The Fascinating History of Wearing Makeup
Wearing makeup is not a recent thing, but a deeply-rooted phenomenon in the human psyche.
Who doesn’t want to be beautiful?
The world is running after beauty. Beauty is worshiped. If you are beautiful, you don’t have many problems ordinary people face because beauty gives you an edge always — everywhere.
So there is no wonder to say that the beauty products market is skyrocketing day by day.
According to statistics, the makeup expenditure of women goes up to $3,756 annually. If we divide the amount by 12 months, women spend around $313 per month on beauty products.
The same data has predicted the rapid growth and the beauty products market will hit $54 billion in 2027. That’s a significant amount of money.
But that’s another story.
In the modern world, beautiful actresses and models often set beauty standards, and many women follow them — often blindly. In using beauty products, men are ahead of women. According to an estimate, the men's grooming industry will also reach $81.2 billion by 2024.
But, unlike modern times, philosophers would determine the beauty products and standards in ancient times.
And would you believe that the first recorded use of cosmetics goes back to some 7000 years?
It was prevalent in every society on the earth. In the ancient world, people wore makeup in rituals. Painting one’s face was one of the earliest rituals in human culture. Even the earliest known Homo sapiens discovered in Africa have used red ochre, a sort of red mineral pigment, on their faces to appear beautiful. Makeup was so much in fashion in the ancient world.
Even Bible; both the New and the Old Testament mention the legendary Jezebel who would paint her eyelids and use other herbs to enrich her beauty.
As mentioned earlier, wearing makeup was associated with rituals. Women and men alike would paint their faces and bodies on certain occasions to please their gods. However, women also wore makeup to appear beautiful and seductive and to influence their counterparts. The Book of Jeremiah have discouraged this vanity in the following saying:
“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.”
Wearing makeup in Ancient Egypt
Egyptians have discovered the use of Kohl and moringa roots and plants as early as 3500 BC.
They have used Kohl as a mascara to enlarge their eyes. They have also learned to mix some natural ingredients such as red ochre, carob, and sycamore with honey to make lotions that they would use on their faces. These mixtures would keep their face moisturized in the dry seasons of Egypt. They also made a mixture of knotgrass and frankincense to improve and freshen their breaths.
They have even discovered ingredients that would help them prevent baldness and graying hair. Most of the time, they would combine beeswax with resin to make an ointment for skincare. They also used the ointment in the mummification of the dead as they believed that this would make the mummies charming in the life after here.
Use of cosmetics in Asia
Asia has the most diverse cultures, people, and religions. Every culture had its unique features. But, owing to the contiguity of geography, there are various similarities concerning religions, cultures, and most of the time in languages too. But, most of all, Asians loved to wear make-up.
The first recorded use of wearing making up is documented in China in 3000 BC. The Chinese would make a mixture of gelatin, egg white, gum arabic, and beeswax. Together with other things, they would make different colors of lotions and apply that to their fingernails.
Not all people used the same colors. The ancient Chinese society was highly class-ridden. They used different colors to represent their class. The Chou Dynasty royals would use gold and silver colors. The ordinary classes were forbidden to use bright shining colors on their fingernails.
Had you been living in ancient China and a girl walks toward you with her fingers shinning with gold color, you would probably meet a princess or any royal blood. Colors and flowers play a significant role in Chinese culture. It is said that one day Princess Shouyang of the Song dynasty was strolling in Hanzhong Palace garden, a plum blossom wafted down onto her beautiful face, thus left a red beautiful mark on her forehead that added to her beauty.
Later on, she reached the court, unaware of her forehead mark. When the court ladies saw her, they also adorned their faces with the plum floweret imprints. The famous floral fashion, Meihua Zhuang known as “Plum blossom makeup”, in China is said to have started after this incident.
Mongolian women also used makeup, but instead of doing full makeup, they would paint red spots on the center of their cheeks. It is still a mystery that why they would do so.
However, in Japan, the royal musicians and dancers known as geisha would wear unique makeup. They would use rice powder on the entire face and neck that would render them a completely white look. Along with that, they would use red lipsticks made from safflower leaves.
They also used safflower wax on their eyebrows. Most amazingly, the geisha would hold a ceremony known as Erika, in which, dancers upon completing their training, would color their teeth black. This blackening of the teeth would signify that the graduation of the dancers.
The Indians and Persians had also used Kohl extensively, both by males and females. The women would adorn their faces with various waxes made from herbs and stones. Similarly, the Arabs had also a rich culture and used cosmetics at various ages.
The Islamic scholar, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi has written a book Adwiyat al-Zinah's “Medicine of Beauty”, which deals with aromatics, scents, beauty products, perfumes, etc. He also gave a special formula for making lipsticks and beautification products.
Trends of cosmetics in Europe
During the Roman Empire, ordinary women would rarely use makeup. However, prostitutes and women from the upper class used cosmetics extensively.
But they kept a difference in their trends as not to look like prostitutes. However, Romans were influenced by the stoics and they believed in inner beauty or beauty of conduct, hence, common women didn’t use makeup is it was considered against the traditional Roman values. The noted Roman writers such as Ovid and Pliny the Elder have mentioned the use and trends of cosmetics in their books.
When European society was Christianized, the wearing of makeup even faced stiff resistance. The Church almost banned wearing makeup and declared it immoral. Despite religious banning, women didn’t stop wearing makeup. The makeup trends in Europe changed rapidly and various new techniques and styles would often emerge.
Queen Elizabeth I of England was known to have used white lead and popularized “the Mask of Youth” trend throughout her reign. She would cover her entire face in the white lead to appear younger and beautiful. Nicholas Hilliard, a noted historian, has written extensively about Queen Elizabeth I influential makeup styles.
Ordinary women would follow the trends of the richer classes. Ordinary women would work outside in the sun and, as a result, they would have a darkened complexion. The rich women would stay in homes or under shades most of the time and would appear pale.
So, getting a pale light-colored face was a huge fashion and a symbol of status. This led European women in the Middle Ages to bleed themselves to look pale. Even the Spanish prostitutes would color their faces in a way to appear pale.
Growth of the cosmetic industry
The cosmetic industry rose exponentially in the late 1800s because of the “visual self-awareness” and improvement in beauty products.
The emerging technology, such as improvements in the mirrors, the rise of marketing, electricity, and commercial photography led to the sense of beautiful appearance and good self-image gave a boost to cosmetics. However, cosmetics were still largely manufactured in homes that contained toxic ingredients that arrested its full-fledged rise.
Over the years, people searched for safe use of cosmetics and were trying to find skin-friendly ingredients. Henry Tetlow introduced safe face powder made of zinc oxide in 1866. Various people and companies adopted and improved the formula and companies like Hudnut, Rimmel, Guerlain started marketing their products to a wider audience.
However, even at the dawn of the 20th century, cosmetics were not that much popular. It’s still associated with prostitutes. The pale-looking trend was popular in common women. In 1888, an unknown Philadelphian introduced a deodorant known as Mum that brought changes in the trends.
In the 1920s, the Hollywood film industry had influenced the cosmetic industry a lot. This increased the demand for makeup products and many companies were established in the 1920s and 1930s that manufactured lipsticks, eyeliners, improved face powders. Maurice Levy invented the lipstick metal vessel that increased lipstick production. This led to the rise of red lipstick and red nail polish.
After World War One, the fashion and cosmetic industry saw new heights. The disfigurement also gave birth to cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery such as Facelifts came into being in the 1930s. However, it took cosmetic surgery another 40 to 60 years to be used as anti-aging.
Plastic surgery was again dominated by women and in 1962, the introduction of silicone implants revolutionized the fashion industry. Soon, the plastic surgeons in America started advertising plastic surgery by spreading awareness in public about its benefits.
The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has reported that over two million Americans opted to undergo various surgeries. Over time, plastic surgeries developed, and various surgeries such as chemical peels, liposuction, and breast augmentations became common by 2000 to appear more beautiful.
Cosmetics became more modern by the end of the 20th century. Various new colors and shades were introduced in lipsticks, face powders, nail polish, eyeliners, and the ingredients were enhanced to stay for longer. Avon and other companies hired saleswomen to promote their cosmetic products.
By the 21st century, companies produced more cosmetics and makeup products. The competing multinational companies regularly update their products and always seek to outdo others by launching new products. The modern beauty products are in front of you. Ranging from men’s shaving, face washes, creams, and women’s cosmetics have left every industry behind.
