In the Yuan dynasty, Wang Hui wrote of this painting: "The empress uses purple powder to draw two leaves below her eyebrows and down to her cheeks. The middle and the lower part of her face are all left natural." If we did not have this portrait we would never know what he meant by this description.
元王惲「書畫目錄」一書中，以文字記載了宋代這種獨特的化妝術：「… … 皇后…… 用紫色粉，自眉以下，作兩方葉，塗其面頰，直鼻樑，上下露真色一線… …」。