Why did elizabeth I cut off all her hair, and was covered in white make up?

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Why did elizabeth I cut off all her hair, and was covered in white make up?

I can't find anything specifically to say that Elizabeth I cut off all her hair. However, Elizabeth I was probably the first monarch to understand our modern concept of spin, personal charisma, and the art of self-promotion.

She contracted smallpox at the age of about 30, and was very slightly marred by that illness. In those times, very little was known about health, and make-up was based on a lead foundation. Nobody knew that the lead would cause dreadful health problems. It was considered necessary to use white, lead-based make-up for fashion, as if you had a tan it meant that you had to work. If you were pale of complexion, it showed that you were of noble birth and didn't have to work for a living. Elizabeth would have worn this white make-up both to cover any scars that she might have had from her smallpox, and to make herself beautiful and noble in contemporary eyes.

As far as her hair is concerned, I haven't done a lot of research on this, but it may well have thinned through her illnesses and as she grew older. It is a very well-known fact that in later life she wore red, curled wigs. It is also well-known that she tried to make herself appear younger as she aged.

She was a vain lady who was very proud of her hands and her long, white fingers, and did question an ambassador on the merits of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, as to whether that Queen was more attractive and accomplished than she was. She also had much of the charisma and attraction of her mother, Anne Boleyn, and her father's majesty. In the absence of modern advances in dentistry, she did lose her teeth and eventually padded out her mouth. Elizabeth's sister, Mary I, lost most of her teeth at a young age.

Elizabeth did, poignantly, try to preserve the illusion of youth in her old age. She dressed as would have a young girl; her make-up and fashion tried to recreate the picture of herself as a young, attractive princess. It is especially heartbreaking to understand - as much as we can - that she rued the decisions she had to make as a queen that precluded her from marriage and a family.

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Why did elizabeth I cut off all her hair, and was covered in white make up?

elizabeth the 1st cut off her air due to ease the irratation of lice under the large hairpieces and wigs that were the fashion at the time. the white make-up was also a fashion thing where the paler more faultless skin was attractive ( pox and other nasties were rife) unfortunately the white powder was made from lead and was poisonous so as always beauty came at a high price

Why did elizabeth I cut off all her hair, and was covered in white make up?

It looks to me as if you've watched the movie Elizabeth, starring Cat Blanchett in the title role.

Unfortunately, Hollywood writers are not usually historians, and often take liberty with facts.

While it is true that she wore a pallid white makeup, this was common at the time. As for cutting her hair, I don't believe she did this until later in life--and even then I'm not sure how short it was (I recall reading in some biographies that Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, barged into her bedchamber one morning before she had dressed for the day and found her "with her hair about her ears," indicative of her not having yet put on her wig, but of not being bald or with particularly short hair).

I'd recommend checking out some serious biographies on Elizabeth I from the library. It's useful in separating fact from fiction.