Did women wear makeup in Ancient times?

Question

In Ancient Rome and Egypt did women wear makeup? When did makeup start? What if a women had acne? Did they make foundation to put on? Did they wear eyeliner and mascara? Did they have shops wear makeup was sold? How did they treat acne?

Answer 1

Yes, from the most ancient ruins there has been evidence of cosmetic tools. Unfortunately, many of the substances used had high levels of lead and other harmful elements that were absorbed by the users.

Answer 2

Men and women wore makeup. Much of it contained poisons, believe it or not. Things like lead and arsenic were widely used components of makeup in ancient times, right up through the 19th century. Hence, many people suffered the ill effects from such poisons, including anemia and even death.

Eye makeup was the most popular form in ancient cultures. The eyes were considered the most important feature and were thought to have all kinds of mystical and spiritual significance.

Lining the eyes was, and still is, an important symbolic ritual in Hindu culture/religion. I have seen pics of young babies where their first phoro has their eyes lined in Kohl.

As far as when "makeup" started. It is most likely that the very earliest people used some sort of painted face and body designs. These would be spiritually significant.

The Geisha's (Japan) makeup has very specific symbolic signifigance. Each eye, foundation and lip design is representative of level and stature within the Geisha community.

Ancient peoples, no doubt, dealt with the same skin ailments as we do today .. .and then some. Diseases of the skin, and scarring from things like small pox were common. Don't forget, art and human images in ancient times were idealistic, not realistic. The concept of realism in art is a relatively new concept. Any deformation/imperfection would have been omitted. Historically, people suffered from a number of diseases that would have rendered them deformed by our modern standards.

Answer 3

The first archaeological evidence of cosmetics usage is found in Ancient Egypt around 4000 BC. The Ancient Greeks and Romans also used cosmetics. The Romans and Ancient Egyptians used cosmetics containing poisonous mercury and often lead. The land of Palestine was influenced by cosmetics as recorded in the Old Testament—2 Kings 9:30 where Jezebel painted her eyes—approximately 840 BC. The Biblical book of Esther describes various beauty treatments as well.

Answer 4

The eyeliner the Egyptians wore was for a purpose. Like our modern football players who use black makeup to cut glare, the Egyptians used black eyeliner to cut glare on the desert. They also used a lot of moisturizers on their skin. In fact, there is a historical record of a strike by workers on one pyramid. They were striking for more beer, more bread, and more cosmetics. Their rations had been cut.

Rome and Greece had no problem with women wearing makeup or wigs.

The best known acne cure of the time was changing diet. Poor people didn't tend to get it because their foods were simpler and not so rich. If you did get a zit, you probably would have put a honey-and-oil ointment on it.

Honey-and-oil ointments have been around for over a thousand years and they are effective on small cuts and zits. If you don't know how to make one, just put on a dab of honey (breaks down to hydrogen peroxide) and follow it with a dab of vaseline (seals the area so more bacteria can't get in). Leave it on overnight.

Answer 5

foundation and face powder is pretty recent, but mascara and eyeliner have been around since Cleopatra! there is an old story that says that when Cleopatra was about to die, she put on a lot of eye makeup so that she could die beautiful. i'm not sure exactly how they treated acne, and maybe they didn't. makeup, along with a lot of other things, was probably sold/traded in markets in the town.

Answer 6

I don't think anyone is quite sure how makeup as a beauty aid began,but t's been around since before even The Etruscan period,extending further back b some 1000 or so years and it wasn't exclusivly a woman;s province either,Natural ingrediants,like khol,ochre and cocineal,a kind of shellfish that could be ground up and used as a lipstain.There was also ground lead that was used to artficially whiten the skin and one that remained in use until the late 19th century.And yes,there were shops the sold cosmetics ready-made,usually for the upper-class who could afford the extravigance. The material was stored in everything from gold to silver to clay pots and used daily.In Ancient Egypt,men wore khol arounf their eyes as well as women,to cut down ofn the glare of the sun as they went about thier daily business,but it was also used in rituals. They used animal fat mostly to mix the colors and keep them for long periods of time.
TL

Answer 7

All I can answer to this, is that ground malachite (a bright green gemstone) was used as a powder eyeshadow in ancient Egypt. They wore kohl, which was something like black eyeliner, as well.

Women have used herbs and other substances to try to make their skin more beautiful for centuries as well. In the 1700-1800's, women even took arsenic (a poison) because small doses of it made skin very white and clear.

In ancient times I am sure acne would have been treated with herbs. If you have it now, or know someone who does, try taking burdock root capsules and wild oregano capsules, and steam your face with hot water that has a peppermint tea bag in it.

Answer 8

The ancient Egyptians wore makeup thousands of years before Cleopatra was born. The nobility and the upper crust of society did anyway. The women shaved their heads and wore wigs. They kept away from the sun because white skin was considered beautiful for women in Egypt. They used eyeliner and colored their eyelids. Go to a museum and look at the paintings of Egyptian women. For deodorant they wore animal fat mixed with fragrance on their wigs. As the day wore on the fat melted and the fragrance flowed down on them.

Answer 9

The makeup was completely natural. In early Roman societies, Patrician women often wore makeup as a sign of status. A shade of lipstick could determie what kind of family you had.

Ancient Egyptians were not all glam and eyeliner. Sure they had the smokey eye look, but their makeup was not much different from Romans, which used natural minerals to enhance what natural beauty they possessed.

And yes, Cleopatra most likely did wear makeup. But people seem to forget that she was Greek, not Egyptian. She probably also went for the natural look.

Answer 10

Im not sure that they treated acne.
But I do know for sure that they used berrys and dirt to make some sort of powder for there make-up.
And different colored mixed with dirt to make make-up,
but yes. They had it They didn't wear eyeliner but they probably wore mascara out of some kind of black mudd.
Or colored mudd.
The Ancient Rome and Egyption's were alot more creative then anybody would ever know.
They were also the first people to creat Mineral make-up.

Answer 11

Cosmetics have been used in the art of making women and men beautiful for years.

The Gaul’s dyed their hair red, the Anglo-Saxon went pink with green, orange and blue locks while the Greeks opted for a more sophisticated look, sleeking their hair with gold and silver powders.

It was the Egyptians who first manufactured cosmetics on a very large scale and the preparation they used are surprisingly similar to today’s. The Egyptian women lined their eyes with dusty kohl and lids shaded with turquoise powder from green copper and lead ore. The lips and cheeks were rouged with powdered red clay while henna was used on their feet and toes. Cleopatra took baths in milk, which softened and conditioned her skin.

In the Victorian era makeup was frowned upon as being indicative of an immoral character and cosmetics had to be applied discretely. Queen Alexandra revived the popularity of painted faces and women were soon copying the exaggerated look of stars.

Women wore a chalky complexion, rouged cheeks, dark eyelids and bright bow-shaped lips. Lipstick was the most important item in any woman’s cosmetic bag and no one felt dressed without bright red lips until the 1960’s when lips paled to insignificance beneath hugely emphasized eyes. Black eyeliner, often three layers of it, were used to underline both the upper and lower lashes and marking the crease of the eyelid was supported by hard, brightly colored eye-shadows and enormously long false eyelashes. The lower lashes were often painted onto the skin with eyeliner. Lips were painted sugar pink or white.

This will also give you a history of cosmetics throughout the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cosmetics