Makeup

Women and makeup have a complicated relationship.
Some revel in it, running from CVS to Sephora to try on every last trend, delighting in transforming their look with the flick of a brush. Others keep it simple, sticking with the bare basics and often forgetting to put it on at all. And many abhor the stuff, either because they don’t like its feel on their skin, or don’t like what it stands for.

Love it or hate it, women have been using makeup, in different forms, for a very long time.
Fashionable sixth century women made their faces paler by bleeding themselves, either directly or with the help of leeches. During the Italian Renaissance, women coated their faces with toxic chemicals including arsenic, lead and mercury.

It was even popular to look sickly in the 19^th century, when tuberculosis was considered a “romantic” disease. Women of that era emphasized the circles under their eyes and used rouge to look flushed with fever.

If you look at makeup use across cultures and eras, a pattern emerges. In theory, one could put color anywhere on the face. But all cultures have independently agreed on certain beauty principles: Makeup is used to even the complexion, darken the eyes, pinken the cheeks and redden the lips, no matter if you’re a doll-like Japanese Geisha, an Ancient Egyptian or a modern American woman primping for a Saturday night out.

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When did people start using makeup?

When did people first start using makeup? No one is 100 percent sure. The first archeological records of clear makeup use come from Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian tombs dating as far back as around 3500 BC. They used soot and other natural ingredients to paint their faces, and even had specialized tools to apply their makeup.

However, paints and other means of self-decoration date back tens of thousands of years. Archaeological sites in South Africa provide evidence that body paint may have been used over 50,000 years ago, suggesting people painted their bodies before they even wore clothes. Even our closest relatives, the Neanderthals, may have worn makeup and jewelry.

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Benefits of makeup

1. Disguises flaws
Make-up disguises any imperfection that a person might have. For instance, when concealers are correctly applied on the face, darker pockets that are normally found below the eyes can be lessened. Individuals with lowly skin texture may use a foundation for enhancing their texture. Another method that make-up covers flaws is through enhancing other facial features. Thin lips may be improved with the application of lipsticks and lip liners. 

2. Improves appearance
A huge objective for the application of make-up is basically to enhance an individual’s appearance. When specific areas of the face are targeted and make-up is applied, the person benefits from a better and more appealing appearance. Eye makeup augments the eyes, while cheekbones are accentuated by using blushers.

3. Increases definition
Another important advantage of using make-up is the fact that it adds definition to facial features. Eyebrows can be better enhanced through thinning them and lip outlines may be colored using lip pencils or mascara.

4. Boosts confidence
For most people, wearing make-up is an essential daily duty that they cannot live without. This is because once they have put on the make-up they feel great about themselves. They are now able to interact with other members of the community knowing that they are better-looking.

5. Sun protection
Responding to concerns about the dangerous effects of UV rays of the sun, manufacturers of make-up products added sun protection into their cosmetic products. Wearing make-up therefore protects skin against sunburn.
The demerit of using make-up is that it may easily irritate the skin or eyes, especially in people with existing skin problems.

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