Beauty and cosmetics in ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians regarded beauty as a sign of holiness. Everything the ancient Egyptians used had a spiritual aspect to it, including cosmetics, which is why cosmetics were an integral part of their daily lives. Traders traded makeup often, especially in the upper classes. In tombs, cosmetic palettes were found buried with the deceased as grave goods which further emphasized the idea that cosmetics were not only used for aesthetic purposes but rather magical and religious purposes.

The two main forms of eye makeup were grepond eye paint and black kohl. The green eye paint was made of malachite, a copper carbonate pigment, and the black kohl was made from a substance called galena, a dark grey ore of lead. The malachite was used in the early predynastic period, whereas galena was introduced in the late predynastic period (Lucas 41). Kohl has two components: laurionite and phosgenite. These two minerals were not readily available in Egypt, which means that the ancient Egyptians must have used wet chemistry in order to synthesize them by filtering of rock salt and natron (Spjkkkkjt fc|H !2QEotts). Facial makeup included stain for cheeks and lips that was produced from red ochre from naturally colored clay that was mined and washed then dried in the sun or burnt to achieve the red pigment (Egyptian Make up). Henna, a naturally occurring plant, was used by the ancient Egyptians to paint their nails, and dye their hair

The ancient Egyptians were not entirely misguided in believing that kohl would prevent eye infections because it actually did prevent an ocular infection that was caused by the flooding of the Nile. The lead-based substances in the kohl promoted the production of nitric oxide in their skin, which helped strengthen their immune systems against diseases ("How the Pharaohs Fought Ocular Infection"). The soot in kohl helped in reducing the damaging effects of sun glare on their eyes. The ancient Egyptians created a remedy for burns by mixing the cheek and lip stain and other remedies for improving skin with red natron, northern salt and honey (Mannichie 134, 138). However, the ancient Egyptians strongly believed that the healing effects of these cosmetics were magical rather than medical.

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