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Perfumed products designed specially to soothe replaced concoctions made from donkey s genitals at the start of a booming new market for male cosmetics in Georgian Britain, research shows.
Before the 18th century the only options for men with sore skin after shaving were either unappealing-sounding recipes made from animal parts or foodstuff or occasional oils or lotions slapped on by the barber.
Changing fashions and a growing focus on men s appearance and personal grooming meant a whole new market of razors and grooming products became available to buy.
In the early modern period shaving wounds and rashes were treated by a barber or barber-surgeon. The turn of the eighteenth century, however, saw the beginnings of a commercial market which allowed men, as well as barbers, to be potential consumers, a new book by historian Dr Alun Withey from the University shows.
Mullets, bushy beards and topknots: a history of men s hair abc.net.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc.net.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
British historian Alun Withey has been researching the history of facial hair
The craze for huge whiskers was even taken up by women who drew them on
Like modern hipsters, these trendsetters were prepared to suffer public abuse
Dr Withey also found that dandies of the 18th Century were rarely clean shaven
In fact, despite the popular image, they typically only shaved 1–2 times a week
He also reveals that facial hair was once thought to be a form a bodily excrement
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