“Beauty is pain” is a familiar phrase, and one that has been taken quite literally at many points in history. People have swallowed toxins such as arsenic and restricted their bodies with corsets, all in the name of status, style, and desirability. Here are five of the most extreme examples of dangerous beauty trends from decades past. Radium Products In the early 20th century, radium was briefly treated like a miracle ingredient. Following its 1898 discovery, radium’s mysterious, faint luminescence made it seem almost magical; as early as 1904, products such as the topical product Ec-Zine and even drinkable radium water were being advertised as a cure-all for everything from eczema to pimples to blood poison.  By the 1930s, beauty brands had leaned in, too. The French company Tho-Radia — so named for the elements thorium and radium — sold face creams and …Read More