Abstract: This paper examines the views of three Early Modern women on the topic of beautification, with a particular focus on women's dress and grooming. Two philosophers, Mary Astell (1666-1731) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), argue against the idea that women's primary focus should be beauty and outward appearance. For Astell and Wollstonecraft, the societal emphasis on women's beautification disadvantages and harms women who should ultimately focus inward on intellectual and spiritual growth. In A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, Astell asks women how they can "be content in the World like Tulips in a Garden" and satisfied by the "lustre" cast by beauty when the one's soul is "infinitely more bright and radiant" (2002, 54). In Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, Wollstonecraft advocates for "Simplicity of Dress" and describes how because of heavy makeup, especially in white shades, "the beautiful glow which modesty, affection, or any other emotion of the mind, gives, can never be seen" through a sort of "deception" (2016, 17). Ultimately, Astell and Wollstonecraft hold complementary positions that advocate for the improvement of women's souls over a focus on the physical form. In contrast, Lucrezia Marinella (1571-1653) argues that physical beauty is an indication of the excellence and virtue of one's soul, meaning that the act of beautification need not be motivated merely by vanity. For Marinella, as stated in The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Men, "the nobility of the soul can be judged from the excellence of the body-which is ornamented with the same character and beauty of the soul (2007, 57). Marinella's position is starkly opposed to the arguments forwarded by Astell and Wollstonecraft, and in this paper, I will show how she suggests that women can gain significant political and social power by focusing on physical appearance. For Marinella, beautification is a project that supports and enhances women's excellence and superiority. In the first section of this paper, I outline Astell and Wollstonecraft's positions on beautification, drawing primarily from Astell's Proposal and Wollstonecraft's Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. Next, in section two, I describe how Marinella links beautification and outward appearance to the excellence of the soul. Finally, in section three, I describe how, in contrast to Astell and Wollstonecraft, Marinella's work on beauty reclaims beautification as an important tool for women.