In 254-184 BC, Platus, a Roman philosopher, wrote, "A woman without paint is like food without salt.". It can used as a tool of disguise or of self expression, makeup is an essential part of the daily lives of many. From the powder white faces of the Elizabethan era to the glowing cheekbones of today,trends in makeup have always been evolving and shifting.
The earliest evidence of makeup can be found
in the Egyptian dynasty of 4000 BC. It was common for both men and women to
wear heavy kohl eye liner and blue or green pastes of copper materials as eye
shadow. The trend of heavy makeup carried through Greece and China in 3000 BC
where women would paint their faces and nails, through the Roman Empire of
1AD to the Elizabethan period 1560 AD. Elizabeth I was infamous for her ghostly
white face which was also a popular choice of the Revolutionary French.
However, as makeup gained popularity, it also gained opposition. In 1770, the
British Parliament passed a law condemning lipstick, stating that women
found guilty of seducing men into matrimony by a cosmetic means could be tried
for witchcraft. Make up had become the fashion of revolutionaries and witches and
people began to question what the 'painted' had to hide. By the 1800s, Queen Victoria publicly declared makeup
impolite. Victorian women revered
natural beauty and would care for their skin using homemade face masks. Meanwhile in Paris, perfumers were working on the first wax lipstick. First introduced in
1884, it was wrapped in silk paper and made with deer tallow, castor oil and
beeswax.
The 1900s saw the birth of safe
makeup ingredients and the rebirth of brightly coloured makeup. In 1910s women
had begun to make their own mascara using Vaseline, Selfridges' openly sold
cosmetics and the first cosmetic companies were born. The first modern mascara
was invented by T. L. Williams using a mix of petroleum jelly and carbon soot. It was named after his sister Maybel and later became the company
Maybelline. Meanwhile companies such as L'Oreal, Max Factor, Rimmel, Bourjois
and Elizabeth Arden brought about the age of commercial makeup. Vogue promoted
the use of henna around the eyes which became known as the 'vamp' look. The 1920s
saw the first powder puffs, lipsticks and liquid nail polish. Coco Chanel invented
the Flapper style, which embraced dark eyes, red lipstick, red nail polish and
the suntan. By 1930s, the it became women's 'patriotic loyalty' to 'put their
face on' which gave makeup real respectability for the first time. The newly
emancipated woman of America began to display her independence by free use
of red lipstick which was often scented cherry. The growth of cinema
dictated makeup trends through the 1950s with Audrey Hepburn's deeply
outlined cat eyes being very popular style. The 60s saw a more 'liberated' make up look while heavily
lined eyes with bright eyes returned in the 1970s.
Though trends in makeup evolved
and shifted over the last 5000 years, how much as actually changed? The
colourful eye shadows and heavily lined eyes once adorned by the Egyptians, are
a huge trend currently with hundreds of choices on the market to pick and
choose from. Egyptian women would also carry makeup boxes to parties which they
would keep under their chairs to keep their makeup looking fresh, something
which all makeup lovers are guilty of. Worries about what 'the painted' were
hiding in the late 1700s and 1800s also rings true today, with teen boys
everywhere proclaiming 'TAKE HER SWIMMING ON THE FIRST DATE'. Though Victorian
women preferred a natural look, they would often make use of natural facial
washes using ingredients like rosewater and honey which is also popular today
with companies such as Lush. The vamp look of the 1910s has evolved into the
smoky eye while red lipstick has always been a staple of every makeup kit. In fact, in the 1940s beauty
guides encouraged women to use a pencil to draw an outline ‘outside’ their
natural lip line to enlarge their mouths. Furthermore, most lipsticks were
matte finish which all too familiar today.
So why do people wear makeup? This
has always ranged from ceremonial to spiritual meaning. Makeup has been used to mark
occupation or merely just as a form of expression. In the Elizabethan era women
would paint their face white to show their higher class as they did not want to
be seen to have a tan from working in the sun. Throughout the 1930s, women felt
there was power behind their makeup and many felt liberated by her beauty. The
Egyptians thought that it would protect them from evil something I believe many
feel today when armed with winged liner and a red lip.
Though of course, makeup (and the beauty industry at large) is not
perfect. It can perpetuate unrealistic standards of beauty and encourages both consumerism and elitism. The global beauty market is forecast
to reach $265 billion in 2017 and it seems like there is a new product to try
out very day. Despite this, makeup is also a fantastic tool of self expression.
It has been used to challenge gender roles throughout history and even more so
in the last 30 years. With 'guyliner' and drag make up artistry becoming
increasingly popular and celebrated, traditional beauty standards are being
blown out of proportion and are being reclaimed. Makeup can be armour or a way to show the whole who you feel you are on the inside and this has rung true throughout history,
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