Dark Ages Cosmetics

Girls in the Dark Ages were every bit as self-conscious about their looks as girls today. In this scene from Courting Trouble, we see Wulfwaru, the heroine's stepsister, treating a zit with a contemporary remedy. Besides the recipe for curing a pimple, this brief interaction tells us something about their relationship.

“What’s the matter with your face?” I said. It was covered with a thick white poultice.
“I had a blemish,” she said in that peculiar high voice of hers. I was sure it was an affectation, and I often wondered why she chose it. Whenever I talked to her I found myself pitching my own voice lower, as if to show her how ridiculous she sounded. She went on, “I pounded ivory and mixed it with honey. It works wonders.” She looked at my skin as if she had never seen it before. “You should try it.”