The oldest evidence found by archaeologists date back to Ancient Egypt, around 3000 BC. “Considered an art by the Egyptian civilization, makeup originated with kohl”, says physical chemist Inês Joeques, from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). Kohl is a black pigment still used today as eyeshadow – that is, to underline the eye contour and darken eyelashes and eyebrows. This and other makeup ancestors would also be developed millennia later in Europe, both in ancient Greece and Rome, where they beautified not only women, but also men. After the fall of the Roman Empire (in the 5th century AD), however, the use of these products was practically abandoned in most of the European continent and, throughout the Middle Ages, religious thought prevailed over vanity. Makeup would only make a strong resurgence from the 15th century onwards, when Italy and France became the main manufacturers of beauty products.
At that time, the use of makeup was the privilege of kings, courtiers and aristocrats, who mainly appreciated the rice powder and colored ointments that served to paint the lips. It was only in the 18th century that such artifacts began to become popular, even though they were not well accepted in all countries. In England, for example, more conservative women avoided using them because they considered them vulgar and associated them with less respectable customs. This English prejudice – also shared by Americans – would only end in the beginning of the 1920s, which gave the necessary impetus for make-up to become a worldwide craze.
Shadow
The oldest makeup was used by the Egyptians millennia before Christ, known as kohl. Fragments of this dark powder – a mixture of the mineral malachite with charcoal and ash –, which served to enhance the eyes, were found in vases in the tombs of Menes, pharaoh of the first Egyptian dynasty, around 3000 BC
Rouge
It may have been in Ancient Greece that the first ancestor of rouge appeared. According to reports by the playwright Aristophanes, in Athens in the fifth century BC, women already used raw materials such as fat and red paint to produce this type of blushing effect on their faces. The tincture was obtained from vegetable roots.
Lipstick
Also in ancient Rome, women mixed ingredients such as barley porridge, ground deer antler, honey and saltpeter to produce fat-based pastes that were applied to the lips, like primitive lipstick. But at that time, this served more to protect the lips from dryness than to beautify them.
Red
In antiquity, makeup with this tone contained iron oxide, taken from ground rocks.
Black
The color came from compounds containing basic elements such as charcoal, ash, and soot.
Green
It was obtained from a copper ore called malachite, which has a greenish color.
yellow and ocher
The main raw material used to produce these tones was clay.
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