Cosmetic Products In The Early 1900s

In the 1900s, cosmetic products, like the Sweet Georgia Brown Cleansing Lotion, were introduced to American culture and slowly began to replace the process of creating beauty products at home. The Sweet Georgia Brown Cleansing Lotion, made by Valmor Products Co., is an example of one of the new beauty products introduced at the end of the early 1900s. This product was specialized for African-American women, which can be understood from the image of the African-American woman featured on the bottle. The cleansing lotion was intended to cleanse, and arguably whiten, an African-American woman’s skin, which can also be understood from the image of the African-American women on the bottle since she is visibly wearing products that give the appearance …show more content…
Before the 20th century, any type of cosmetics which clearly altered one’s appearances, therefore not including the previously mentioned home health and beauty remedies, were described as “paints.” The name “paints” came from the idea that, instead of applying a health-related remedy, like a facial moisturizer, women would paint their faces to change their appearance. Paints were seen as products used by prostitutes and women trying to conceal their low social standing to trick men into marriage, and, therefore, were viewed in a negative light through association. The new era of products, during the 20th century, put emphasis on the improvement of a woman’s beauty and appearances; the reasons, however, were on the spectrum of empowerment to objectification for men. The key difference in how beauty products were viewed in American society in the 20th century was that where paints were seen as skin-masking, cosmetics were seen as skin-improving. The idea of improving one’s skin and features proved to be more acceptable in America and became the basis of the American beauty …show more content…
Determined to show that black women could also be beautiful, African-American newspapers replaced featured pieces about women serving their communities and being good role models with pictures of “beautiful” black women to express racial pride, which included pictures of celebrities and performers who often had light skin and European features. Despite trying to express racial pride and extend the designation of beauty to include African-Americans, these newspapers still contributed to the harsh beauty culture which subscribed to one idea of beauty. There were black pride movements in the 1920s, like the one led by Marcus Garvey, which had a positive impact on African-Americans’ self image and even resulted in products that accentuated darker complexions instead of bleaching them, but the American European-centric beauty ideal was not