] didn't women at one time or another take arsenic to have
> a paler complexion? i don't remember when it was though.

] And what about the ancient romans, who put lead in their food
> and in their dishes and cups... and where consequently
> poisoned?

During the 18th century, women (and sometimes men, too) used a white paste containing lead as makeup, to create the fashionable pale complexion. The lead inflamed the eyes and caused teeth to ache and even fall out.

Horace Walpole, in 1766, wrote of one Lady Fortrose (a young woman) that she was "at the point of death, killed like Lady Coventry and others, by white lead, of which nothing could break her." Quoted in Richard Corson's _Stage Makeup_, 1967.

There are also reports from the 18th century of women having themselves bled to produce that white, white skin.