HISTORY OF MAKE-UP

Mansse Bhandari

Since ancient times makeup has been used to enhance beauty. Take the ancient Egyptians
for example who wore makeup made of lead ore and copper. Women of the ancient world
were often innovative when it came to their cosmetic needs. Berries were used to darken
lips, the ashes of burnt matches were used to darken eyes, and much more.
Today, we have developed makeup for practically every application you can think of. From
making eyes pop with eyeshadow palettes to hiding undesirable pores, makeup has come a
long way (we even have vegan makeup). To truly appreciate where we are today as
opposed to where we used to be, let's take a look at the rich history of makeup.
Homemade makeup in the ancient world
Women of the ancient world, uneducated about safe beauty practices, often went to
extreme lengths for the sake of beauty. Using berries to darken the lips was a safe enough
practice. However, some homemade cosmetics involved the use of mercury, lead, arsenic,
and leeches to achieve the pale beauty deemed appropriate during those times. It's safe to
say we have long since recognized the need for safe products for our beauty needs and
general health.

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  History of Cosmetics – The history of cosmetics spans at least 7,000 years and is
present in almost every society on earth.
 History of Makeup – Over the centuries, women used burnt matches to darken their
eyes, berries to stain their lips and young boys' urine to fade their freckles.
 A Brief History of Makeup – Modern times see women (and men!) donning all types
of looks: thickly lined eyes and full red lips, subtle eyeshadow, blush and
highlighter, or simply no makeup at all.
 Why Did Women Start Wearing Makeup? – It all goes back to the ancient
Egyptians, who were the first women to wear makeup.
 The Evolution Of: Makeup – Here's the history of humans and face paint.
Makeup during the Victorian era
The Victorian era was truly a time where the ladies of Europe began to embrace makeup
and cosmetics. Ladies of leisure would often dust on rice powder to hid blotches, redness,
and freckles. Zinc oxide and pearl powder was used to create a cosmetic powder that was
highly popularized by sophisticated ladies of the time.
An early form of lip balm, a clear pomade much like beeswax, was applied to the lips every
morning to not only protect against the elements but to also add shine. Eyepaint or as we
know it, eyeshadow, was also a popular choice during the Victorian era though respectable
women were very subtle with the amount of eyeshadow they used at any given time.
 Eye shadow – Eye shadow is a cosmetic that is applied on the eyelids and under
the eyebrows. It is commonly used to make the wearer's eyes stand out or look more
attractive.
 Eye Shadow History - Invention of the Eye Shadow – Eye shadow is a cosmetic
product that is applied on the eyelids and under eyebrows. When they say that eye
makeup has been around for ages, it’s no exaggeration.
 The History Of Eyeshadow – From Ancient Egypt To Fashion Week – The birth
of eyeshadow can be traced 12000 years ago (10000 BCE) to ancient Egypt, the
same place where eyeliner can trace its roots.
 The Makeup of Makeup: Decoding Eye Shadow – Women all around the world call
attention to their eyes by adding color to their upper and lower eyelids.

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Raja Ram Mohan Verma’s Meghdoot

History of eyeshadow
One of the earliest examples of the use of eyeshadow in the ancient world can be found in
ancient Egypt. A substance known as kohl (made by grinding stibnite) was used to
accentuate the eyes of royalty. In Egyptian culture, kohl allowed the Egyptians to emulate
the appearance of their gods. Before long the trend spread to Rome and Greece where
women began to wear eyeshadow for the sake of beauty (as opposed to religious reasons).
Eventually, eyeshadow spread to India and Babylon where it was largely worn by high
class women due to its high price.
 The History Of Eyeshadow – Eyeshadow is probably the most fun and expressive
way to decorate your face.
 A Beginners Guide to Eye Makeup – We’ve all gone through that, not knowing
what brush to use, where to apply eyeshadow, let alone how to blend properly.

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  10 New Makeup Trends For 2019 That Are Easy To Embrace – Just like clothes
have come in and out of fashion over the last century, so have different eye
makeup trends.
 A Brief History of Eye Makeup – The eyes are not only the windows to the soul, but
powerful communication tools.
 The History of Glitter – Drag queens flaunt it. Fairies sprinkle it. Little girls adore
it. You couldn’t have survived the ‘90s club scene without it.
Eyeshadow in the modern era
In more modern times it's clear that eyeshadow has gone through a great many
transformations. Take the roaring 20s where the "smoky" eyeshadow look was higly
popular. In the 30s American women were inundated with a wide variety of colors in their
eyeshadows that included greens and soft pinks. Jumping to the 70s various colors of
eyeshadow were worn together for a "rainbow" appearance. Today, there are countless
eyeshadow colors and finishes.

 19 Eyeshadow Basics Everyone Should Know – Everything makes more sense if

you actually know what the tutorial is referring to by crease
 These 12 Eye Shadow Tricks Will Change Your Beauty Life – Let’s face it: even to
the most experienced makeup junkie, eye shadow can be intimidating.
 7 Tips to Apply Eyeshadow Like You Actually Know What You're Doing –
Sometimes you don’t have time to use a brush. There have been many nights when
I’m in a hurry and just end up using my fingers.
 11 Eye Makeup Hacks For Beginners That Are Easy To Master – Eye shadow is one
of my favorite kinds of makeup ever because it’s so versatile.
 Eyeshadow Techniques You Must Master to Accentuate Your Eyes – Applying
an eyeshadow is a great way of enhancing the beauty of your eyes and playing with
their shape.
The history of cosmetics spans at least 7,000 years and is present in almost every society on
earth. Cosmetic body art is argued to have been the earliest form of a ritual in human culture.
The evidence for this comes in the form of utilised red mineral pigments (red ochre) including
crayons associated with the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa.

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Archaeological evidence of cosmetics certainly dates from ancient Egypt and Greece. According
to one source,[5] early major developments include the use of castor oil in ancient Egypt as a
protective balm and skin creams made of beeswax, olive oil and rosewater described by
the Romans. The Ancient Greeks also used cosmetics. Cosmetics are mentioned in the Old
Testament—2 Kings 9:30 where Jezebel painted her eyelids—approximately 840 BC—and the
book of Esther describes various beauty treatments as well.
Cosmetics were also used in ancient Rome, although much of Roman literature suggests that it
was frowned upon. It is known that some women in ancient Rome invented make up including
lead-based formulas, to whiten the skin, and kohl was used to line the eyes.

The use of cosmetics in Ancient Egypt is well documented. Kohl has its roots in north Africa.
Remedies to treat wrinkles containing ingredients such as gum of frankincense and
fresh moringa. For scars and burns, a special ointment was made of red ochre, kohl,
and sycamore juice. An alternative treatment was a poultice of carob grounds and/
or frankincense which is still in use today. Jars of what could be compared with setting lotion
have been found to contain a mixture of beeswax and resin. These doubled as remedies for
problems such as baldness and greying hair. They also used these products on their mummies,
because they believed that it would make them irresistible in the after life.

During the early 1900s, makeup was not excessively popular. In fact, women hardly wore
makeup at all. Make-up at this time was still mostly the territory of prostitutes, those
in cabarets and on the black & white screen. Face enamelling (applying actual paint to the face)
became popular among the rich at this time in an attempt to look paler. This practice was
dangerous due to the main ingredient often being arsenic. Pale skin was associated with wealth
because it meant that one was not out working in the sun and could afford to stay inside all day.
Cosmetics were so unpopular that they could not be bought in department stores; they could only
be bought at theatrical costume stores. A woman's "makeup routine" often only consisted of
using papier poudré, a powdered paper/oil blotting sheet, to whiten the nose in the winter and
shine their cheeks in the summer. Rouge was considered provocative, so was only seen on
"women of the night." Some women used burnt matchsticks to darken eyelashes,
and geranium and poppy petals to stain the lips. Vaseline became high in demand because it was

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used on chapped lips, as a base for hair tonic, and soap. Toilet waters were introduced in the
early 1900s, but only lavender water or refined cologne was admissible for women to
wear.[21] Cosmetic deodorant was invented in 1888, by an unknown inventor from Philadelphia
and was trademarked under the name Mum (deodorant). Roll-on deodorant was launched in
1952, and aerosol deodorant in 1965.

Around 1910, make-up became fashionable in the United States of America and Europe owing to
the influence of ballet and theatre stars such as Mathilde Kschessinska and Sarah Bernhardt.
Colored makeup was introduced in Paris upon the arrival of the Russian Ballet in 1910, where
ochers and crimsons were the most typical shades. [22] The Daily Mirror beauty book showed that
cosmetics were now acceptable for the literate classes to wear. With that said, men often saw
rouge as a mark of sex and sin, and rouging was considered an admission of ugliness. In 1915, a
Kansas legislature proposed to make it a misdemeanor for women under the age of forty-four to
wear cosmetics "for the purpose of creating a false impression." The Daily Mirror was one of the
first to suggest using a pencil line (eyeliner) to elongate the eye and an eyelash curler to
accentuate the lashes. Eyebrow darkener was also presented in this beauty book, created
from gum Arabic, Indian ink, and rosewater.[24] George Burchett developed cosmetic tattooing
during this time period. He was able to tattoo on pink blushes, red lips, and dark eyebrows. He
also was able to tattoo men disfigured in the First World War by inserting skin tones in damaged
faces and by covering scars with colors more pleasing to the eye. [25] Max Factor opened up a
professional makeup studio for stage and screen actors in Los Angeles in 1909. [26] Even though
his store was intended for actors, ordinary women came in to purchase theatrical eye shadow and
eyebrow pencils for their home use.

In the 1920s, the film industry in Hollywood had the most influential impact on cosmetics. Stars
such as Theda Bara had a substantial effect on the makeup industry. Helena Rubinstein was
Bara's makeup artist; she created mascara for the actress, relying on her experiments with
kohl. Others who saw the opportunity for the mass-market of cosmetics during this time were
Max Factor, Sr., and Elizabeth Arden. Many of the present day makeup manufacturers were
established during the 1920s and 1930s. Lipsticks were one of the most popular cosmetics of this
time, more so than rouge and powder, because they were colorful and cheap. In 1915, Maurice

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Levy invented the metal container for lipstick, which gave license to its mass production. The
Flapper style also influenced the cosmetics of the 1920s, which embraced dark eyes, red lipstick,
red nail polish, and the suntan, invented as a fashion statement by Coco Chanel. The eyebrow
pencil became vastly popular in the 1920s, in part because it was technologically superior to
what it had been, due to a new ingredient: hydrogenated cottonseed oil (also the key constituent
of another wonder product of that era Crisco Oil). [29] The early commercial mascaras, like
Maybelline, were simply pressed cakes containing soap and pigments. A woman would dip a
tiny brush into hot water, rub the bristles on the cake, remove the excess by rolling the brush
onto some blotting paper or a sponge, and then apply the mascara as if her eyelashes were a
watercolor canvas. Eugene Schueller, founder of L'Oréal, invented modern synthetic hair dye in
1907 and he also invented sunscreen in 1936.[30] The first patent for a nail polish was granted in
1919. Its color was a very faint pink. It's not clear how dark this rose was, but any girl whose
nails were tipped in any pink darker than a baby's blush risked gossip about being "fast."
Previously, agricultural workers had only sported suntans, while fashionable women kept their
skins as pale as possible. In the wake of Chanel's adoption of the suntan, dozens of new fake
tan products were produced to help both men and women achieve the "sun-kissed" look. In Asia,
skin whitening continued to represent the ideal of beauty, as it does to this day.

In the time period after the First World War, there was a boom in cosmetic surgery. During the
1920s and 1930s, facial configuration and social identity dominated a plastic surgeon's
world. Face-lifts were performed as early as 1920, but it wasn't until the 1960s when cosmetic
surgery was used to reduce the signs of aging. During the twentieth century, cosmetic surgery
mainly revolved around women. Men only participated in the practice if they had been disfigured
by the war. Silicone implants were introduced in 1962. In the 1980s, the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons made efforts to increase public awareness about plastic surgery. As a result, in
1982, the United States Supreme Court granted physicians the legal right to advertise their
procedures. The optimistic and simplified nature of narrative advertisements often made the
surgeries seem hazard-free, even though they were anything but. The American Society for
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reported that more than two million Americans elected to undergo
cosmetic procedures, both surgical and non-surgical, in 1998, liposuction being the most

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popular. Breast augmentations ranked second, while numbers three, four, and five went to eye
surgery, face-lifts, and chemical peels.

During the 1920s, numerous African Americans participated in skin bleaching in an attempt to
lighten their complexion as well as hair straightening to appear whiter. Skin bleaches and hair
straighteners created fortunes worth millions and accounted for a massive thirty to fifty percent
of all advertisements in the black press of the decade. Oftentimes, these bleaches and
straighteners were created and marketed by African American women themselves. Skin bleaches
contained caustic chemicals such as hydroquinone, which suppressed the production
of melanin in the skin. These bleaches could cause severe dermatitis and even death in high
dosages. Many times these regimens were used daily, increasing an individual's risk. In the
1970s, at least 5 companies started producing make-up for African American women. Before the
1970s, makeup shades for Black women were limited. Face makeup and lipstick did not work for
dark skin types because they were created for pale skin tones. These cosmetics that were created
for pale skin tones only made dark skin appear grey. Eventually, makeup companies created
makeup that worked for richer skin tones, such as foundations and powders that provided a
natural match. Popular companies like Astarté, Afram, Libra, Flori Roberts and Fashion Fair
priced the cosmetics reasonably due to the fact that they wanted to reach out to the masses.

From 1939 to 1945, during the Second World War, cosmetics were in short supply.
Petroleum and alcohol, basic ingredients of many cosmetics, were diverted into war supply.
Ironically, at this time when they were restricted, lipstick, powder, and face cream were most
desirable and most experimentation was carried out for the post war period. Cosmetic developers
realized that the war would result in a phenomenal boom afterwards, so they began
preparing. Yardley, Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and the French manufacturing company
became associated with "quality" after the war because they were the oldest
established. Pond's had this same appeal in the lower price range. Gala cosmetics were one of the
first to give its products fantasy names, such as the lipsticks in "lantern red" and "sea coral."
During the 1960s and 1970s, many women in the western world influenced by feminism decided
to go without any cosmetics. In 1968 at the feminist Miss America protest, protestors
symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can." This included

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cosmetics, which were among items the protestors called "instruments of female torture"and
accouterments of what they perceived to be enforced femininity.

Cosmetics in the 1970s were divided into a "natural look" for day and a more sexualized image
for evening. Non-allergic makeup appeared when the bare face was in fashion as women became
more interested in the chemical value of their makeup. [39] Modern developments in technology,
such as the High-shear mixer facilitated the production of cosmetics which were more natural
looking and had greater staying power in wear than their predecessors. [40] The prime cosmetic of
the time was eye shadow, though; women also were interested in new lipstick colors such as
lilac, green, and silver. These lipsticks were often mixed with pale pinks and whites, so women
could create their own individual shades. "Blush-ons" came into the market in this decade,
with Revlon giving them wide publicity. This product was applied to the forehead, lower cheeks,
and chin. Contouring and highlighting the face with white eye shadow cream also became
popular. Avon introduced the lady saleswoman.[ In fact, the whole cosmetic industry in general
opened opportunities for women in business as entrepreneurs, inventors, manufacturers,
distributors, and promoters.

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21st century[
Beauty products are now widely available from dedicated internet-only retailers, who have more
recently been joined online by established outlets, including the major department stores and
traditional bricks and mortar beauty retailers.

Like most industries, cosmetic companies resist regulation by government agencies. In the U.S.,
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve or review cosmetics, although it does
regulate the colors that can be used in the hair dyes. The cosmetic companies are not required to
report injuries resulting from use of their products.

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Although modern makeup has been used mainly by women traditionally, gradually an increasing
number of males are using cosmetics usually associated to women to enhance their own facial
features. Concealer is commonly used by cosmetic-conscious men. Cosmetics brands are
releasing cosmetic products especially tailored for men, and men are using such products more
commonly. There is some controversy over this, however, as many feel that men who wear
make-up are neglecting traditional gender, and do not view men wearing cosmetics in a positive
light. Others, however, view this as a sign of ongoing gender equality and feel that men also have
rights to enhance their facial features with cosmetics if women could.

Today the market of cosmetics has a different dynamic compared to the 20th century. Some
countries are driving this economy:

There is an interesting story in the Indian Context: LAKME

Way back in the early 1950s, an economic survey of spending in India revealed that Indian
women were splurging on imported cosmetics. Nehru was not very happy because it was
affecting the forex reserves. Maintaining the forex reserves was of utmost importance
considering the fact that Indian economy was still in its nascent stage. Nehru hit upon the idea of
a home grown beauty brand which would cater to cosmetic needs of Indian women.
(Although some sources claim that Nehru took up this issue because a certain women’s
association approached him to put forward their concerns about non-availability of affordable
beauty products. But having studied about Nehru’s visions and views, I am of the opinion that he
had considered beauty products as luxury and would have never spent any time/effort to satisfy
those women’s luxurious needs. Instead, he took up the issue because it was affecting forex and
related to the economy. Banning such products was impossible in a democracy, so starting an
Indian company was the only solution.)
It was a challenge of its kind because it had to fulfill the needs of “Indian skin” in which foreign
brands fell short and at the same time, have a brand identity which would appeal to the upper
middle class women who were really the ones splurging on expensive foreign branded cosmetics.

Nehru knew that only JRD Tata had the passion and entrepreneurship skills to tackle the above
challenges and personally requested him to come up with a solution, which he readily accepted.

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 A ticket of Lakme Opera
Doing market research to find out the needs of Indian women and hiring experts & chemical
engineers from the beauty industry was not really a challenge for JRD but coming up with a
brand identity certainly was. Finally, after giving it a lot of thought, he named it “Lakmé” after
the French Opera.

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The reason he chose this particular French opera name was because “Lakmé” derives its name
from Sanskrit for “Lakshmi”, the goddess of wealth and epitome of beauty. It was the perfect
name for the company as it was actually bringing wealth to the nation (by saving precious forex),
could correlate itself very well with the beautiful Goddess and it appealed well to upper middle
class women due to its videshi sounding name (“Lakshmi lipstick” or “Lakshmi eyeliner” would
have sounded very desi).

That was the kind of thought process which went into any job which JRD Tata took up and the
results were always exemplary. Lakme was started in 1952 as a 100% subsidiary of Tata oil mill.
It was a hugely successful brand and the rest is history. In 1996, Tata sold its stake in Lakme to
HLL since it felt that HLL being an FMCG company will do better justice to the company and
HLL have continued to efficiently nurture the brainchild of JRD. A recent survey ranked Lakme
to be one of the top 50 most trusted brands in India.

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