The Nature of Beauty by Imelda Burke

Author:Imelda Burke
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473529489
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MAKE-UP

The history of make-up could fill several books on its own, so this will be a brief overview. You will probably be using some form of mineral make-up. By mineral I mean the loose, dry powdery component that many brands get their colours from (not mineral oil of the petroleum industry – see here). The first minerals used are thought to have been ground-up gemstones or clays, which gave all the brilliant colours of nature. Black was derived from coals, reds could be extracted from seaweed and insects, pearlescent colours from fish scales and yellows from saffron.

Plates used for grinding eye paints have been found dating back to 10,000 BC. One of the first examples, galena eye paint (the natural mineral form of lead sulphide mixed with animal fat), was used in Ancient Egypt and became what we know as kohl. As the custom travelled, galena was made from different ingredients. In North Africa and the Middle East lead sulphide was mixed with plant oils and gum resins, while in the West charcoal or carbon was used. In some regions this black paint was used purely for decoration, but in others it had additional uses and was applied to ward off evil and protect the eyes from the sun’s rays. Cleopatra is perhaps the most famous example of this decorative use of make-up: her kohl-rimmed eyes are a prominent feature in the passage from minerals to the modern make-up we know today. But it didn’t stop there, red ochre was used as rouge and iron oxides, malachite and copper were used to colour the eyes. In researching this book, one of my favourite finds was a reference to a coloured wax formulation that was poured into the hollow stems of plants to set and then used in stick form – a precursor of the lipstick tubes of today.

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