How did we as a people get to the point where we spend billions every year on cosmetics and it became the social norm for women to wear make-up everyday Surely a woman way back in old times did not all of a sudden wake up one morning and decide to apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, base, and blush all at once. No, it was, like many things, a combination of happenings from the past.

Do you remember the Egyptians? That was four millenia ago. Cleanliness and looks were extremely critical to the Egyptians. Egyptians believed the appearance was in direct connection with the constitution of the soul. They tried to constantly look and smell pleasant. And with a society who values their appearance, societies are inevitably going to have members who are going to try and stand out. The Egyptians, being the innovative society they were, had cosmetics for reasons that were even smarter than just trying to look great.

Mesdemet was the earliest kind of eye shadow- a mixture of copper with lead ore. The dark hues they believed would avert evil eyes from their own. It was also an efficient disinfectant and insect repellent. Kohl was a dark mixture that was also applied around the eyes in an oval shape. The substance was a mixture of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. A mixture of red clay and water was added to the cheeks to further enhance their appearance. They would also paint their fingernails shades of orange and yellow with a chemical known as henna.

As time past and societies mixed with each other more and more, the Grecian people began to pick up on the various practices of the Egyptians use of cosmetics. Greek women would color themselves a pale hue with a base that had lead in it. More than once this ended up being deadly. As the Romans began to adapt the make-up practice, the effort to achieve beauty became much less about functionability and turned into much more peculiar routes. They would paint their nails with a mixture of sheeps blood and heated body fat. An ancient Roman citizen once said, A woman without paint is like food without salt.

For centuries after the Egyptian empire disappeared, the fashion standard across the world was a white skin color. Only women who were impoverished and had to work out in the field all day with their husbands had rough, tanned skin. The upper class ladies of course did not have to endure hard labor like that so they remained inside and had white skin.

Prosperity was often measured by a person's white skin tone. A person did not have to work if they had enough wealth. So a white skin tone was very critical to some people. To get this appearance, women (and men too) would apply a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powdered form to put on their faces and bodies. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes deadly side effect, lead poisoning.To remedy this problem, chemists in the nineteenth century at last created a combination of zinc oxide that did not block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning death. It was so effective that it is still used today by cosmetics producers.

Lavish and glamorous parties were held by city ladies with disposable money in the Edwardian era of London. It was extremely important for a woman to be the most gogeous lady there, especially if they were the hostess of the party. Women at that time who underwent these exorbitant lifestyles did not eat well, would not exercise, and inhaled the heavily polluted air that the cities of the time produced. They would need products like anti-aging creams and face creams to mask their blemishes. They would also travel to the salon. It was a little different back then than it is today. Women would sneak into the back entrance of the salons and hide their faces as they entered. One of the most famous of these discreet beauty salons was the House of Cyclax, who would sell creams and rouges to ladies. Mrs. Henning, who was the owner, sold and invented 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 years of experience with a practically infinite choice of beauty products for any look they want to achieve. There are literally thousands of cosmetics producers who create products in this now billion dollar yearly industry. Skin Care products sell all year and even in times of financial hardship. Therefore ladies, give thanks to your ancestors and their concern for their personal looks for yours that you have today. There were probably mornings when they woke up and didn