Who invented cosmetics?

There are different kinds of “cosmetics” all over the world, based upon different ideas of beauty. For instance, a savage African woman who cuts her skin and rubs black paint into the cuts is making herself beautiful according to the standards of her people. And when an Eskimo lady rubs grease and fat into her skin, she is using “cosmetics” by Eskimo standards!

The first ancient people, whose standards of beauty were similar to those we have today, were the Egyptians. They admired healthy, shining hair. They thought a lady’s lips should be well shaped, and that her brows and lashes should be well-defined.

They insisted on good complexion and a slim figure. The Egyptian lady had eyebrow paint of black and green. She used rouge many times a day. She painted her cheeks, her lips, and her eyelids. She even tipped her lashes with a black pomade to make them look longer. She was a great user of perfumes as well.

The next people to make use of cosmetics were the ancient Greeks. They not only used many kinds of perfume and painted their lips, but they used special ointments to make their hair blonde.

In fact, when the Romans conquered the Greeks they appreciated the Greek “beauty doctors”. Thus they came to know about dyeing the hair, special face washes and skin foods for complexions, dyes for the fingernails etc. The fashion of weaving the hair also became very popular among the Romans.

The ancient Roman ladies made masks out of beauty clays to get smooth, clear skin, just what today’s women do when they go to expensive beauty salons.