Beauty through the ages

Teeth whitening and anti-wrinkle treatments were as sought after in Renaissance times as they are today, a historian claims. Jill Burke an expert in art history at the University says women in the Renaissance used make-up and a range of beauty secrets to improve their appearance. Popular beauty regimes. Dr Burke is researching a number of popular beauty regimes used by renaissance women which show that some things never go out of fashion - a smooth face and hands, a hair free body, white teeth and fresh breath, and bright lips and cheeks. Dr Burke joined art historians, literature and herbal medicine experts at a study day in Edinburgh to look at the culture of cosmetics in Renaissance times and to make up some cosmetics recipes. Beauty secrets. Researchers have found that women in the 15th -17th centuries used a number of recipes collected by a renaissance beauty expert called Caterina Sforza in her "Book of Experiments”.