With all the billions of dollars spent per year across the worldin the world on make-up, often we might catch ourselves asking, ?How did it get to this point? When did it become the par for me to wake up each morning and before I even go out the door have to paint my face from top to bottom? Assuredly a lady way back in old times did not all of a sudden wake up one day and decide to apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and rouge all at once. As you might have guessed, it was a combination of thousands of years and lots of errors.



The Egyptians were the first to use cosmetics. That was over four millenia ago. Good hygeine and looks were terribly important to the people of Egypt. The Egyptians had faith that the appearance was in direct juncture with the well being of the soul. They strived to constantly look and smell agreeable. And with a civilization who values their appearance, societies are invariably going to have people who are going to try and stand out. The Egyptians, being the cutting edge civilization they were, had cosmetics for reasons that were even more intelligent than just attempting to look good.

A combination of lead ore and copper known as Mesdemet was the earliest kind of eye shadow. The dark hues they thought would avert evil eyes from their own. It was also an effective disinfectant and bug repellent. Kohl was a dark combination that was also put on around the eyes in an oval shape. The substance was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. A combination of red clay and water was added to the cheeks to further enhance their appearance. They would also paint their fingernails hues of orange and yellow with a substance called

henna.

As time moved along and societies mixed with each other more often, the Grecian people began to pick up on the multiple habits of the Egyptians use of cosmetics. They would give themselves a pale shade with a base that contained lead in it. More than once this proved to be deadly. As the Romans began to pick up the make-up habits, the effort to achieve beauty became less about practicality and turned into much more peculiar routes. They would paint their nails with a mixture of sheeps blood and heated body fat. An old Roman man once said, A woman without paint is like food without salt.

A white complexion was the fashion around the world after the Egyptian civilization faded. Only women who were impoverished and had to labor out in the field all day with their husbands had dark, sun dired skin. The upper echelon ladies of course did not participate in hard labor like that so they were able to stay under the roof and had light skin.

Wealth was often measured by a person's white skin tone. A person did not have to labor if they had enough riches. So a pale skin hue was extremely crucial to some people. To get this look, ladies (and men also) would apply a mixture of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powdered form to paint their faces and skin. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes deadly side effect, lead poisoning.To cure this, chemists in the nineteenth century at last found a combination of zinc oxide that did not block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning sickness. It was so effective that it is still practiced today by cosmetics producers.

In the era of King Edward of London, around the turn of the century of 1900, society women with a recreational income would throw lavishextravagant parties and do a lot of entertaining to show off their wealth. It was extremely important for a woman to be the most beautiful lady there, especially if they were the hostess of the soiree. Women at that time who experienced these extravagant lifestyles did not have good diets, would not exercise, and breathed in the heavily polluted air that the cities of the past produced. Women would need products like anti-aging foams and face creams to mask their imperfections. They would also go to the salon. It was a bit different back then than it is today. Ladies would go into the back entrance of the salons and cover their faces as they entered. One of the most famous of these discreet beauty parlors was the House of Cyclax, who would sell creams and rouges to ladies. Mrs. Henning, who was the owner, sold and invented multiple products for her desperate customers who did not want anyone to know that they were getting old.

The modern day woman is the benefactor of years of experience with a virtually unlimited choice of products for any look they want to accomplish. The beauty product business has become a billion dollar industry with literally thousands of competing companies. Cosmetic products sell all year and even in times of depression. So ladies, give thanks to your ancestors and their concern for their personal looks for yours that you have nowadays. They probably didn't feel like putting on their face some mornings either.