8 Bizarre Beauty Standards of the Past That You Won’t Believe Were Real

Modern day beauty standards have given us a lot to gripe about – from women who don’t wear makeup being deemed “unkempt” to people enforcing their beliefs on how long or short someone’s skirt should be. But compared to these bizarre beauty standards of the past, these can seem like child’s play!

The world we live in might not be perfect, but one thing’s for sure. Boy, am I glad I didn’t live any time in the past! Read on to find out 10 of the craziest – and terrifying – beauty standards people had in the past.

1. Tapeworm Weight Loss Diet

You might have tried some questionable methods in an effort to lose weight, but we bet none were as bizarre as this! In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, advertisements for “sanitized tapeworm” pills were everywhere. The premise behind them was that you could eat anything and lose weight even without exercise because the worms would eat the “excess calories”. The most bizarre part of this was that it actually worked on some women – only it also bought about severe side effects like nausea, anemia, fatigue, headaches, and not to mention bacterial infections and neurological problems!

2. Colored Eyebrows

Trends like barbed or squiggly brows might be popular in today’s era of fashion, but the women of ancient China were far ahead of us. They would pluck their eyebrows off completely and then paint on smudged-looking brows in colors like green, blue and black. The shape of the brows would also depend on the trends of the time.