Kohl
pencils are still used today.
It was a very thick line across the eyes and it was ceremonial. Carvings
of Cleopatra show her with thick eye make-up. Before 4,000 B.C. the
Egyptains wore eye make-up. They crushed beetle shells and mixed it with
eye paints to make the first glitter.
They
dyed hair, nails, palms of hands and soles of feet red with Henna. What's
Henna? Henna is still used today on
hair. 
Only
kings and queens were allowed
to wear red on their lips or nails.
Egyptian women
wore pomades, made of flowers dipped in animal fat and pressed together,
on their heads. As it got hotter, the fat melted and trickled down their
faces and necks. This kept their skin soft and unwrinkled. I
prefer lotion! 
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Egyptian cosmetic tools.
The Egyptians used oils to protect their
skin from sun and to perfume themselves. Later, the Greeks used perfume
everywhere on the body. The Romans perfumed everything, clothes, beds,
and even the air. Nero's palace had
concealed pipes that sprinkled guests
with perfume. Even soldiers wore perfume into battle. I
guess they needed perfume--they didn't bathe very often!
By the 1100's, the use of cosmetics had spread to Europe. Queen Elizabeth I of England used ground alabaster and starch to lighten her face. Elizabethan ladies followed her lead by covering their faces with egg whites! Many ladies dusted their faces with flour to get that wonderful, pale look. More like that sickly, ghost look! In Africa, warriors painted their bodies for war. Even in North America, the Indians were using animal fats to create body paints to protect themselves from insects.
Today, manufacturers use more than 5,000 ingredients in making cosmetics. While early ones were made of ground minerals, metals, and plants, today they include alcohol, dyes, oils, talc, and waxes.
Cosmetics
comes from the Greek word kosmos, which means adornment.
Click on the cosmetics you use!