Annually billions of dollars are spent worldwide on beauty and cosmetic products. I am sure many of us often ask how we got to the point of making use of such products and when did it become standard to have to wake in the morning, bath or shower using soaps and gels, shampoos and conditioners and then before leaving home applying makeup and spraying on perfume and deodorant. Beauty and cosmetic products we know today came about due to thousands of years of mistakes as well as trial and error. Four thousand years ago the Egyptians believed that hygiene was an important aspect of the spirit and personal wellbeing.
The
Egyptians were always neat as they were a society that valued their appearance
and were also a very creative and inventive culture and they had specific
reasons behind the cosmetics and beauty products that were more than just
making their appearance more beautiful. For example the Egyptians original eye
shadow, mesdemet was made from a copper derivative and lead ore. These dark
shades were used around their eyes to ward off the evil eye and at the same
time was an effective bug repellent and disinfectant. They also made use of
kohl which was a combination of burnt almonds, copper, ash, lead and ochre to
adorn the eyes.
They
also applied a mixture of red clay and water to their cheeks and painted their
nails with a yellow and orange henna chemical. It was well know that the
Egyptians bathed in milk and flower essence such as Neroli and others. Many of
the ingredients used for their beauty regime proved to be fatal. Greek women
also began following the Egyptians cosmetic and beauty rituals and started
applying a pale hue that was lead based to their faces which once again proved
fatal. blue
heaven primer Long after the
Egyptian empire diminished the Romans began making use of sheep's heated body
fat and blood to paint their nails. A dark tanned skin was associated with
being peasants and pale white complexions the wealthy upper class. Men and
women used a powder concoction of carbonate, lead oxide and hydroxide which was
applied to their skin and faces.
Once
again people suffered from lead poisoning. At the turn of the 19th century a
chemist developed a zinc oxide combination that was extremely effective and
produced creams and rouges. This combination is still used by beauty and
cosmetic manufacturers today. Due to the benefactor of these fatal mistakes,
there is an unlimited range of beauty and cosmetic products which has become a
very competitive billion dollar industry.
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