The Prehistory of Beauty (Episode 1 of Series The History of Beauty)
In today’s video we will be looking back in time at the fascinating history and origin
of Cosmetics.
This series is about the history of beauty standards (not just makeup) and while I don’t
personally use cosmetic products, our resident historian Leilah Eshtehardi has helped us
with the video.
As of 2020 the international beauty industry is worth an estimated 532 billion dollars
with that figure expected to rise to a staggering 800 billion by 2025 (Danziger, 2019) but the
road to how we got here started as far back as human history goes.
If we rewind back in time 100, 000 years ago, Homo Heidelbergensis, an early human relative
or Hominin, who existed in Sub-saharan Africa was the first human species known to have
used cosmetics.
In Africa 2009, Archaeologists discovered coastal caves containing hundreds of ancient
artifacts created by Homo Heidelbergensis, which actually turned out to be the first
known evidence of a primitive makeup factory.
C rude tools akin to makeup brushes as well as palettes containing eyeshadows, lipsticks
and eyeliner were uncovered.
Stones or bones were used to grind and extract pigments from various materials such as clay
ochre, rock minerals, plants, burnt charcoal and shells.
These various substances were then combined with animal fat or water to create cosmetics.
In over 17 different sites in Africa, red pigment was the most popular colour choice
for cosmetics and accounted for up to 80% of the 383 pigment samples found.
Historians believe that the colour Red symbolized or simulated the female ovulation cycle of
a fertile woman.
Women would apply red makeup made from 2 inch bones spatulas to their faces and bodies.
This practice has been dubbed by Historians as ‘Sham menstruation’.
Women would use makeup to signal to available men that they wished for a sexual copulation,
a partner and/or resources.
Women seem to have been predominantly in charge of both pigment acquisition and production.
This is in stark contrast to today, where women account for and control only up to 20%
of the beauty industry compared to their male counterparts.
This is despite the fact that women massively outspend men in the purchase of beauty products.
Aside from lipstick, Eye makeup also served a vital purpose for primitive humans.
Cave paintings across Europe and Africa depict women sporting black kohl on their eyes.
Kohl or Khul comes from grinding stibnite and is a greyish metallic powder that shares
a lot of similarities to how charcoal was used as mascara.
Kohl eyeliner was used to ward off evil spirits, who were believed to use human eyes as a portal
into possessing a body.
This belief is still apparent in many cultures today, for example, the Middle East, where
the Hamsa or Hand of Fatima talisman is still used as a protection amulet to ward off ‘The
Evil Eye’ (DeMello, 2012, p. 86-91).
The second reason for decorating the eyes with Kohl was for health and medicinal purposes.
Conditions such as conjunctivitis, ulcers, cataracts, blindness or vision impairment
were supposedly treated or relieved with black ochre around the eyes.
The third known reason was to convey status, power, youth and beauty to others, much like
it still exists today.
Eyeliner and eyeshadow, whether in the form of Black Kohl or other emphasises the eye’s
canthal tilt by allowing you to create your own eye shape as you see fit, most often a
cat's eye shape in the form of a winged tip.
This creates a more downturned and intimidating yet masculine appearance.
Likewise, by increasing the contrast from the rest of your skin, you appear more virile
and youthful as younger people in general have more vibrancy in their skin, i.e. blacker
blacks and deeper reds, however this more relevant to the eyebrows.
While Homo Heidelbergensis was creating and using cosmetics in Africa, another species
of early human, Neanderthals were also using cosmetic pigments across the European continent
as far back as 250, 000-300, 000 years ago.
Evidence of cosmetics manufacturing has been obtained from excavation sites in Spain, Czech
Republic, France, The Netherlands and more.
(Roebroeks et al, 2007).
Minerals such as Manganese, iron oxides and Hematite otherwise known as Fool’s Gold
were found in large quantities and seem to suggest their main purpose was Body Painting,
one of the most primitive forms of cosmetic art.
Historian Gillian Morriss-Kay wrote that ‘Body decoration is likely to have been an important
precursor to the creation of art separate from the body.
The use of colour to decorate skin, bones and beads suggests enjoyment of form and colour....Hunters
to this day use face paint as camouflage when stalking their prey; face painting could also
be group-specific, enabling group recognition at a distance’.
(Morriss-Kay, 2009).
So aside from medicinal, sexual, or magical motivations, early humans also loved using
makeup to express themselves artistically or to convey group belonging or tribal identity.
But what about Modern Humans or Homo Sapiens?
When did they first start using makeup?
The first known evidence of makeup usage can be traced back to 3500BC, in the Levant region
of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent.
In ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerian Queen Schub-ad of Ur was the first known example of an individual
using lipstick.
Her lipstick was made up of a quite deadly concoction of white lead and crushed red minerals.
Ancient Sumerians revered cosmetics so much they were even interred or buried with their
makeup in their tombs, which were stored inside cockleshell containers (Schaffer, 2006).
Likewise, neighbouring cultures like Assyria and Egypt soon followed suit, creating their
own cosmetics and even elaborate perfumed makeup kits and boxes made from brass and
copper.
They experimented with resins and gum from trees and plants to produce the first “long-wear
lipsticks”.
The Egyptians used a red dye pigment called Carmine, which was made from ‘crushing insects
and, even to this day Carmine is still one of the main ingredients of contemporary lipsticks
(Vilibert, n.d.), often in the form of cochineal extract or natural red 4.
The aesthetic reasons for why we use lipsticks should be pretty clear.
Numerous studies have shown that redder lip vermillion, the red fleshy part of the lips,
is desired on both men and women, with men having a slightly darker tone.
Lipstick simply mimics the aesthetic standard we’ve desired since early humans.
Much like most makeup, it also helps to add contrast to the lips to make them look bigger
by going right up to the vermillion border which is naturally paler in colour to demarcate
the full size of the vermillion.
We made a full video covering lip aesthetics here, so check that out for the research.
In Egypt, High-powered and fashionable women would not dare go to their own graves without
at least 2 pots of lip paint and wooden brush applicators inside their tombs!
Orange, blue-black, red and magenta were the popular lip colours of the day back then (Schaffer,
2006).
Black Kohl was also famously worn by Egyptian women, especially in the heyday of queens
such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra who were especially fond of Winged Eyeliner.
Kohl eyeliner was derived from a powdery substance called Galena, a derivative of the toxic mineral
lead ore.
In fact, today small quantities of lead are present in 99% of lipsticks manufactured today,
according to research from the FDA in 2020.
(FDA/US Food & Drug Administration, 2020).
Galena or Lead Sulfide usage was the first known example of ‘Lip gloss’ as it produced
a luminous' shine’ on the lips (Lunn, 2018).
Both men and women wore eyeliner equally in Egyptian society and eyeshadows were often
made from beautiful powdered gemstones such as green malachite, blue Lapis Lazuli or golden-flecked
Pyrite.
The ‘look’ was not complete without an intense daub of red Lipstick (Breau, 2012)
and sometimes even Body Glitter made from powdered golden Hematite (Stewart, 2017).
The Egyptians believed that lead and copper in cosmetics had magical attributes, were
medicinal and highly effective if taken in small doses.
According to a 2010 research report from The American Chemical Society.
(Bhanoo, 2010) these health benefits have actually been supported by modern scientific
evidence.
Archaeologists believe that Egyptians were innovative in using ingredients like Kohl,
Galena and organic such as Fennel and Saffron as Sunblock to help protect the skin from
harsh UV radiation and prevent premature ageing (Lunn, 2018).
We actually explored the ageing effects of sun damage in our video here:
Meanwhile at the same time in the Indus Valley, Ancient Indians in Asia also adopted the concept
of ‘Cosmeceuticals’.
The Harappan culture believed in the medicinal merits of cosmetics and even had many different
words for “anti-ageing” in their language.
Herbal extracts such as Centella Asiatica, Amla powder and over 700 other botanical ingredients
were frequently used.
Indian Ayurvedic medicine and cosmetics are still widely used today (Datta & Paramesh,
2010, 110-113) for their health, medicinal and beauty benefits.
In the ancient Mediterranean, or Aegean Bronze age, cultures such as the early Greeks, Romans,
Minoans and Mycenaeans, also used cosmetics.
For example, priests and priestesses ritually painted their ears red or black and used red
rouge dots on their cheeks for religious ceremonies (Earle, 2010).
Ancient Greco-roman cultures also loved using fake mono-brows made of Goat hair and resin
or painted eyebrows on themselves with black soot.
Much like the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, monobrows were a popular fashion statement
in Ancient Greece likely because dark eyebrows are another sign of virility and so having
more eyebrows was considered better.
In fact, one source cites them as the most attractive feature on a women back then and
separated eyebrows as unsightly.
Cosmetic makeup is simply a tool to achieve whatever the current beauty standard is, as
now, aestheticians work to remove medial brow hair with laser removals, the complete opposite
of Ancient Greece.
Lastly, skin whitening was also popular and they used white lead or a chalk called ‘Creta’
to whiten their faces and highlighted their veins with blue paint (Walton, 1946, 68-73)
The Romans knew how dangerous white lead was but fairer skin was more important.
Much like the Egyptians, Ancient Aegean peoples adopted the usage of cosmetics in their funerary
or burial practices.
Saffron, olive oil, shellfish, bee products, plants and resins were often entombed with
them for use in the Afterlife (Stewart, 2017).
Likewise in Ancient Japan and China, women also favoured Skin Whitening with white lead
or rice powder to appear fairer, used red rouge on their cheeks and painted their eyebrows
and also their teeth black (JCIA.org/Japanese Cosmetic Industry Association, n.d.).
In another part of the world, in the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, in modern
day Mexico, miniature ceramic vessels were found buried alongside adolescents.
These vessels contained perfumed resins and pigments made from cinnabar, hematite, charcoal
and glittering Mica and Galena.
These cosmetics were painted on bodies to imitate Jaguar spots on individuals during
burial ceremonies (Vázquez de Ágredos-Pascual, 2017; (Domenach-Carbo & Vazquez de Agredos-Pascual
et al, 2012, 1043-1062).
In the British Isles, tribes such as the Celts and Iceni used berries and other plants to
stain their cheeks red, paint their eyebrows black and used an plant called Woad to stain
or tattoo their skin Indigo blue (Woodfield, 2011, 14;).
They would do so with woad to get the colour to make their appearance in battle even more
terrifying.
These tribal people became known as the Pretani across Europe from which the name Britain
eventually was derived.
(Diadick Casselman & Kadolph, 2010, 20) Scandinavians cultures like the Vikings were also partial
to using black kohl on their eyes and both sexes use kohl and the poisonous plant Belladonna
to dilate their pupils and draw attention to their eyes (West, 2019).
Cosmetic production and usage has a long, rich and colorful history.
It has been used by cultures around the globe for thousands of years to emote beauty, ritualistic
and religious symbolism, It is a tool of self expression but is also effective in fulfilling
both universal and cultural beauty standards to simply look healthier or emphasise positive
features.
Without first understanding the way beauty standards have evolved it's difficult to appreciate
how cosmetics actually benefit the aesthetic appeal.
In the past, makeup ingredients have been derived from numerous organic and inorganic
sources, some medicinal, some even lethal, red lips, black eyeliner, red cheeks and fairer
skin seem to have been common denominators in almost all cultures and time periods of
history.
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Next week we’ll be looking at Ancient Egyptian beauty in greater detail.
The QOVES instagram page also has lots of additional aesthetics content shown through
facial morphs and diagrams, so follow us there to spice up your feed and lastly, if you want
to learn more about your own facial aesthetic, you can order a report at the qoves website.