How did we as humans get to the point where we spend billions annually on cosmetics and it became the social standard for women to wear make-up everyday Certainly a female way back in history did not all of a sudden wake up one morning and make the decision to apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and blush all at the same time. No, it was, like many things, a culmination of events from ages past.

The Egyptians were the first to use cosmetics. That was over four millenia ago. Cleanliness and appearance were terribly critical to the Egyptians. They believed the appearance was in direct juncture with the health of the spirit. They attempted to always appear neat and smell pleasant. And with a civilization who values their looks, societies are invariably going to have people who are going to make themselves stand out. But the Egyptians, being the cutting edge society they were, had cosmetics for reasons that were even more practical than just trying to look

great.

Mesdemet was the most original type of eye shadow- a combination of copper with lead ore. The dark colors they thought would avert evil eyes from their own. It was also a great disinfectant and insect repellent. Kohl was a dark combination that was applied around the eyes in an oval shape. Kohl was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. A mixture of red clay and water was added to the cheeks to further enhance their appearance. They would also paint their nails shades of orange and yellow with a chemical named

henna.

As different groups of people began to interact with each other more often, the habit of cosmetics was picked up by the Greeks from the Egyptians. They would color themselves a pale hue with a foundation that had lead in it. This ended up being lethal more than once. As the Romans began to adopt the cosmetics habits, the pursuit of beauty became much less about practicality and turned into much more unusual routes. The Romans would adorn their nails with a combination of sheeps blood and heated body fat. An old Roman citizen once stated, A woman without paint is like food without salt.

A light skin color was the style around the world after the Egyptian civilization disappeared. A tanned, dehydrated face was associated with being a commoner who worked out outside all day alongside her husband. The upper society ladies obviously did not have to do manual work like that therefore they stayed under the roof and had light skin.

A light, pale skin color was also a symbol of money. If people had enough wealth, then you did not have to do anything. So it was extremely important for some members of society to have a white complexion. To get this appearance, ladies (and men also) would use a mixture of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powdered form to put on their faces and skin. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes fatal side effect, lead poisoning.To remedy this, chemists in the nineteenth century finally invented 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 worked so well that it is still practiced today by cosmetics

makers.

In the era of King Edward of London, around the change of the century of 1900, society women with a recreational income would have lavishextravagant soirees and do a bunch 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 gathering. City and aristocratic lifestyles with factors like dirty air produced by the cities at that time, unhealthy diets, and very little or no exercise aged the women fast. Women would rely on products like anti-aging creams and face creams to mask their imperfections. Routine ventures to the salon were also a regular part of the day. It was a little different in the past than it is in the present. Women would sneak into the back entrance of the salons and hide their faces as they went in. One of the most famous of these discreet beauty houses was the House of Cyclax, who would sell creams and blushes to women. Mrs. Henning, the owner, sold and created many products for her frantic customers who did not want anybody to know that they were getting

older.

Today's woman is the benefactor of all these years of experience with a practically unlimited choice of products for any look they want to achieve. The cosmetics business has become a billion dollar industry with literally thousands of competing companies. Cosmetic products sell all year and even in times of recession. Therefore ladies, thank your ancestors and their concern for their personal looks for your own that you have nowadays. There were possibly days when they woke up and didn't really feel like going through the hassle of putting on their face

either.