With all the billions of dollars spent annually across the worldin the world on make-up, often we might catch ourselves questioning, “How did it get to this point? When did this become the rule for me to wake up every morning and before I even leave am required to paint my face from completely? Assuredly a female way back in old times did not all of a sudden wake up one morning and make the decision to apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and blush all at the same time. As you might have guessed, it was a combination of thousands of years and a lot of learning experiences.

The Egyptians were the first to use cosmetics. That was four millenia ago. Cleanliness and appearance were terribly critical to the people of Egypt. Egyptians had faith that the appearance had a direct link with the constitution of the spirit. They tried to always look and smell pleasant. And with a culture who values their appearance, they are inevitably going to have members who are going to make themselves stand out. But the Egyptians, being the cutting edge culture they were, had cosmetics for reasons that were even more intelligent than just trying to look good.

A combination of lead ore and copper called Mesdemet was the origin of eye shadow. The dark hues they thought would ward off evil eyes from their own. It was also an effective sterilizer and insect repellent. Kohl was a dark combination that was applied around the eyes in an oval shape. It was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. To further enhance their appearance, Egyptians would apply a mixture of water and red clay to the cheek area. They would also paint their nails shades of orange and yellow with a chemical named henna.

As time past and societies were exposed to each other more often, the Grecian people began to pick up on the many habits of the Egyptians use of cosmetics. They would give themselves a pale color with a foundation that contained lead in it. This proved terminal on more than one occasion. As the Romans began to adapt the make-up practice, the pursuit of beauty became much less about practicality and turned into much more exotic routes. The Romans would adorn their nails with a mixture of sheeps blood and heated body fat. An old Roman citizen once stated, A woman without paint is like food without salt.

A pale skin tone was the style around the world after the Egyptian empire faded. A dark, sun-dried face was associated with being a pleb who labored in the field all day alongside her man. The upper society women obviously did not have to endure hard labor like that so they stayed inside and had white skin.

Success was often measured by a person's pale skin tone. If you had enough wealth, then you did not have to do anything. So a white skin color was extremely critical to some people. To get this look, ladies (and men too) would use a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powder form to apply to their faces and bodies. Unfortunately, this caused a sometimes deadly side effect, lead poisoning.To remedy this problem, chemists in the early nineteen hundreds at last invented a combination of zinc oxide that made the skin able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning sickness. It worked so well that it is still used today by cosmetics producers.

In the Edwardian era of London, about the time of the turn of the century of 1900, society women with a recreational income would have lavishextravagant parties and do a bunch of entertaining to display their wealth. As hostesses of the party, it was necessary for them to be the most beautiful woman at the function, so it was terribly important for them to look the youngest they possibly could. Women at that time who underwent these extravagant lifestyles did not eat nutritiously, would not exercise, and breathed in the heavily polluted air that the cities of the past produced. They would rely on products like anti-aging creams and face creams to mask their blemishes. They would also go to the salon. It was a little different in the past than it is today. Ladies would sneak into the back of the salons and cover their faces as they went in. One of the most famous of these discreet beauty parlors was the House of Cyclax, that would sell creams and blushes to women. Mrs. Henning, who was the owner, sold and came out with multiple products for her frenzied consumers who did not want everybody to know that they were getting on in the years.

The modern day woman is the benefactor of all these years of trial and error with a virtually unlimited choice of products for any look they want to achieve. There are literally thousands of manufacturers who create products in this now billion dollar annually industry. Skin Care products sell all year and even in times of recession. So ladies, thank your ancestors and their concern for their personal looks for your own that you have today. They probably didn't want to put on their face some mornings either.