3100BC – 30BC
Ancient Egyptian times lasted a very long time. They are the earliest civilisation we know of to use cosmetics. Many tombs have been found with pots of make-up inside as gifts to the dead. Everyone wore make-up, the poor, the rich, men and women. It was more than just beauty; it was for skin and eye care, religious and magical reasons too!
Skincare:
Skincare was very important; Egyptians would apply creams and oil mostly made from animal fat, to keep their skin smooth. Rich women also wanted to keep their skin as pale as possible as it showed a class status, they used creams and powders to lighten their skin.
Make-up:
Ancient Egyptian make-up is famous for the thick, black, elongated eyeliner. Everyone wore this to protect against flies, infections and to shield their eyes from the Sun. They also believed an eye without make-up would be vulnerable to the ‘The Evil Eye’. They made their Kohl from crushed charcoal.
They would colour their eyelids and under the brow bone in with green eye shadow paste made from copper ore. Cleopatra used the bright green under her eyes and a deep blue colour with gold flecks made from ground lapis lazuli stones on her eyelids. They would apply their eye make-up with ivory, wood or metal sticks! The earliest make-up pallet is said to date back to 5000BC!
Red lips were also all the rage. Cleopatra wore a signature red lipstick made from flowers, red ochre, fish scales, crushed ants, carmine and beeswax. All ingredients still used today. Poorer ladies made their lipsticks from clay and water. Other colours were orange, magenta and blue-black.
Finally blush was made from tinted clay, hydrated iron oxide and then mixed with water for easier application. This is similar to a lip and cheek stain we have today.
Hair:
Hair was also a sign of social status. A lot of the time Egyptian men, women and children would wear wigs, made from human hair, sheep wool or vegetable fibres. The more realistic the wig, the richer they would have to be. If someone was rich enough to afford a wig, it was likely they would have shaved off their hair as it was so hot also for hygiene and less of a risk of lice. However, baldness was looked down upon so wigs were always worn out in public. There were many baldness ‘remedies’ including ground-up hedgehog spines, fats from various animals such as lions, crocodiles and cats…
Wigs were also worn for special occasions and they were adorned with beautiful decorations. They also styled with plaits and curls, although only noble women could wear their hair in a certain style of three parts. The more plaits, the richer they were, they decorated their plaits by threading on golden tubes. In the New Kingdom, it was a sign of beauty for women to have long hair, hair extensions were also used, especially if they couldn’t afford a full wig, although people that could afford wigs also used hair extensions attached to their wigs to make them thicker. Whereas in the Old Kingdom it was more fashionable for women to have chin length bobs.
Dating back to 3400BC, Ancient Egyptian’s also dyed their hair with henna to make it red, as we can still do today. Another option they had, if they had grey hair, was to darken their hair with the blood of black animals…
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