A selection of early modern primary sources with methods for beautification or alteration of appearances. Links to sources have been provided where possible.

A compilation of key contributions to the field, of scholarship including, where possible, links to these sources.

In a Talking Tudors podcast episode, I joined Natalie Grueninger to discuss beauty in sixteenth-century England. We cover Elizabeth I’s beauty myths, the importance of beauty for men, and the foundations of the beauty culture that was so important for elite women in sixteenth-century England. The podcast is available on all the usual podcast platforms.

An exploration of the beauty cultures of sixteenth-century Italy and France, this document analyses beauty ideals relating to skin, hair, hands and teeth, and the literature that informed them. It also considers in depth the practical means undertaken to achieve these ideals, and the objects and tools employed by women and men in their quest for ideal beauty.