Beauty that glows: Tho-Radia and radioactive cosmetics

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the marketing of radium-based beauty products, focusing particularly on the French brand Tho-Radia, to explore how the beauty industry operates as a site of ongoing negotiation between commercial interests and medical authority. And how science and modernity intersected in early 20th century cosmetic advertising. Design/methodology/approach The design of this paper is a historical analysis grounded in visual and material culture methodologies, with a particular focus on marketing. It draws on a self-assembled archive of primary sources – including printed advertisements, packaging, postcards and surviving products – supplemented by materials from museums and private collections, to examine how scientific language and symbolism were used to market radium-based beauty products. Much of the evidence for these products comes from contemporary newspaper advertisements, though a number of physical examples have survived and continue to appear on online auction sites. Additional documentation is available through resources such as the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity (Link to the cited article) and the author’s own Museum of Radium (Link to the cited article). These collections represent a valuable, though as yet underexplored, archive of early radioactive beauty products. It is hoped that future research will further investigate these materials to enrich our understanding and contextualisation of this unique chapter in cosmetic history. Findings This study finds that Tho-Radia’s success relied on a sustained and adaptable use of scientific language and authority to legitimise cosmetic consumption and maintain its market position. Initially, the brand capitalised on early 20th century enthusiasm for radioactivity by explicitly framing its products as scientifically advanced and medically endorsed. As regulatory scrutiny and public health concerns intensified – particularly following the French government’s reclassification of radioactivity as a poison in 1937 – société d'exportation, commission, représentation strategically adjusted its marketing. While explicit references to radioactive ingredients diminished, the brand preserved its scientific identity in different ways. This trajectory and the brand’s adaptability, illustrates how beauty marketing could remain resilient by reconfiguring scientific claims in response to changing cultural and scientific conditions. Originality/value More broadly, the paper contributes to the historiography of beauty by situating radium within a longer tradition of using emerging scientific discourses to legitimise and encourage cosmetic use. The originality and value of this paper lie in its focused exploration of radium-based beauty products – a niche yet revealing subject that has received little scholarly attention in histories of science, medicine or beauty. By centring on the French brand Tho-Radia, the paper offers new insights into how early 20th century marketing co-opted scientific language as well as authority and imagery to sell products.