During the Italian Renaissance, lead pain was used to lighten the face, which was very damaging to the wearer. Aqua Toffana was a popular face powder named for its creator, Signora Toffana. Made from arsenic, Signora Toffana instructed her rich clientele to apply the makeup only when their husbands were around. It's interesting to note that Tofana was executed some six hundred dead husbands later.
Cosmetics were seen as a health threat in Elizabethan England, although women wore egg whites over their faces for a glazed look.