To understand the origin of makeup, we must travel back in time about 6,000 years. We get our first glimpse of cosmetics in ancient Egypt, where makeup served as a marker of wealth believed to appeal to the gods. The elaborate eyeliner characteristic of Egyptian art appeared on men and women as early as 4000 BCE. Kohl, rouge, white powders to lighten skin tone, and malachite eye shadow (the green colour of which represented the gods Horus and Re) were all in popular use.
Makeup is mentioned in the Bible too, in both the Jewish scriptures and the Christian Old Testament and New Testament. The Book of Jeremiah, which details the titular prophet’s ministry from about 627 BCE to 586 BCE, argues against cosmetics use, thereby discouraging vanity: “And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in crimson, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life." In 2 Kings the evil queen Jezebel exemplifies the connection between cosmetics and wickedness, being described as having “painted her eyes and adorned her head” before her death at the behest of the warrior Jehu (though Jezebel’s makeup use was not the impetus for her murder).
So too was there a disdain for cosmetics among ancient Romans, though not for religious reasons. Hygiene products such as bath soaps, deodorants, and moisturizers were used by men and women, and women were encouraged to enhance their natural appearance by removing body hair, but makeup products such as rouge were associated with sex workers and hence were considered a sign of shamelessness. Deriding makeup users is a common theme in Roman poems and comic plays (though theatrical performers constituted one of the few classes of people expected to use cosmetics), and admonitions against makeup appear in the personal writings of Roman doctors and philosophers. The elegiac poet Sextus Propertius, for instance, wrote that “looks as nature bestowed them are always most becoming.” And the philosopher Seneca the Younger, in a letter to his mother, praised the fact that she “never defiled her face with paints or cosmetics.”
This Roman view of cosmetics was at least partially rooted in Stoicism, a philosophy that foregrounded moral goodness and human reason. Stoics regarded beauty as intrinsically related to goodness. While an attractive physical form might be desirable, true “beauty” was instead associated with moral acts. Decorating the body with cosmetics implied a vanity or selfishness that, to Stoics, was undesirable. Though Stoicism was not confined to ancient Rome—it was also prevalent among ancient Greek thinkers, some of whom shared the same ideas about makeup—in Rome it affected the mainstream opinion of cosmetics. Not every Roman was resistant to makeup; some people continued to rouge their cheeks, whiten their faces, and line their eyes. But the Stoic ideal leaned toward what we today might call “no-makeup makeup”—using skin care products and other toiletries to enhance one’s natural appearance, not to decorate it.
So continued a pattern of embracing and rejecting makeup in the Western world. Cosmetics were so popular in the Byzantine Empire that its citizens gained an international reputation for vanity. The Renaissance era embraced all forms of physical beauty, which people sought to attain especially through hair dye and skin lighteners (which, containing powdered lead and other harmful products, often proved toxic). Another widespread movement against cosmetics appeared in the mid-19th century, when Britain’s Queen Victoria declared makeup to be vulgar, and cosmetics once again went out of fashion. Though many women didn’t give up makeup entirely, many now applied it in secret: who was to say their cheeks weren’t naturally rosy?
It wasn’t until about the 1920s that highly visible cosmetics, such as red lipstick and dark eyeliner, reentered the mainstream (at least in the Anglo-American world; not everyone had listened to Queen Victoria and eschewed makeup in the first place). As the beauty industry gained a financial foothold, often in the form of individual women selling to other women, dissenters found that they could no longer compete. Cosmetics, now “productized” andadvertised, again became a mark of wealth and status, and emphasizing physical features, even for sex appeal, was no longer considered quite so selfish or wicked. Eventually, advertisers persuaded women to take the opposite view: cosmetics were a necessity.
Makeup dates all the way back to 6000 BCE, starting with the Egyptians. They created it as they believed makeup was next to godliness and that it appealed to the Gods; both men and women of all social classes wore makeup.
We get our first glimpse of cosmetics in ancient Egypt, where makeup served as a marker of wealth believed to appeal to the gods. The elaborate eyeliner characteristic of Egyptian art appeared on men and women as early as 4000 BCE.
Evolutionary psychologists also say we wear makeup to amplify desirable qualities that make us attractive – from filling in eyebrows to achieve facial symmetry, or dotting on blush cheeks to look healthier. Or we might wear makeup simply because it makes us feel good.
Makeup acts and stimulates three of our senses: touch (which encompasses all sensations from the body surface), smell (fragrance), and sight (the process of becoming and looking beautiful). The positive stimulation of these senses by makeup can induce sensory as well as psychological pleasure.
It wasn't until Queen Victoria I took to the throne, marking the Victorian times, that makeup became seen as an abomination. She deemed cosmetics as vulgar, views that are also communicated in the bible as wearing makeup was seen as vanity and “the Devil's work”.
For generations, makeup has been seen as a "girls-only" enterprise, so we forget that it wasn't always that way. For millennia, stretching from 4000 BCE through the 18th century, men traditionally used makeup in myriad ways. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that makeup was relegated to one end of the gender spectrum.
Indeed, makeup in general was thought to have a protective function against evil influences as well as everyday annoyances like too-bright sunlight. The kohl-ringed styles of the time weren't just the predecessor to today's perfect cat eye look, but held their own power.
Biblically speaking, we can find a few passages about beauty rituals and makeup. When Esther entered the palace, she went through a year-long beauty ritual for purification and cosmetics.
It's called no-makeup makeup, and its goal is to make you look effortlessly gorgeous with minimal products, in minimal time. What exactly is no-makeup makeup? “No-makeup makeup is makeup that you wear that just slightly enhances your features in a very natural and minimal way,” says makeup artist Lindsay Katsuk.
You are less likely to experience breakouts, blackheads, or pimples because the no makeup movement won't clog your pores. This is great because it also allows your skin to breathe, and you won't have to use harsh acne products that can dry out your skin.
Clear faces, bright eyes and tinted lips were desirable, but everything had to look natural. It was believed that cheeks painted with blush had to look flushed, and lips had to look bitten rather than painted.
2 In 1562, the Queen contracted smallpox which left severe and permanent scars on her face and she feared it may ruin her image of possessing seamlessly fair skin. 2 In order to conceal the damage caused by her illness, she used a heavy white face paint known as Venetian Ceruse.
In addition, paleness and fragility were also connected to ideas of class. Many disorders, such as tuberculosis, were associated with a higher rank of life, so lightened skin became a preoccupation for all classes as they tried to achieve these ideals of beauty and emulate the upper classes.
IT Cosmetics was founded in 2008 by Jamie Kern Lima, a TV news anchor who was unable to find products that solved her beauty concerns, including sparse brows and sensitive, rosacea-prone skin. Feeling overlooked by the beauty industry challenged Jamie's confidence, but it also inspired her journey as an entrepreneur.
Modern foundation can trace its roots to Carl Baudin of the Leipziger Stadt theatre in Germany. He is the inventor of greasepaint. He wanted to conceal the joint between his wig and forehead, so he developed a flesh-coloured paste made of zinc white, ochre, and vermillion in lard.
Originating with the use of rice powder in ancient cultures, eyeshadows have evolved to embrace natural beauty while being symbolic of the beauty imagined. Women once adorned their faces with bonnets, adding a green eye shadow to captivate their gaze.
Most people might think that cosmetics are a modern invention but in reality, cosmetics have been used since ancient times. Often they were used in religious ceremonies - as seen in ancient Egypt - or as cultural identification.
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