The Evolution of Makeup

The history of makeup dates way back into the time of the Egyptian rule. Women would burn matches and use the ashes to darken their eyes, smash berries for lipstick, and use little boys’ urine as a foundation to cover their freckles. Like everything, as humans have evolved, so has makeup.

In the 1800s, women would wear lip balm made of beeswax and red plant stains to tint their lips. They would also pinch their cheeks to make them look rosy and also mixed soot with oil or water for eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and powder. Additionally, they used tinted moisturizer to prevent sun damage. Then, in the 1900s, women would use flower petals or wet tissue paper to tint their lips, and proceeded to pinch their cheeks to give them color, and made mascara with burned matches. By the 1920s, women wore makeup daily and continued doing so until the 60s and 70s when the feminist movement arose and sparked a protest against makeup. Men started to wear makeup in the 70s, and by the 80s, bright colored lipstick, eyeshadow, and blush were common. Finally, in the 90s, most women either wore heavy, dark makeup or natural.

Today, makeup trends are established by famous people like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, David Bowie, Madonna, and the Kardashians. We look up to these idols for the newest makeup trends and look for the new products on the shelves at departments stores, Ulta, and Sephora.

The next time you are applying your favorite eyeliner from Sephora, think about how much makeup has changed over the years and be grateful you don’t have to pick berries in order to make lipstick.