1200BC – 323BC
Skincare:
Ancient Greek women kept their skin moisturised with creams olive oil and honey. It was very popular to wear a ‘no make-up, make-up look’ so skincare was a must.
Make-up:
Much like the Ancient Egyptian’s pale skin signified a higher class. Greek women would paint their naturally bronzed skin with toxic, life threatening white lead and sometimes chalk. Only the very rich would be able to afford to buy make-up, the make-up available was made in much the same way as the Ancient Egyptian’s. Such as lipstick, eyeliner, eye shadow and blush.
A big trend, which most definitely has stayed in the past, was the uni-brow! Both male and females would use a dark powder to connect their eyebrows as it was a sign of beauty.
Hair:
The women that weren’t used as slaves were allowed to have long loose hair; however the moment they married, they would have to wear it tied up. They would usually have it up in a bun, Ancient Greeks created the chignon. Hair was usually decorated with jewelled combs, hair pins, scarves, flowers, headbands and ribbons. They wore their hair curled and in plaits. Much like our trend of glittery festival hair nowadays, they sprinkled gold powder into their hair to make it shiny.
Much like their skin, they also would lighten their hair. They would wear large brimmed hats (to prevent a tan) with a hole cut out to put their vinegar soaked hair through. They would sit for hours in the Sun whilst it bleached their hair a red colour, some would even manage to get it to blonde. As damaging as that process was, they did like to look after their hair by using olive oil as a conditioning treatment.
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