Cosmetics: Are We Really A Vain Society?

Are we really a vain society? Do we really have a more-than-normal pride in our appearance? To answer that, you'd have to define normal. There's nothing wrong with being vain, as long as we don't get carried away with it. We just want to look good – to look our best. And people have been working hard at looking their best for centuries. And that's why cosmetics has such a long history. We'd like to take you through the history of cosmetics here; and let's just see how similar we are to people living in 10,000 BC.

Ancient Egyptians had a full line of cosmetics

Have you ever seen pictures of the Ancient Egyptians, with their painted faces? They look very striking, don't they? Very classic. And that was the intent. It was extremely important
They applied green to their lower eyelids, then black or dark gray to their eyelashes and upper eyelids. And keeping with their spiritual beliefs, the dark colors were designed not only to enhance their appearance, but to ward off evil eyes.

And an evil eye wasn't the only thing mesdemet warded off. It was a great disinfectant, as well as an insect repellant. And with life on the Nile being fairly filled with annoying insects, the eye makeup performed a dual purpose. So the combinations of ingredients that made up their cosmetics, were very diverse. In fact, many were used for all kinds of medicinal purposes, too.

Now how's this for a combination: burnt almonds, oxidized copper, a couple of different-colored copper ores, lead, ash, and ochre. They called it kohl, and it came out as a dark-colored powder, which was applied with a small stick, on and around the eyes, in an almond shape. Then, to complement the fancy eye makeup, they applied a mixture of red clay and water to their lips and cheeks. And the nails weren't left out, either. They used henna to dye them orange or yellow. Quite a colorful picture, don't you think? But that's exactly what they wanted back then – something like today,
Some research done by L'Oreal, along with scientists from the Louvre in Paris, revealed that the black eye makeup used back then had ingredients that had to have been chemically made, because a natural origin couldn't be found. The research also showed that mesdemet got its creamy smoothness from its 7-10% fat content. That's just the same as many of the eye cosmetic products on the market today. Are we really advanced, or just living in the past?

The purpose of cosmetics hasn't really changed over the years
Way back – I mean, way back – like in 10,000 BC, cosmetics were used to enhance the beauty of the female countenance. And by the way, men used them, too. Back then, all Egyptians bathed either in the river or from a basin at home. They used cosmetic cleansers made from vegetable or animal oil mixed with powdered lime and perfume – probably not much different from some of the soaps we use today.

Also, the air was very hot and dry in those days and the people needed something to keep their skin soft. So they used one of a number of perfumed oils to protect themselves from the