This is Part 2 of the Did You Know? blog I posted earlier this week. Again, who knows if these explanations are accurate, but they are as good an account as any.

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement.  As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee’s wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman  began to stare at another woman’s face she was told, ‘mind your own bee’s wax.’ Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term ‘crack a smile’. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt. Therefore, the expression ‘losing face.

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Ladies wore corsets , which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in ‘straight laced’ wore a tightly tied…