The Brief History Of EYE SHADOWS

The Brief History Of Eye Shadow

Cosmetics have been used for as long as there have been people to use them. Face painting is mentioned in the Old Testament (Book of Ezekiel 23:40 ) and eye shadow was used in Egyptian burials dating back to 10,000 BC. The word "cosmetae" was first used to describe Roman slaves whose duty was to bathe men and women in perfume.

Egypt

As early as 10,000 BC, men and women used scented oils and ointments to clean and soften their skin and mask body odor. Dyes and paints were used to color the skin, body and hair. They rouged their lips and cheeks, stained their nails with henna, and lined their eyes and eyebrows heavily with kohl. Kohl was a dark-colored powder made of crushed antimony, burnt almonds, lead, oxidized copper, ochre, ash, malachite, and chrysocolla (a blue-green copper ore) or any combination thereof. It was applied with a small stick. The upper and lower eyelids were painted in a line that extended to the sides of the face for an almond effect. In addition to reducing sun glare, it was believed that kohl eyeliner could restore good eyesight and reduce eye infection. Kohl was kept in a small, flat-bottomed pot with a wide, tiny rim and a flat, disk-shaped lid. According to images of the time, the use of makeup was not limited to women. Highly polished silver and copper mirrors aided the application of makeup.

TOOLS AND STORAGE FOR MAKEUP

Greece

In Greece, precious oils, perfumes, cosmetic powders, eye shadows, skin glosses, paints, beauty unguents, and hair dyes were in universal use. Export and sale of these items formed an important part of trade around the Mediterranean. During the 7th and 8th centuries BC, Corinthian, Rhodian and East Greek traders dominated markets in perfume flasks and cosmetic containers. The containers included aryballoi, alabastra, pyxides and other small specialized shapes.

Rome

Ingredients

Men and women in the Near East painted their faces with kohl just like the Egyptians did. This was to protect them from the ‘evil eye.’ After the defeat of the Greeks by the Romans, the original Egyptian intention suffered its final bastardization beyond any reasonable recovery. The Romans were unabashedly hedonistic; Egyptian oils that were once used for sacred purposes became nothing more than sexual accouterments in Rome. There was some dignity amended when the Romans discovered medicinal applications as well. Plagues were so rampant throughout Rome, that aromatic gums and resins were burned to repel demons and bad spirits.

Common ingredients in eye shadows consist of talc, mica, sericite, magnesium stearate, colorants, and preservatives. Fillers in eye shadows are primarily talc. The liquid binders are typically a silicone and the dry binders are typically magnesium stearate. In order to make an eye shadow, there has to be a balance between the fillers, dry binders and liquid binders. Once the ideal combination is found the shadow are pressed using 700-900 psi.

Something  to know:

Kohl:   Kohl was the first recorded eye shadow. many people mistakenly believe that Kohl was just  crushed charcoal, but real kohl has a surprising amount of stuff in it. Specific formulations of crushed antimony, lead (ugh) oxidized copper, ochre. burnt almonds, ash, malachite and chrysocolla were all part of the popular recipe- wow, if  you didn't get bite by an ASP, your where destine to die a slow death from being poisoned whoa!

Protective Eye Shadow: 

That Black rim eye of kohl that the ancient Egyptians wore wasn't just to make them pretty, wearing black around the eye protected the from glare. They also believed that the black rim of kohl would restore lost vision and protect there eyes for infection. for this reason that eye shadow was worn by both men and women of all ages and social classes.

Colors;

In  ancient Greece and Rome, colored eye shadows were used for decorative reasons. The Iraqis thought that's the colored shadow would protect them from the "evil eye" but the Greeks and Romans just thought it was pretty. These shadows where created from using herbs, crushed minerals, and stones as well as dried flowers and crystallized dyes from plants and animals sources.  

Who Inveted False Eyelashes?

The History of False Eyelashes

Beauty legend has it that American movie director D.W. Griffith designed the first set of false eyelashes. While creating a motion picture in 1916, he wanted his leading lady Seena Owens to have lashes so long they graced her cheeks when she blinked or looked down thoughtfully.

A wig maker set to work creating the lashes out of human hair and gauze, and the result was movie magic. Unfortunately the film itself was not, and the screenplay became forgettable. However, the false lashes were remembered to the misfortune of Griffith who never formally made a claim to their fame and had his idea simulated, stolen, and altered in the decades to come.

Since 1916, there have been plenty of leading ladies and celebrities who used false eyelashes. Twiggy is an example of someone in the public spotlight who used falsies in the way that they were intended. Others unfortunately have not, picture Tammy Faye Baker & Liza Minnelli for example. False eyelashes are almost an art when it comes to appropriate use and application, therefore it takes time and patience to learn the trade.

A Little History & A Rant: All About Nails Polish!

A Little History & A Little Rant About Nail Polish

Painting your nails is a very huge trend and everyone does it, little girls love it, our mom's wear it and even our sweet ole grandmothers  paint there nails, My Nana was always a Cool Coral, and it matched her lipstick all the time. And even men do it, weather there rockers, or Metro, or even trannies. Nail Polish is something that isn't going away  and with the new lines popping up with The beautiful people like Katy Perry and such endorsing them its not likely to fade away anytime soon. So I thought why not looking to nail Polish and what it all about? where did it start? and this is what i discovered, It seems that painting your nails just might be one of the oldest  beauty trends in the world. The Chinese have been adorning there nails since 3000 B.C. by using a mix of Arabic gum, egg whites, gelatin and beeswax. While other ancient cultures used stains from henna and massaging tinted powders into the nail. It seems that to having painted nails was so Important for women that recipes for making your own polish or then call varnish where included in most 19th century cookbooks. Hum, thanks google for that little tid bit. Thank god that the technology has progressed thru the years right? could you see your self massaging tinted powder form some stain berry into your nail beds? not!

Lets face it nail polish is so much more then varnish, paint, its part of your look, your feeling of who you want to be and how you want to introduce yourself to the world. when you meet someone you shake hands right?  Mini-skirt inventor Mary Quant is less known  for her deciding that your nail 's might not only match you lipstick, which like my Nana did, i adore this look. But that you should and could match your nail color to your clothing. Thank god her mod styles demanded something other then red nails, so putting that aside and introduced us to pastels that later became all the rage of the 60's.


In the 1970's French Manicures  where the hottest nail trend, a term that was created by ORLY founder Jeff Pink. who created the muted manicured look that is today considered so timeless  and classic that its worn on ones most important days such has a wedding. Its a classic for a reason. I always prefer my actress to  stick to this timeless look for there nails it's less distracting on film and you never have to worry about continuity.

And with all the new nail trends popping up and the styles changing and new products to choose from, its clear that the love affair isn't close to over.

           Here's Some Interesting facts:

The divine Miss. Davis Doing here nail? jungle red maybe?

• Class Act: Nail polish is thought to have originated in China as early as 3000 BC when the Chinese used to paint their nails (with a mixture of egg whites, beeswax, and Arabic gum) according to the colors of the ruling dynasty. Apparently, wearing nail polish was a marker of class: only the upper class sported it. If you were lower class and tried wearing nail polish? Death penalty. (At least, some sources say.)
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• Cleopatra Fans: The tradition was also around in Ancient Egypt, where the upper class (Cleopatra among them) used to color their nails with henna or blood (!). The redder the shade, the higher in society you were.
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• Sweet ‘n Simple: Jumping ahead to the 1800s. Color wasn’t around so much, and people went more for the simple manicure. You could, however, find polish recipes in cookbooks. Weird! We want to find one of those and try it out for ourselves.
• Rev-ed Up: Nail lacquer as we know it gained popularity in the ‘20s as a flapper trend. Some credit a woman named Michelle Manard as the first inventor of nail polish, who took inspiration from high-gloss car paints. Others say it was the Revlon brothers who really pioneered the field, coming out in 1932 with a popular nail enamel (that’s obviously endured the test of time).