The use of beauty products and paying for someone to make you beautiful is not a new thing.
Trying to make ourselves more attractive and altering our appearance through the use of cosmetics and other procedures has been practised for thousands of years. Oils and fragrances have also been used for ceremonies and religious rites for just as long
The very early years.
It is believed that early female homo sapiens painted their bodies head to toe with red ocher to advertise fertility.
In Ancient Egypt, they applied minerals to their faces to provide colour and definition of features. Indeed, archaeologists have found evidence of cosmetics or makeup being used in Egypt dating back as far as the fourth millennium BC – including artefacts of eye makeup and objects used for the application of scented ointments.
The Romans used oil-based perfumes in baths and fountains, and even applied them to their weapons. The Roman ‘Lucian’ is noted to have talked about women and cosmetics referring to them polishing their teeth and eyebrows.
Roman women also stayed youthful with a mask of Libyan barley, pulverized stag horn, narcissus bulbs, and honey. To eliminate freckles and lighten skin, Roman women applied wild melon roots. They also used razors, pumice stone, tweezers and depilatory creams to remove unwanted body hair. Romans are also reportedly soaked in baths of crocodile faeces and mud for soft skin!
The Greek physician Galen, who is credited with creating the first cold cream, notes that “ladies dedicated to luxury” prefer a crocodile dung mask.
Women of the Han Dynasty in China ingested a powder made of tangerine peel, melon seeds, and peach blossoms three times daily for 30 days to whiten their complexions.
Nail polish can be traced back to at least 3000 BC. The Chinese found ways to use gum Arabic, egg whites, gelatine, and bees wax to create varnishes and lacquers for the nails. The Egyptians used henna to stain their fingernails.
Contrary to belief, people in the middle ages were not dirty or smelly. In the Middle Ages people used combs and tweezers. They also used toothpicks and mouthwashes.
Women curled their hair with hot tongs. They also dyed their hair. They used vegetable dyes to redden their faces and colour their nails. It was fashionable for women to pluck their eyebrows. They also tightened their skin with a cream made of chickpeas, barley, almonds, horseradish seeds, and milk.
In the 1600’s Herb-filled pomander balls were held in the mouth to plump the cheeks and disguise volume loss from age
Right up until very recently white skin was considered to be beautiful and for many centuries a whitening agent for the face was used, composed of carbonate, hydroxide, and lead oxide.
By the nineteenth century zinc oxide became widely used in cosmetics along with other poisonous substances were used such as: lead and antimony sulphide, mercuric sulphide and belladonna. These chemicals, would have been stored in the body were considered responsible for numerous physical problems and even death.
During the early 1900’s the commercial cosmetics industry saw massive growth in sales because of the widespread ability to advertise to greater numbers.
Women were constantly informed that exercise, diet, and the use of commercially manufactured cosmetics and hair products could make them more attractive.
Perhaps one of the most influential events on the beauty industry was the advent of the cinema, and colour films. Max Factor, a Hollywood makeup artist, developed a reputation for being able to customize makeup to present actors and actresses in the best possible light on screen. He contributed to the cosmetic industry with a wide variety of products, including pancake make-up.
Hollywood also affected the perception of tanned skin, reversing the emphasis on whiteness that had, up until them been encouraged. The 1950s saw the increased marketing of skin tanning aids which seems to have followed on from women using leg make up during World War II when there was a shortage of stocking.
During more recent times criticism of cosmetics has come from a variety of sources including feminists, animal rights activists and other public interest groups.
There is certainly a growing awareness of the possible side effects of many of the chemicals that are still present on many modern day cosmetics. There is a growing preference for cosmetics that are without any toxic ingredients.
Cosmetic surgery has also been around in some form or another for many years but didn’t become common until the 20th century. Whilst it is used for necessary reconstruction, it is mostly used for aesthetic improvement of the body and our desire for physical perfection, rather than with necessary reconstruction.
The first face-lift was performed in 1901. The first silicon breast implants were fitted in 1962 and liposuction was first carried out in 1974.
It is estimated that Over 10.2 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States alone in 2008
Today the worldwide cosmetics and beauty aid industry is worth billions of pounds worldwide and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, with the growing number of people choosing invasive cosmetic procedures to keep those years at bay, and the target market for all beauty products and procedures getting younger, it seems the industry will just keep on growing.