Unusual history of Cosmetics
Throughout history many unusual substances and practices have been used. Let’s explore some of them.
For hundreds of years European women used a white powder called ‘ceruse’ to lighten their complexions. The main component of ceruse is white lead and is used to make facial skin appear artificially white. Paintings of aristocracy throughout the Renaissance show the women using this product. Occasional use caused lead poisoning, hair loss and mental deterioration. Long-term use was known to cause death.
Many modern cosmetics make use of ‘fish scales’, an unusual organic substance to add shimmer to lipsticks and eye shadow. This substance is often called Pearl Essence and is used not only in cosmetics, but in paint and glazes. It is harmless, but the idea of ground-up dead fish scales on your lips is somewhat gross!
Ancient Roman toothpaste was in great demand because it contained ammonia, which whitened the teeth. Most of the ammonia came from human urine. While it may be hard to believe, human urine was used for a large variety of things including toothpaste. In ancient Rome, such was the demand that it had to imported from Portugal.
The ancient Roman recipe for black hair dye involved mixing vinegar with ‘leeches’ and letting it ferment for two months before application. Whole leeches were fed and put into vinegar and allowed to ferment. The thickened into a paste. It was then applied to their hair and allowed to dry for a day. It must have worked well as the recipe was used for hundreds of years.
In Japan, it became fashionable during the Heian Era (794-1185 CE) for Geisha women to apply white paste made from either rice-flour powder or lead-based powder mixed with water as a foundation to start their make-up routine. After she had covered her face, neck and shoulders with the white foundation, she would paint on thick, straight eyebrows, having previously plucked away the natural hair, redden her lips and as a finishing touch blacken her teeth with a mixture of oxidized iron fillings soaked in an acidic solution. The last step has been abandoned.
In ancient times scented unguents were produced from floral essences mixed with animal fat. In the 10th century, an Arab, Ibn Sinha, developed a new process of extracting floral attar with steam. Mixed with water this scent became both a cosmetic and flavoring staple for centuries. It is Rosewater.
During 1400s, looking pale and outwardly was in. To achieve this, women shaved their foreheads, plucked out their eyelashes, eyebrows, whitened their faces and bosoms with ceruse. They even resorted to more drastic methods to achieving that ‘pale look’- They bled themselves.
The French chemist Eugene Schuller developed a product that would make it easier for men and women to make a fundamental change to their appearance. He called this synthetic hair dye ‘Aureale’. The giant cosmetic company L’Oreal gained its existence from this invention. Hair color depends on the amount of protein in the hair-eumelanin & phaeomelanin. The balance of the two determines the final color, with eumelanin producing brown & black shades and phaeomelanin producing blonde & red shades. If neither protein is present, the hair will be grey or white. Schueller’s use of Paraphenylenediamine (PPD) in his commercial hair color made it possible to produce the desired color reliably.
In 1916, Director D.W. Griffith wanted to enhance the appearance of his heroine in his film ‘Intolerance’. He is credited with inventing the ‘False Eyelashes’. He wanted his heroine- Seena Owen to have more dramatic eyelashes, swooping across her cheeks when she shut her eyes and looked down, so he had a wig maker weave strands of human hair through pieces of gauze. It was trimmed to shape, and the gauze glued to her eyelids. He did not formally register his invention, and the subsequent commercial success of related products gained him no financial reward.
In early 1920s Coco Chanel, got a tan while on a cruise aboard the Duke of Westminster’s yacht. When she got home, the color of her skin caused a fashion revolution. The Paris success of Josephine Baker also helped to promote the idea of Brown skin as attractive and fashionable. In the 1940s suntan lotions became popular, as a tool to increase actual tanning and the appearance of a tan.
For Private & Customized Holidays: www.365tours.in
Past Issues of the newsletter: https://365tours.blogspot.com/