Indeed, the expression
'to save face' and its opposite,
'to lose face' derive from the 18th Century when
bathing was seen as a potential
health hazard and thus mostly avoided. With the taking of a
bath being an
annual event,
wigs and copious amounts of
makeup were employed by men and women alike to maintain a
veneer of
beauty.
As time passed throughout the year, the layers of makeup would build up. If the wearer sat too close to a fire, the mask of makeup was in danger of melting off, so a servant would have step in and move a firescreen in order, literally, to 'save face'.