Warnings about the toxicity of lead began to appear in the late 1500s. By the end of the 1700s, lead as a cosmetic product will have mostly disappeared. The "association of a light skin with elevated social status, with suntanned peasants representing the bottom of the social ladder, lasted in the West until the end of the 18th century before being definitively abandoned 150 years later when suntans started to become fashionable" (Petit, 2019).