First Use of Cosmetics
Ochre is an umbrella term for a range of earthy, iron-rich rocks composed of iron oxides or oxyhydroxides, such as shales, sandstones, mudstones and specularite.
The use of ochre dates to the Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic. The earliest evidence of its use in Africa dates 285 000 years. In Africa, ochre is used for protection from the sun and as a barrier from insects such as mosquitos. It has also been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of UV radiation.
Ochre is used as an adhesive. Its powder is an effective aggregate in resin adhesives to mount tools onto handles or shafts. Evidence of it being used in this way is found in the Middle Stone Age.
It was also used to tan hide. Ochre has anti-bacterial qualities which prevent the breakdown of collagen. This helps preserve hides. There is no direct evidence of its use as a hide tanning substance in the Middle Stone Age as no hides are preserved. But traces on the ochre pieces indicate that some pieces were rubbed on soft materials.
It is more commonly known for protection from the sun protection. Ochre-based pastes has been used as protection from the sun as well as a barrier from insects like mosquitos. It has been scientifically proven to inhibit the effects of ultra-violet radiation. It is still used as a sunscreen today, for example, by the Ovahimba in Namibia.
Ochre pigments were, and still are, widely used in paint and artwork. Many of the red and yellow pigments in rock art panels around the world are made with ochre-based paints. There is limited evidence for the creation of ochre paint in the Middle Stone Age, but 30,000 years ago its use as a paint was established.
What is Beauty?
Why is Beauty Important
Beauty isn’t just superficial, and is actually a key part of how we understand and interact with the world around us. Beauty helps us form relationships with our environment, from food to landscape to art, and even with each other. Beauty isn’t just superficial, and is actually a key part of how we understand and interact with the world around us. Beauty helps us form relationships with our environment, from food to landscape to art, and even with each other.
Mesopotamia
The earliest civilizations developed between 4000 and 3000 BCE, when the rise of agriculture and trade allowed people to have surplus food and economic stability. ... Civilizations thrived in the Indus Valley by about 2500 BCE, in China by about 1500 BCE and in Central America (what is now Mexico) by about 1200 BCE.
Egyptians
Romans
- Due to the weather conditions and the poor quality of their cosmetics, women needed to reapply their makeup several times a day
- Wealthy Romans had female slaves called Cosmetae for them. Cosmetae also mades creams, lotions and cosmetics.
Face Creams
- Romans complexion was naturally darker, so they used chalk powder, white marl and white lead to lighten it.
- Ancient Romans also made creams and lotions to fight and hide wrinkles, pimples, sun spots, freckles and flaking. These masks were a mixture of lentels, barley, lupine, honey or fennel blended with oils, oregano seeds, sulphur, vinegar, goose grease, basil juice and hawthorn. Sometimes they added an essence of rose or myrrah.
- Other unique ingredients used in ancient skincare products were placenta and even excrements of some animals like kingfisher or calves.
- The Ancient Romans fought pimples with a mixture of barley flour and butter. For sun spots, they used ashes of snails.
The Romans believed pink on the cheeks to a be a sign of gold health. As a blush, Roman women used poppy and rose petals, red chalk, alkanet root, Tyrian vermillion, crocodile dung, red ochre, mulberry juice, wine dregs, cinnabar and red lead.
Eye Make Up
- The Ancient Romans liked large eyes with long eyelashes and eyebrows that almost met. They darkened their eyebrows with antimony or soot and then extended them inwards.
- To make the eyes darker, they used kohl made with saffron, ashes, soot or antimony . The kohl was applied with a glass, ivory, wood or bone sticks that had to be dipped into either water or oil before putting them on the eyes.
- Another way to darken the eyes was to use date stones and charred petal roses. But the Romans also used colorful eyeshadows. To make green, they used the mineral malachite while blue came from azurite.
Medieval Ages
Smooth clear skin was desirable not only for its beauty but also because freckles, moles, and birthmarks were believed to be the devil’s mark and could mark you as a witch. The French favored a beautifying concoction of asparagus roots, wild anise, and the bulbs of white lilies steeped in the milk of asses and red goats, aged in warm horse manure and filtered through felt. Skin brighteners were made with bull’s or hare’s blood, or a paste made from vinegar and porridge to fade marks.
Warm baths scented with herbs followed with fragrant oil and unguents rubbed into the skin were popular throughout the entire medieval period, with wealthy women and herbalists like Hildegard of Bingen soaking bouquets of sweet william, marjoram, and rosemary in basins for a sponge bath.
Not surprisingly, scent was used to mask bad smells on the body and in the home. It isn’t hard to imagine a lady dipping an embroidered linen cloth into water infused with lavender and discreetly tucking it into her bosom. Solid perfume, made with essences of violet and rose mixed with wax, was carried in a locket. Pomanders, or “scent balls” of ambergris, musk, and chive with clove or cinnamon, and a solid substance, perhaps wax, were placed in jewelry worn around the wrist or encircling the neck.
The Crusaders and pilgrims were the first to bring rosewater back from the Middle East. And everyone went crazy for it. Essential oil extracted from rose petals also has a powerful healing effect on the skin, and it is precious. It can require thousands of pounds of rose petals to yield just one pound of oil.
Renissance Beauty
Victorian Era
The ideal Victorian beauty was one of a pale face, rosy cheeks, and big dark eyes. Pimples, freckles, and blemishes were unsightly. The first cosmetics were made by apothecaries and pharmacists to cure these problems of the skin. Eventually, national brands emerged, creating low-cost face creams advertised at young girls. Too costly for the very poor, lower and middle-class girls could afford an occasional lotion. Directions for homemade creams and waters were a frequent addition to ladies’ magazines.
Some of these ingredients were rose, almond, elderflower, sugar, lavender, oatmeal, and lemons. Flowers were soaked in water and made into a nice face wash. Sugar scrubs cleaned the skin and opened pores.
Cold creams were made of almond oil, white wax, and spermaceti (Sperm whale oil). Endorsements by actresses and performers such as Lilly Langtry helped spread the word about the new industry of beauty products. It also reinforced the idea that makeup started in the theater and was only worn by immoral women and prostitutes. In reality, makeup was hardly worn by this class of women.
Ready-made makeup products were full of red and white lead, mercury, belladonna, and other now-known poisons. Using them may not kill a woman, but they certainly did not improve her health. They did, however, make makeup colors richer and more durable. This is what drew countless woman to purchasing these makeups, usually by mail order, via pharmacists and sometimes at department stores, where they were kept hidden until requested.
The one acceptable Victorian makeup product was face powder. Indeed, it was found on most middle and upper-class ladies’ vanities. It was made of scented and lightly colored starch (similar to fine talcum powder and Victorian laundry soap). Powdered milk of magnesia, rice powder, French Chalk, and Venetian talc were also used. In 1877 Henry Tetlow discovered that dried and ground zinc oxide made an excellent pure white powder that did not grey when exposed to gas, candle, and coal fumes.
The most controversial and obvious “paint” a woman could use was a lip color. Made of ground beetles or plants and mixed with animal fat, cocoa butter, and wax, it was applied to the fingers and rubbed onto lips and cheeks. Beet root was also a natural coloring aid for cheeks. Another more subtle rouge technique was to mix water and color and soak a piece of gauze in it, let it dry, and then dust the face with the colored gauze. The result was a pinkish- red lip and cheek which contrasted against very pale skin.
For those not bold enough for a colored lip, a dab of face cream or beeswax was sufficient to add a little shine.
Skincare Routine
- Wash face with soap and water or steam over a hot pot.
- Apply a cold cream and wipe away excess until damp.
- Dust white powder or one shade lighter than your complexion onto face and neck.
- Apply rouge powder / cream to the apple of cheeks.
- Apply cake mascara using your fingers. (This is is hard to do. Use brush mascara is you need to.)
- Groom eyebrows with fingers. Darken with mascara or powder.
- Apply oil or Vaseline to eyelids or use a tiny smudge of mascara on upper eyelid line (best for evenings).