>No, I am not going to play a history teacher here. But when I had to read a French article about the start of L’Oreal in 1909 – if I’m not mistaken- I got quite interested. I thought: let’s do something different.. I’m going to search after some history facts about beauty and cosmetics and respond to it!
“In the middle ages through to the 18th century, pale skin was a sign of wealth, separating the upper class from the ‘commoners’ who laboured in the sun, and many women sought drastic measures to ensure their skin was as pale as possible. In Europe, women used leeches to bleed themselves.”
I guess this pale skin trend was a precursor of the nowadays plastic surgery. And I’m wondering when I read this part, whether it is still the case that people are doing plastic surgery to separate from the ‘commoners’. Not that this is a judgement, just a wondering!
“The minimalist make-up continued on into the early 20th century until the mass make-up marketing campaign in the 1930s, beginning with bold red lipsticks which was a sign of independence for women in America.”
I love it that they state here that red lipstick was a sign of independence, as I link independence to emancipation, while I link red lipstick to romance and sensuality. Of course these terms can go together, but at my first thought they’re in contrast with each other.
“One of the earliest cosmetologists was the physician Abu a-Qasim al-Zahrawi, or Abulcasis (936-1013 AD), who wrote the 30-volume medical encyclopedia Al-Tasrif. A chapter of the 19th volume was dedicated to cosmetics. Al-Zahrawi considered cosmetics a branch of medicine, which he called “Medicine of Beauty.”
Isn’t it great cosmetics where a form of medicine earlier? It means that cosmetics where a way to make you physical better, right? Never thought about the comparison, but maybe it isn’t that crazy… what do you think?
It makes even more sense when you read this quote:
“… this also had another reason, however, because the powder was supposed to hide the scars they had from various diseases such as smallpox”.
“During the 1960s and 1970s, many women in the western world influenced by feminism decided to go without any cosmetics”.
Well, I’m definitely not a die-hard feminist, so maybe that’s why I find it so strange that make-up can’t be seen together with make-up. From my point of view, make-up can make a woman more beautiful, can make her feel stronger, and thát way she’ll be more independent. Often make-up goes along with more confidence, and that’s what a real feminist needs, right? 
“Both the men and women of Babylon also curled their hair and make up their eyes with eye shadow, eyeliner, and eyelash and brow enhancers”.
If you go doing some research on make-up in the Egyptian time, it’s unbelievable what you read is proven to be used. I’m very curious to know where they curled their hair with! So I was going to find the answer quickly…
“The usual technique in a pre-industrial age without modern chemicals was to soak the hair in warm water to make it pliable, then tightly plait it in multiple slender braids. To minimise tangling, each strand of hair was often supported by a strip of cloth. To achieve larger-scale curls than the corkscrews the plaits gave, the individual braids could also be wrapped tightly around a wooden peg and secured”.
Of course! How obvious…
“Beauty patches”—pieces of velvet or silk cut into the shape of stars, moons, hearts, and similar figures—were frequently applied to the face and body to cover smallpox scars, and similar marks. A “secret language” even developed through their use: A patch near the mouth meant you were flirtatious; one next to the right cheek signaled you were married; one on the left cheek announced you were engaged; one at the corner of the eye meant you were somebody’s mistress”.
I love this kind of creativity! Next to the beauty of make-up, we should not forget it’s creativity and the form of expression it provides us.
So are you, just like me, only history interested in these kind of selected aspects, or don’t you love to read this at all (all other options can be left at the comments of course!)?
Sources: Health & Beauty blog // Ezine @rticles // Health And Beauty Advice // Xkaw.com // Modes in make-up
