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Today in 2016 makeup is worn by a vast amount of females and males. It's worn to impress audiences: that cute guy next door, movie audience, play audiences, etc. When you look at your favorite movie every cast member has some sort of makeup on ( Yes, even the guys.) Society has implemented this natural flawless looking skin on everyone. We see it every day: on billboards, movies, tv shows, heck even youtube.
How did makeup become so important in our 21 century? Or even before that, how did red lipstick become a huge fashion statement in the 1950s? Where did the idea of making your face seem 'perfect' come in? For that, we have to go al the way back to the BCS. About 2000 BC years ago. The Egyptian era.
Many look back at the Egyptians as the believers in gods and goddesses. However, they also gave many ideas to our everyday life, and one of those ideas is cosmetics. Both men and women wore these pieces of makeup every day for one certain reason. the ancient Egyptians weren't trying to impress a girl or that charming guy you saw at the market. They wore it to impress their gods and goddesses. (As seen above) Quite different right? Imagine wearing makeup to please your religion or beliefs?
Makeup Looks
A typical look consisted of eyes lined with black liner and eyelids with green eyeshadow. Yup, not everything was black and white! Every color or material actually meant something for each Egyptian. That's quite different from our modern makeup , where makeup is meaningful only if it's a certain brand. We don't look at every single object to have a meaning , but we see the whole makeup ending piece as one.
1. Eyeliner
The Egyptians used a very familiar material that we know very well. That is, Kohl. Kohl was derived from the ore Galena.(It's very much like pencil lead.) This was the crushed until it had powder texture which then was stored in Kohl pots and shipped.
Unlike our modern eyeliner, the Egyptians had a very complex time when it came to eyeliner. They had to obtain the powder and mix with water . Imagine applying this eyeliner without any brushes? A pain right?
This eyeliner was meant to make the eyes seem almond shaped. It was meant to please the gods and goddesses. Also, since the eyeliner surrounded the eye, it 'shields' away from the evil eye. The evil eye is a belief of one causing harm to another through a look. (The 'she gave me a look' stare.)
2. Green Eyeshadow
You might be asking yourself, why was green their top pick? It's such a bold choice.
This green eyeshadow was named Udju. It was derived from malachite which is another type of ore, with just a green color. It's mined out of Sinai, which is where the meaning comes in.
Any mine in Sinai was considered spiritual because it was under Hathor, Goddess of beauty. See? I'm sure it clicked. The green ore is impressing the goddess of beauty!
The Egyptians apply this quite similar to the Kohl eyeliner where they apply water to the crushed up ore.
Makeup has been with our society since the ancient times. Now you have an idea of why exactly we began to wear makeup. At first to please gods, but now it's for yourself ! Why do you wear makeup ?