Selling Beauty by Morag Martin

Author:Morag Martin [Martin, Morag]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780801898792
Published: 2009-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

The growing importance of the medical profession on the feminine toilette and its repercussions for the sale of cosmetics can be illustrated by three examples. In 1778, the Affiches de Provence published a letter from a young woman asking a doctor’s advice about wearing makeup. Her mother had employed moral and aesthetic arguments against its use, believing that only vain girls trying to deceive men and snatch a husband dyed their hair and powdered their faces. The young woman, hoping for a second opinion, asked the doctor to “make me capable of proving to my mother that this drug does not harm the skin and that my application of it is not incompatible with modesty and virtue.” She put herself into his hands as “you are the doctor, I must hide nothing from you.”100 The doctor’s reply was that even though there were neither moral nor aesthetic reasons against wearing makeup, there were medical ones. He warned her that, “it is absolutely impossible for me to prove that makeup will not harm the skin.” But, not wishing her to think he was mollifying her mother, he included recipes for cosmetics by a medical colleague that were sure to be safe.101 This dialogue indicates the ascendancy of medical discourses in matters of beauty: the young girl trusted medical advice and the doctor based his judgments on scientific reasoning. With neither moral nor aesthetic reasons to deny the use of makeup, this representative of science had to agree, however unwillingly, that safe cosmetics were socially acceptable.

In doing his research for César Birotteau, Balzac too contacted a doctor, a family friend Nacquart, about how to protect the skin. Nacquart replied that on the question of cosmetics, “the Hippocratic sciences and the art of the perfumer express opposing doctrines.” He advised that pure water was the best option, except in circumstances when the skin was damaged by use of makeup or weather, when other potions were needed such as eau de cologne, almond oils, and cucumber paste.102 Nacquart’s advice was to use the most simple vegetable products, considering the harms done by makeup. In the novel, Balzac chose to have scientific advice offered by Nicolas Vauquelin, the illustrious chemist and member of the Academy of Sciences. Vauquelin advised Birotteau that he should not ask for a patent since “quacks have taken the name of the Academy in vain so often, that it would not help you at all.”103 Despite these discouraging words, the fictional Vauquelin gave Birotteau his approval because his product to grow hair was no worse or better than others on the market. A maker of eau de cologne accused the real Vauquelin of only smelling concoctions before approving them.104 Both Vauquelins were thus cynical about the academy’s motives when it came to commercial products. In the novel, Birotteau bribed Vauquelin with a painting. A feeling of frustration, similar to that expressed by Lavoisier, may have led the real Vauquelin to be less than professional in his inspections.

The Alliance d’hygie et de

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