| History of makeup |
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History of Makeup
The Ancient Egyptians loved elaborate eye makeup and favoured sapphire blue and olive green eye colour, with lashings of black eyeliner or kohl, whilst accentuating the shape of the eye to resemble the almond shape of a cat’s eye.
The green colour used as eye shadow was made from malachite a copper ore which was ground on a palette and then mixed with water to form a paste. Red ochre was used to stain the lips and provide a blush to the cheeks. It came from a natural clay called hydrated iron oxide. The higher their social status the more makeup they wore, even the statues of their Gods and Goddesses were brightly painted to demonstrate the different types of makeup worn at the time. Makeup was worn not just as an adornment but also; to protect the eyes from the strong sun, to make use of the disinfectant qualities of the galena and to please the god Horus by wearing the green eye colour.
The wealthy Roman women were just like the celebrities and WAGS of today, they led the way for others to follow and showed their status by wearing the latest hairstyles and the most fashionable makeup. Hair was often piled high in curls on top of the head and they had slaves to perform this task for them rather than the celebrity hairdresser of today. They wore foundation that was made from a white lead paste that posed a danger to health, or a more natural mixture of orris root from the Iris plant and chalk, or a mixture of fat and starch with tin oxide. Blusher was worn over foundation and the same colour was also used to stain their lips. Red ochre was most commonly used and this was derived, from natural red coloured clay called hydrated iron oxide. Their eye shadows were similar to those used by the Ancient Greeks, malachite and saffron for their vibrant colour and kohl to blacken the eyelashes and brows.
Lipstick This is the most used makeup item today. Women and girls of all ages wear lipstick, lip gloss or balms to moisturise and plump the limps, the latest ingredient in modern lipsticks actually irritates the lips slightly which makes them swell and look fuller and more kissable!. The use of lipstick has been documented for thousands of years. The first lipstick consisted of semi precious stones ground finely and rubbed into the lips. Cleopatra wore a red lipstick made from carmine beetles and other Egyptian ladies used henna to provide colour with added fish scales to provide lustre. Henna and fish scales are still incorporated into cosmetic products to this day. In England and in more recent history Queen Elizabeth 1 was renowned for her white face and bright red lips but Queen Victoria spoke out against lipstick and discouraged its use.
Bright red lipstick worn during world war two was considered to be a patriotic gesture and the redder the better! Today lipsticks are made in many different colours and different textures. They contain many beneficial ingredients such as; cocoa butter, olive oil, mineral oil and castor oil as well as beeswax to give it shape, sunscreens to protect against UV radiation, collagen and special moisturisers such as Vitamin E and aloe vera.
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Makeup has been worn for centuries by men as well as women and many of the fashions today have their roots in Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece with evidence that it has been used as early as 4000 BC. 
The ‘Flapper’ era as it was known flaunted the use of lipstick and the new fashion of a twist up lipstick was born with women openly using it in public.