In ancient Italy, young women used Belladonna for cosmetic reasons. The herb would enlarge their pupils and this would make them appear more beautiful because large pupils are a sign of interest. But then they mysteriously stopped using it.
Why did they stop using it? Could such a product be marketed today?? Why haven’t any other popular cosmetics-lipstick, eye shadow, etc.-disappeared too???
Well, it’s a poisonness member of the nightshade family.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/n/nighde05.html
-B
Have you ever had your eyes dilated? I can’t imagine walking around like that voluntarily, now matter how hot it made me look. Ugh.
The reason it disappeared is because all of the Belladonna Alcholoids have nasty, nasty side effects. They are terrible drugs to either use or abuse. Nutmeg is a member of this family and can be used as a hallucinogen but no one does it more than once because it does all kinds of unpleasant things to your sympathetic nervous system. These ladies were putting themselves through hell to make their pupils bigger? No wonder it never caught on elsewhere.
Next Issue: Why lead pigmented white paint makes a poor skin lightener
Thanks, guys. I didn’t realize it was poisonous.
That being said, I doubt that the health consequences alone would be reason enough for Italian women to stop using it. Women often place beauty over their health (think anorexia, bulimia).
Do eye doctors use a non-toxic alternative? Where can I buy it?
Why on earth do you want to dilate your own eyes?
Yeah, but why did people stop using it? can you still buy it? could it be marketed?
It is not only still made and sold, but you can buy it OTC as a homeopathic remedy (I forget what for). In any case, I don’t think it’s dangerous when taken as directed. And, I think eye doctors still use it for dilation. I think it’s basically OK for legitimate medicinal use.
It still around, I got some growing in the yard. It makes a pretty pink flower on a stalk. Otherwise known as Amaryllis.
One other problem is the effects last far too long. Getting your eyes dialated for an exam is one thing; getting belladonna (or atropine) in your eyes will keep them dialated for a long time.
Oooh yes, let’s have hallucinations and blurred vision, as well as an EXCELLENT chance of dying for the sake of pretty eyes. LSD is a safer alternative, honest. At least your visions won’t be blurry and as long as the dealers go easy on the strychnine/speed, you probably won’t die.
FYI, belladonna is Italian. Bella=beautiful, donna=woman. As you can see, they knew the properties when they named it, as it made the woman using it “beautiful.”
Think Anime Women and that kinda explains it
Um, you’re thinking of Amaryllis Bellladonna (Narcissus family), we’re talking about Atropa Belladonna (Potato family).
[sup](but hey, your post count went up)[/sup] 
Mangetout, oh, so that explains things :-)… I remember when I could buy cold medicine with it, what a rush.
There is no strychnine in acid. Shulgin has said that it is not an ingredient in LSD, and would not be a byproduct of LSD synthesis. Also. depending on how you’re ingesting your LSD, speed should not be a problem - if you’re taking tabs or windowpane, you simply can’t get enough speed into the medium to make a difference. Of course, as always, your best recourse is to know your chemist. Also, your vision must certainly can go “blurry” on LSD, among the more mild effects. Also, it’s not a good idea to put LSD on the eye surface; while several have reported that it leads to a trip with an enhanced visual component, it also makes the eyes very red and puffy and does not look at all pretty.
I’m aware this post had an ironic tone, but I hate hearing people spout the old “strychnine in acid” story.
Been there - done that.
Back in the old days when I abused opiates, I decided that people wouldn’t be able to tell if I could get rid of the pinpoint pupils the opiates caused. I had some atropine (belladonna alkaloid) eye ointment left over from treating my cat for an injured eye. The cat’s eye had to kept dilated. Sooooo…
I put some of the ointment in my eyes. BIG MISTAKE !
My eyes dilated completely, no iris visible at all. I was blind as a bat. OK, I can live with this. It wore off every four hours in the cat - no big deal. Wrong again. Three days later with no change in my eyes I started to panic and called an eye doctor. “Atropine ointment? You actually put atropine ointment in your eyes?”, he asks. “Uh, yeah.” “Well, you have a problem then,” he tells me, “Your eyes are going to be dilated for 5-6 weeks.” “Did you say weeks?” He said I could come in and he would give me a prescription for glasses that would give me a focal point of one foot - not 11 inches or 13 inches, but exactly one foot.
Boy was that fun.
My Mom went to an opthamologist or optometerist or something
and came back with her eyes all dialated.
She said her eyes hurt in the bright sunlight due to being unable
to constrict her pupils.
Belladonna=pain+blindness
I had my pupils dilated when I was tested for glaucoma (not sure if it was atropine that they used or some other substance.
The dilation wore off after a day, but it was pretty uncomfortable while it lasted.
Sorry, this is bugging me. Anorexia and bulimia are diseases. Eating disorders should not be placed on the same plane as other steps healthy women take to beautify themselves. Fundamentally changing the way your body operates for the sake of beauty is in a different realm than simply altering the way your body looks.