Abstract

Abstract:

This article examines a series of letters and gifts exchanged between Elizabeth I, Melike Safiye Sultan, and her kira, or serving woman, Esperenza Malchi to investigate the ways in which the formation of cosmetics culture depended on transcultural contact. In the final known letter, Malchi writes to Elizabeth with the intent of acquiring English cosmetics for the Ottoman harem. By examining the letter alongside early modern beauty manuals and the materiality of Elizabeth’s cosmeticized whiteness, manufactured from foreign imports, I reveal the hybridity that was ever a part of the construct of Englishness.

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