History of Cosmetics In their earliest ohases. cosmetics were associated with relieious oractiees. Prior to tho fifth eenturv k
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their exile in Egypt and, as the Old Testament tells us, they impmved on this knowledge and carried it to great heights in the centuries that followed. The ancient Egyptians made bathing a custom, and practiced the arts of makeup and hairdressing, hair dyeing and waving, and embal&g. Henna was usedto dye hair, fingernails, palms of hands, and soles of feet red. Eye makeup was common; the underside of the eye was painted green with malachite, CUCO&U(OH)~; lids, lashes and eyebrows were made black with kohl. Kohl usuallv wasaoolied in stick hrm: its black oiement - consisted of ealena. PhS. or stibnite..Sh&. - . "Jezebel ..painted her eyes with astibicstune" (Holy Bible, Il KingsY:30) Assyrian and Indian versions uf the kohl stick consisted of charcoal made from charred rose petals. At least two centruies hefore Christ, the Greeks used unscented oils for treating the skin after bathing and for massage. They alsoused powders madeofdried and ground flowen toabsarb perspiration. Both men and women used makeup freely. The Greeks appear to be the first t o attempt to study dermatology and to consider care of the skin a serious matter. The Romans learned about the esthetics of personal health care from the Greeks, but they added perfumes to their baths and to the oils applied to theskin. Nerois said tohavesprayed his dining p e s t s with a mist ofperfume from the ceiling of the dining hall. Nem's wife used white lead, PbCOrl'b(OH)2. and chalk, CaCOs, to whiten her skin, kohl for her eyelids and lashes, red paint for her cheeks and lips, flour and butter to cure pimples, and pumice stone for whitening her teeth. In 18th century England. peasants used beet juice as lipstick and cheek rouge, and flour as facc and body powder. Certain members of Parliament were so outraged that a bill was introduced in 1770 stipulating that any woman who seduced an Englishman into marriage by use of "scents, paints, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, inm stays, hoops, bolstered hips or high heeled shoes" wassubject to the penalty prescribed for witches. The same law was Inter passed in Pennsylvania. Howeve, i n c e colonial days, both England and Americaseem to have joined, ifnot surpassed, the rest of the world-with the poss ' e exception of France-in the use of cosmetics.
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References ( I ) "OfTimeand the Wrinkle"in"LiRSty1eChemical Slyle I"Mam~facturingChemis~Associatiun,Washin~fnn.D.C., 1977. (2) Balsam. M.S..snd Saparin,R.,lRditorrl."Cmmetirs:Sciene~andTechno~uyy." Wiley-lnLemcienre. N e w York, 1972,Vol. 1lI.Chnptor
46 1 Journal of Chemical Education
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