Beauty is a fleeting thing and it takes little to disappear. In history, however, there were remarkable women who charmed their contemporaries with their beauty and grace so much that their legend has survived untouched by time. We present the most beautiful women in history.
It is not easy to identify the greatest icons of beauty over the millennia. To avoid bloody skirmishes in the editorial office, we decided not to decide on our own. In his book "Face paint. Make-up history " beauty and make-up history expert and now Lancome Creative Director Lisa Eldridge recalled the many silhouettes of exceptionally beautiful ladies. She is a specialist who knows beauty like no other. That is why we will follow her trail through the history of beauty. Which women did Eldridge say were actually the most beautiful?
The Queen inspired painters. Here in Carl Forup's painting entitled "Aleksandra of the Danish" (photo:public domain).
Aleksandra Danish
This marriage was not allowed to work. Born on December 1, 1844, Aleksandra was selected to be the bride of a British prince only ... for lack of better candidates. In addition, the groom, the future Edward VII, was attracted to women and alcohol - his mother considered him debauched and frivolous.
In the meantime, Aleksandra was beautiful - she had a delightful long face and auburn hair, piercing eyes and unusually regular features. Its only drawback was that it was deaf at the same time. This did not prevent her from enchanting the English court with her beauty and inspiring painters who were very eager to immortalize her in their paintings.
Marie Antoinette of Austria. Beauty unfortunately did not help her and she ended up with the guillotine. (photo:public domain).
Marie Antoinette
One of the most iconic beauties of all time is Queen Marie Antoinette of France, born on November 2, 1755. When she started her career at the Parisian court, on the one hand, she was kindly received as the beautiful and young wife of the king, and on the other, she immediately fell into the jealous mistress of her husband, Louis XVI, who was jealous of her beauty. The competitor immediately began spreading venomous rumors about her, many of which had already stuck to the brightest lady for good.
Marie Antoinette's strength, emphasized in the portraits, was a beautiful, smooth and perfectly white complexion. She cared for her by devoting hours to the daily restroom, which included meticulous application of makeup, with bleaching powder and lots of blush.
This is how Elizabeth Siddal as Ophelia was painted by John Everett Millais (photo:public domain).
Elizabeth Siddal
An ordinary girl, endowed with extraordinary beauty, earned her living by working in a London store. There the painter William Deverell noticed her. Elizabeth Siddal, who was born on July 25, 1829, was not a typical Victorian beauty, but she fascinated painters of her era. Red hair, right height, perfect figure and delicate facial features made her a perfect model and muse. It is her face that has the famous portrait of Ophelia available in the Tate Britain gallery. With time, the model began to decline in health, which paradoxically made her only become more beautiful, with an even brighter complexion and a slimmer figure.
Meena Kumari (photo Bolskaya, license CCA-SA 4.0 I).
Meena Kumari
Meena was born Mahjabeen Bano in 1932 to a poor family as a musician and dancer. At the age of 6, she made her debut in Bollywood films. Growing up, she became one of India's most sought-after actresses. On the screen, she combined beauty, sex-appeal, sadness and majesty. A prestigious Indian film magazine wrote about her having an intriguing and photogenic face that cosmetics manufacturers dream of.
Famous bust of Nefertiti (photos by Philip Pikart, license CC BY-SA 3.0).
Nefertiti
One of the most important and famous monuments of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin is the bust of the 14th century BC. Queen Nefertiti, wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The colorful sculpture shows a woman with extremely regular features, with high cheekbones, perfectly cut lips, arched eyebrows and characteristically accentuated eyes. Nefertiti, whose name means "the beauty that came", gained the status of an absolute beauty icon after the discovery of her bust.
Brigitte Bardot was able to charm the crowds (photo:public domain).
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte, who was born on September 28, 1934 in a wealthy family, did not have to worry about existence, unlike Meena. Nevertheless, she started modeling as a very young teenager, and at the age of 15 she found herself on the cover of "Elle". Before her twenties, she began her film career, but it only exploded when Brigitte dyed her hair blonde. With her cat eyes, full mouth, long hair and magnetizing sexuality, she has become an icon of beauty and an object of desire for millions.
Audrey Hepburn was fresh and innocent. (photo:Bud Fraker, public domain)
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot are as different as fire and water. Nevertheless, they gained popularity in approximately the same period. Born in 1929, Hepburn dreamed of a career as a ballerina, but malnutrition during the German occupation affected her health so much that she had to give up her dreams of a career as a dancer. Her grace, perfect posture and filigree figure have remained from the period of her studies. In combination with the beautiful dark frame of deer eyes and prominent lips, they made it a timeless symbol of combining beauty and class.
Theda Bara in 1920 (photo:public domain).
Theda Bara
Before the premiere of her first film, the American Theodosia Goodman, born on July 29, 1885 in Cincinnati, was surrounded by a crazy legend. It was claimed that she was born in the Sahara desert, does not speak English and is called Theda Bara. Pale skin, black eye makeup and no less dark hair - when she entered the screens, a beautiful vampire was born, a vamp. She fascinated contemporaries, often referring to occult symbols, posing with ravens and snakes, playing dangerous women. Thanks to skilful marketing efforts and her stunning beauty, for Americans she was the personification of the fascinating culture of the East.
Greta Garbo seduced with mystery (photo:Henry B. Goodwin, public domain).
Greta Garbo
Greta Gustafsson was fascinated with acting from an early age, but initially made a living from a saleswoman's salary, earning extra money as a model. Posing made her stand out and she was soon discovered for film. In 1925, as Greta Garbo, she moved to Hollywood, where the studio told her to lose weight, comb her hair to show off her face and straighten her hair. The image she showed to the world was full of mystery. The camera loved her and she was able to use it like no one else. One of the keys to her success was the extraordinary, even statuesque beauty from the north of Europe, which for Hollywood admiring her had a hint of exoticism.
Although Marilyn Monroe aroused a whole sea of controversy, this list could not be missing. (photo:public domain)
Marilyn Monroe
Born on June 1, 1926, Norma Jean Baker took some time to transform into a swan, which was Hollywood's most famous sex bomb. In order for Marylin to appear, a large amount of hair bleach, nose and chin plastic surgery were needed, as well as perfection in make-up. Therefore, someone may consider that it is fraudulent to include her on this list. But it's hard to find a second person who would fascinate and ignite the imagination of future generations just as much. The charming packaging, with sensual lips, a perfect figure and wavy blonde hair, also concealed an intelligent and well-read woman.
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