Fashion History and Makeup Series: Ancient Greece Makeup

Ancient Greece had its own idea of beauty and there were fashion trends respected by women and men in those times.

It seems there was a problem with makeup in ancient Greece and many thought that women were a bit too interested in it. The poet Eubulus described how women were wearing so much makeup it was hard for them to go out in the sun because the sweat would smear it off.

Makeup was a practice only for those who were wealthy and what most women tried to achieve was a pale face. The rich women tried to stay indoors more, other women were using makeup to achieve a lighter complexion. White lead was mixed with water and applied on their face, neck, shoulders and arms to create a smooth pale skin. Red lipstick was also in fashion and it was made from seaweed or crushed mulberries. They also used dark eye shadow and eyeliner made from soot. Red cheeks were not forgotten either and most women even draw red designs on their cheeks for a more interesting look.

They also used dark powder for their eyebrows and it seems that connected eyebrows were very fashionable back then. A natural face mask they used was made from olive oil and honey, which moisturized and gave a great glow to their face.

Perfume was also very important in Ancient Greece and it also brought the attention of Egypt. People from Egypt were appalled by the fact that Greeks were using perfume for more sexual reasons, to become more desirable while they mostly used it for medicinal and religious purposes. Kyphi was one of the reasons of this dispute because Greeks seemed to use it as an aphrodisiac while Egyptians considered it sacred.

Philosophers like Socrates were not very fond of makeup or perfumes, believing that the former would conceal the smell of slaves making it hard for people to recognize them.

Fashion History and Makeup Series: Makeup in Mesopotamia

Ancient Sumerian Makeup was very similar to ancient Egyptian makeup. Historians have found great evidence indicating that people in Mesopotamia were very interested in body care. It seems that they even used perfume, made from soaked plants with water and oil, used for both cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Historians also found that they were using makeup; makeup was held in sea shells and a lot of them have been discovered in tombs, containing red, while, yellow, blue, green, and black pigments. 

Just like in the Ancient Egypt, kohl was used as an eye protection against bacteria and red eye, which was very common back then. It seems that khol was “a paste originally made from charred frankincense resin and later from powdered antimony (stibium) or lead compounds”.

Khol was worn as a mascara or eyeliner, and for lipstick, women used red henna. During excavations at Ur, Dr. Kenneth Graham found lipsalves in a tomb and they are believed to have been used by Queen Shub-ad. People also painted their faces with white lead and vermilion. For skin they used pumice stone powdered manganese oxide and turquoise to line their eyes.

What’s interesting about people in Mesopotamia is the fact that, besides being the inventors of makeup, they also used jewels to decorate their face and their eyes, by crushing them.

Hairstyles were also very important and it seems that their hair style changed very often.  For example, in the Early Dynastic Period, men would shave their hair and women wore their hair long, but in Akkadian Period some men also wore wavy hair. In other periods, curls or face hair were "trendy" and the kings were always the trendsetters.

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