Have you ever seen pictures of the
Ancient Egyptians, with their painted faces? They look very striking, don’t
they? Very classic. And that was the intent. It was extremely important to them
that they looked and smelled good, because the old expression “cleanliness is
next to Godliness” is that old – they believed it very strongly.
The Egyptians were very spiritual
people, and believed their appearance was directly related to their level of
spirituality. And so they needed to find ways to make themselves look at least
presentable, if not fabulous.
The Egyptians were also very
resourceful people. Some of the things they came up with were very innovative,
even by today’s standards. And cosmetics was one of those things. They had a
knack for developing natural formulas to solve their skin challenges. Would you
believe that around the fifteenth to the tenth centuries BC, they had cosmetic
products that would get rid of stretch marks, shrink wrinkles, get rid of
scars, and make hair grow?
That’s amazing, when you look at the
line of products that’ll do those same jobs today.
And today, we seem to need all kinds of research and development programs to
come up with the same thing. Perhaps there’s something to be said for natural cosmetics
after all.
Some of the other cosmetics the
Ancient Egyptians used were eye makeup,
facecreams and body oils, as well as a wide array of perfumes and fragrances.
The
Egyptians really knew how to mix ingredients
All these cosmetics that the
Egyptians used had to come from somewhere. Well, it’s the old story of
“necessity is the mother of invention”. Because there was so much emphasis on
looking good, Egyptian women had to find a way to do it. And one of the things
they came up with was something called mesdemet.
Mesdemet was made of copper and lead
ore – not the safest thing to be constantly putting on your face, but it did
the job. They applied green to their lower eyelids, then black or dark gray to
their eyelashes and upper eyelids. And keeping with their spiritual beliefs,
the dark colors were designed not only to enhance their appearance, but to ward
off evil eyes.
And an evil eye wasn’t the only thing mesdemet warded off. It was a great
disinfectant, as well as an insect repellant. And with life on the Nile being
fairly filled with annoying insects, the eye makeup performed a dual purpose.
So the combinations of ingredients that made up their cosmetics, were very
diverse. In fact, many were used for all kinds of medicinal purposes, too. eyelashes
Now how’s this for a combination:
burnt almonds, oxidized copper, a couple of different-colored copper ores,
lead, ash, and ochre. They called it kohl, and it came out as a dark-colored
powder, which was applied with a small stick, on and around the eyes, in an
almond shape. Then, to complement the fancy eye makeup, they applied a mixture
of red clay and water to their lips and cheeks. And the nails weren’t left out,
either. They used henna to dye them orange or yellow. Quite a colorful picture,
don’t you think? But that’s exactly what they wanted back then – something like
today, perhaps? i lash extender
And the Egyptians weren’t good at
just putting together natural products. Some research done by L’Oreal, along with scientists from
the Louvre in Paris, revealed that the black eye makeup used back then had
ingredients that had to have been chemically made, because a natural origin
couldn’t be found. The research also showed that mesdemet got its creamy
smoothness from its 7-10% fat content. That’s just the same as many of the eye
cosmetic products on the market today. Are we really advanced, or just living
in the past?
