What is Beauty?

This morning, as I was putting on my eyeliner (like any other morning), I was startled by a spider scurrying up the wall! My hand jolted--dragging the eyeliner across my face. Needless to say I made a mighty fine Egyptian. It got me thinking about how makeup has existed for thousands of years, which got me thinking about how makeup has been a form of folk knowledge passed on from woman to girl and so on. It made me think of my first time putting on makeup and how I got started wearing it....

R-E-W-I-N-D! -- I was about 10 years old, and living a double life.  At school, I was a "wanna be" tomboy with my hand-me-down Adidas and over-sized T-shirts.  I would play soccer and football at recess and pretended to hate the color pink. However, when I was at home, I would play with my Barbies (daily) when I thought no one was watching. One time my friends came over and saw them all strewn about, I tried blaming it on my 6-month sister, and well--that's another story. Anyways, one day my mom gave me a bag of old makeup that she didn't want anymore. I pretended to not care, and tossed it in the corner of my closet. I was "reeeeeeallly bored one night," and started inspecting the eyeshadows and blushes. It didn't take me long to notice that they were all in colors that I never learned in kindergarten, such as "Tickle-Me-Pink" or "Mysterious Mist" or "True Romance." These captivated me, I mean, who wouldn't be curious about "Mysterious Mist?" For my entire life, I watched my grandmother and my mother intently putting on their makeup, and now, after ten long years, it was finally my turn! I cautiously started applying these strange powders and creams, not quite sure where to put them, but giving it my best try. All of a sudden, without warning, my mother came in unannounced and told me to wash it all off! I was so embarrassed that she caught me in a moment of "girlishness!" I probably looked like I was wearing more makeup than I really was, because my cheeks were burning bright red! Humpf, why did she give it to me in the first place??? I guess its one of those parent-child things you will never understand. Needless to say, I didn't attempt wearing makeup for a long time after that.

 

This is pretty close to the way I felt...

...Or maybe this...

Hahaha, I just had to.

R.E.W.I.N.D Again! -- In Ancient Egypt, 10,000 BC, they used to dye their eyebrows and eyelids with a mixture called Kohl, "a dark-colored powder made of crushed antimony, burnt almonds, lead, oxidized copper, ochre, ash, malachite, chrysocolla (a blue-green copper ore) or any combination thereof." (Source). They did this to reduce reflection from the bright Egyptian sun, and believed that it cured poor eyesight and reduced eye infection! Cosmetics were very important to the Egyptians, and very much like today, women would carry their make up around with them everywhere and kept it under their chairs! They would stain their lips and cheeks with a red clay mixed with water, and die their finger nails with henna. (Below are pictures of my friends and I playing with henna).

The Egyptians also concocted a variety of oils and perfumes which helped protect their skin from drying out, and "at parties, servants would place a cone of perfumed grease on the head of each guests. The grease had a cooling effect as it melted and ran down [their] faces" (Same source as before).  These oils also played a very sacred role in the embalming of the dead, and then...dun dun dun...

Along came the Greeks, ruining everything. They tried using the Egyptian oils for medicinal reasons, but the Egyptian priests refused to divulge any information. Finally after a lot of oppression, they caved and gave them half-truths about the oils. Both the Greeks and Romans used these oils for sensual reasons, which really offended the Egyptians.

In China, they believed that lips portrayed a person's temperament and social status. They made lipstick out of a "raw material was vermilion, whose chemical composition is mercuric sulfide (HgS)" (Source). Throughout history, the pattern painted on their lips changed:

• Between Pre-Qin ( The 21st Century BC—221 BC) and Han (202BC－220AD) Dynasties, women put a big red dot on the lower lip and painted the upper lip in a pointed shape, leaving the rest of parts to be covered with powder.
• In Wei, Jin, and North and South Dynasties (AD220—AD589), fan-shaped lips were advocated. Women made an obvious depression on the upper lip and lip contour in the corners of the mouth clear.
• In Sui and Tang Dynasties, a florid style of lip makeup gained popularity. Women first put powder onto the lips, and then they drew any pattern they liked. During that period, cherry lips (lips with the shape and color of a cherry) were very popular. Two dots were usually painted outside the corner of the lips to strengthen the image of dimples. Another famous pattern took the shape of a little flower. To make it, women first made an obvious depression in the middle of the upper lip.  Then the upper lip contour took the shape of two petals, and the lower lip another petal.
• In the late Tang Dynasty, other patterns for lip makeup were also invented. According to the book Records of the Unworldly and the Strange, there were 17 patterns in the last 30 years of Tang. The color of red for lips included red, light red, red with golden powder, pink and so on.
• In the Song (AD960—AD1279) and Ming (AD1368—AD1644) Dynasties, lip makeup was practiced to make women look more internalized and gentle. Cherry lips were also highly welcomed.
• In the Qing Dynasty (AD1644—AD1911), women normally applied rouge to the whole or nearly whole upper lip, while they painted a cherry-like dot in the middle of the lower lip. Some women dotted in the middle of the two lips respectively.

Anyways, I could go on and on, because makeup has been around in almost every society and civilization for tens of thousands of years. (I also really wanted to include the Bushman Africans, how Indians got their red dot, and war paint, but this post is getting too long and my husband is pulling on my sleeve to go to bed, so look them up!!!). But I really want to stress that make up has been a form of folk knowledge passed down because we have watched our mothers and followed trends. But my questions is: WHY??? Why has it been so important? It obviously has had its purposes, like to help protect from sun, but the beauty component is not vital for survival...or is it? Has is it played a role in mating? And why is it that women generally feel more beautiful with makeup on? Who started it? Is it the psychological dilemma that many people face with not feeling happy with who they are? Do they like the disguise? The attention? Intimidation? Attraction?