Greek History: Who Invented Makeup

Cosmetics and bathing in the medieval ages weren’t like what we have today. We have blush and shampoo and mascara, our ancestors in the medieval ages didn’t have these luxuries. For makeup, they used lead glaze because it “was practical to clean and looked beautiful”. Lead, it turns out, is very poisonous and can affect your intelligence and overall health, so most people slowly died from poison. Men used women’s cosmetics to stave off old appearance, unlike us, who use hair dye.

Have you ever thought about who created makeup? Or how it was created? When, where and how? Why was it created? How has it changed over time? Has it affected anyone? Well I’m going to tell you some of it. Make up wasn’t just created by powder or anything small and simple like that, no. Makeup actually has a lot of its own differences. In 180 BCE was when makeup had first had started but it wasn’t commonly used as much as then. People would limit the use of makeup because it was so expensive and hard to get and or find. The women who actually had it or used it were the prostitutes and the wealthier women. The “Cheap Knockoff’s” were the ones who were sold to the poorer women. The people didn’t really care if the slaves used makeup but

The psychology of beauty is complex not just because the concept of beauty is as yet undefined, but also because it is largely true that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder or how individuals perceive other people or things. The importance of beauty has been taught since the first civilizations. It is known that the cave people of the Mesolithic period (around 10,000 B.C.) softened their skin with castor oil and grease, and also used plant dyes to tattoo their skin. Lipsticks first appeared in the ancient city off Ur, near Babylon, 5000 years ago. Ancient Greek women painted their cheeks with herbal pastes made from crushed berries and seeds. A dangerous development of beauty

The idea of cosmetology and beauty was commenced by ancient tribal hunters. It is believed that they would smear ash under their eyes and use animal urine to alter their smell. This is where the idea of eyeliner and perfume originated (Schurman). Around the world cosmetology is being introduced like Egypt is suggested to be one of the most ancient culture that associates with cosmetics. Make up to them was really significant especially to the royal egyptians. Their idea of eyeliner was made up of lead, ash and mercury. The use of this eyeliner helped reduce glare, prevent any type of infection, and mostly to make their eyes beautiful (Schurman). Now the Chinese ancient culture had mixtures of natural ingredients to produce stimulating nail polish. The nail polish to these people were sign of wealth (Murphy). In ancient Rome and Greece those who could afford it would receive baths in lotions. They wore perfume, face powder, blush, eyeliner, and lipstick. During this period it was discovered that oils, lotions, and animal fat have beautification properties (Schurman).

Accordingly Makeup can be used for many things. The ancient Egyptians used makeup made from oils and cream to help clean and protect their faces from the hot mild wind. Today we are using makeup for a totally different reason. Makeup isn’t to cover up what's underneath, but it can be a work of art. Most of women are so unhappy with their look and they want to change it. You want these sleepy under bags to disappear? You want to cover the freckles? No problem!! All thanks to makeup.

One of my most vivid memories as a child was when I was six, a seemingly world away now. My mother had held me over her knee, letting me straddle it, as she braided my hair in a straight, straw rope down my back. Her fingers were gentle, yet quick, and always knew how to avoid tugging my knots in order to spare me more bedevilment. I remember that she had always removed it just as she finished, for fear of my father walking in on us. ‘It will be our little secret,’ she would say to me, before hiding my hair back under a cloth bonnet, and returned to her stitching. It wasn’t until many summers later that I learned why I was to keep the secret hair braiding quiet, and why she never did it while my father was home. In the eyes of the church, a promiscuous or extravagant hair style was a hint of being a witch (Stuart A. Kallen).

This is common until this day as well, because most everyone does not want to look pale. This seems to be a constant want and especially during this time. Lastly, it was popular to have a shimmer throughout the face, focusing on the cheekbones, brow bones, upper lip, etc; this explains a top style in makeup during the 50s (Chadwick 3). This was popular probably because, having a settle glow on sections of the face is a nice touch to fashion and styles. This is also common today because most everyone does not want to be looking bland.

Their makeup was similar to ours today. Egyptians used perfume oils to clean, protect, and scent their skin. A makeup called Kohl was made by grounding a substance into a paste on a palette, it was worn by both men and women. It was applied around the eye, and protected the eye from the glare of the sun. Kohl was the color of black, and is a common sighting in Ancient Egyptian art.

In Ancient Egypt both men and women wore makeup. Statues of Gods and Goddesses wore cosmetics, and those of a higher caste wore more makeup than those of a lower caste. There were different kinds of makeup, some examples are, eye makeup, rouge and perfume oils, and nail polish and hair color. There are different reasons for each piece of makeup, and each had its own purpose. They did not have makeup just for the look.

Pale skin was achieved by a number of means, most of them were poisonous. The most popular was called “ceruse”, a foundation made from mixing a concoction of finely ground white lead and vinegar. It made their skin look perfect, luminous white, it and was capable of smoothing away any marks from smallpocks, blemishes and wrinkles, which made it the most popular foundation for centuries even though the obvious drawback of it being a deadly poison. However, some natural ingredients used were harmless, powdered hog bones mixed with poppy oil. A pale complexion was so desirable, some women were even bled to achieve the look.

In ancient Greece, eye shadow was known as fucus, and Greek women wore shades of green and blue made from gemstones like lapis lazuli and malachite. From there, the custom spread throughout the world and down through history. As early as 10,000 BC, in ancient Egypt, men and women used scented oils and ointments to clean and soften their skin and mask body odor. Dyes and paints were used to color the skin, body and hair. They rouged their lips and cheeks, stained their nails with henna, and lined their eyes and eyebrows heavily with kohl. Kohl

It was not only till the Nineteenth century where makeup became gender inclusive to society and became a women dominated industry. As the years progressed society was conditioned to think that makeup was made for women. Outside ancient Egypt women had done above and beyond to enhance their beauty to become better suited for a mate or to be considered beautiful. Before makeup was even introduced to world, women went to the extremes of using burnt matches to darken their eyes, using berries to stain there cheeks and lips, and even swallow oxblood to improve overall complexion. And if it wasn’t for the help of social media, men would still be struggling to this day to get the cosmetic recognition that they deserve. Gender roles has always created social boundaries for not only men but for women as well.Women have also dealt with the hardship of trying to be accepted in a society. Since the nineteenth th century restraints of not being able to vote, or work has carried on to the Twentieth century. Women are taken seriously when it comes to sports or having physical strength. Till this day women are making less on their paychecks compared to men. Both genders have their disadvantages and both deal with trying to break the labels that have been created. A new societal culture is happening and regardless of gender the traditional constraints that have been created it is becoming less significant in not only the

Believe it or not, lipstick has been used for over 3000 years. It was the women who were first recorded to have used lipstick. It was very costly. They crushed gemstones and then used the powder to decorate their lips. Cleopatra VII used insects in her lipstick. She had ants and beetles crushed then mixed with beeswax to make lipsticks. The popularity of lipstick has changed from time to time. There times when only the rich people wore lipstick. At one point in history, wearing lipstick lost its popularity because people thought women who wore lipstick were witches. It wasn't until the 1920's when lipstick once again caught on. Women began wearing a dark red color to symbolize independence. Some liked to mimic famous actresses who wore a bright

The white lead continued to be used as a foundation to achieve pale skin but it was done more naturally and secretly and women pinched their cheeks and bit their lips to get a rosy natural look. The idea was to look like you weren’t wearing any makeup at all.

Eye make-up was one of the earliest forms of females enhancing their beauty with make-up. It was told that women in Ancient Egypt would put eye makeup on to make their eyes look larger and to show more of the color of eye. The most used colors were black and dark green. The material used to make this eye product was a rock, copper, galena, and a sulphide of lead. This is a chemistry compound.