| Cosmetics Across the Centuries |
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How did we as humans get to the point where we spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics and it became the social standard for women to wear cosmetics everyday Certainly a woman way back in history did not all of a sudden wake up one morning and make the decision to apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, base, and rouge all at once. As you might have guessed, it was a combination of thousands of years and a lot of mistakes. Remember the Egyptians? That was four millenia ago. Good hygeine and appearance were very vital to the people of Egypt. The Egyptians believed the appearance had a direct juncture with the constitution of the soul. They tried to constantly look and smell pleasant. And with a civilization who values their looks, societies are inevitably going to have people who are going to try and stand out. But the Egyptians, being the innovative culture they were, had cosmetics for reasons that were even more intelligent than just trying to look good. A mixture of lead ore and copper called Mesdemet was the earliest kind of eye shadow. The dark shades they believed would ward off evil eyes from their own. It was also an effective disinfectant and bug repellent. Kohl was a dark combination that was applied around the eyes in an oval shape. Kohl was a mixture of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. A combination of red clay and water was added to the cheekbone area to further enhance their appearance. They would also paint their nails hues of orange and yellow with a substance called henna. As time moved on and societies mixed with each other more often, the Grecian people began to learn more of the many habits of the Egyptians way with cosmetics. Greek women would color themselves a pale color with a foundation that had lead in it. This proved fatal on more than one occasion. As the Romans started to adapt the make-up practice, the pursuit of beauty became less about functionability and turned into much more exotic routes. The Romans would adorn their nails with a mixture of sheeps blood and cooked body fat. An ancient Roman man once said, A woman without paint is like food without salt. A light skin color was the fashion around the world after the Egyptian empire disappeared. Only women who were impoverished and had to labor out in the field all day with their husbands had dark, sun dired skin. The upper society ladies of course did not have to endure physical work like that so they stayed under the roof and had light skin. A light, pale complexion was also a symbol of money. A person was not obligated to labor if they had enough wealth. So a pale complexion was extremely serious to some people. To get this appearance, women (and men too) would apply a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powdered form to apply to their faces and skin. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes fatal side effect, lead poisoning.To remedy this problem, chemists in the nineteenth century finally discovered a combination of zinc oxide that did not block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning sickness. It was so effective that it is still practiced today by cosmetics makers. Lavish and glamorous parties were hosted by city ladies with disposable money in the Edwardian era of England. It was extremely important for a woman to be the most attractive lady there, especially if they were the hostess of the soiree. City and excessive lifestyles with factors like polluted air produced by the cities at that time, poor diets, and little or no exercise aged the women fast. Women would rely on products like anti-aging foams and face creams to mask their imperfections. They would also travel to the salon. It was a bit different in the past than it is in the present. Women would go into the back entrance of the salons and cover their faces as they went in. One of the most famous of these secret beauty salons was the House of Cyclax, that would sell creams and blushes to ladies. Mrs. Henning, who was the owner, sold and invented multiple products for her desperate customers who did not want everybody to know that they were getting on in the years. The modern day woman is the benefactor of all these years of mistakes with a virtually unlimited choice of beauty products for any look they want to get. The cosmetics business has become a billion dollar industry with literally thousands of competing companies. Beauty products sell all year and even in times of depression. So ladies, give thanks to your ancestors and their concern for their personal appearance for your own that you have nowadays. There were possibly mornings when they woke up and didnt really feel like going through the hassle of putting on their face either. About AuthorMichael Usry is the author of the online instructional articles "Beauty and Health in Plain English" and a top affiliate of skin care one of the premier women's health websites.Source: ArticleTrader.com Read more at: http://www.articletrader.com/health/beauty/cosmetics-across-the-centuries.html. |
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