Max Factor's 1931 Ice Mask."

International News Soundphoto

"Customers Have Their Legs Painted At A Store In Croydon, London, 1941."

G W HALES

"Tape Worm Diet, 1900s."

Unknown

"Hair Dryer, 1920s."

"A Woman Having A Seam Painted Onto Her Leg To Make It Appear That She Is Wearing Stockings, 1926."

Fox Photos

"Women Who Had Just Given Birth To A Baby Weren't Prohibited From Smoking In The Hospital, 1940s."

Unknown

"A Fruit Mask From The 1930s."

vintage.everyday

"A Policeman Judges An Ankle Competition At Hounslow, London, 1930."

Prismatic Pictures

"Before The Invention Of Sunscreen In The Mid-1940s, Bathers Wore Garments Like This Freckleproof Cape To Protect Themselves From The Sun. The Cape Also Features Built-In Sunglasses."

"10th Century Chinese Tradition - Foot Binding."

Jo Farrell / Living History Project

"A Traditional Japanese Sign Of Beauty - Black Teeth, 17th – 19th Centuries."

Pierre Dieulefils

Want more “beauty” gone off the rails, like the grandparents who were built different in these vintage photos? See the grandparents’ wild photos.