The History of Makeup as I know it

I have always loved makeup and cosmetics. As a little girl, I longed to wear it and start taking care of my body the way grown-ups do. I remember wanting to shave my legs so bad at age 9, that I tried and ripped off half my shin in the process. I still have the scar.

When I started reading teen magazines, I noticed a brand that really had clean and neat ads. I wanted to buy it and check it out, so I marched into the first place I knew that sold it and was happy to buy a single blush from them. What brand is that? Clinique.

In my recent search for makeup knowledge, I decided to do a little digging around to see where Clinque came from.

Clinique was born from an idea between two Doctors in 1967 from an article published in Vogue magazine on the importance of skin care. What is interesting to note, is , it was the first of its kind to be allergy tested. Seems to me it was way ahead of its time and now the clean crisp ads I remember fit well with the brand’s image. It has always been their image to appear clean and free of skin bothering allergens. As someone who loves the marketing field, this all makes more sense.

But, I always like to dig even deeper and find out the history of things as far back as I can. When did people start doing skin care routines on their faces?

Egyptians were the first to adopt a skin care regimen. While they used mostly cosmetics, rather than direct cleansing, even those served a skin-boosting purpose. The Egyptians used henna and other metal pastes (like ore and copper) to protect them from the sun’s harmful rays. Think of it as a type of sun screen in ancient times. What is also fun to note, is, they would create eyeshadow using ground precious gems. I bet that created an awesome glitter effect! There is archeological evidence of this dating back to 6000 years. The Egyptians were so concerned with beauty, they were often buried with their makeup.

Back to the present time, I noticed in my daughter’s tween magazine, an add that was very similar to ones I remember seeing in my magazines-one for clinique. Seems like the image they put out is timeless and I hope it stays that way. The only difference is, if you are looking for Clinique’s line of beauty products in the UK, you don’t have to march yourself into a store, but can now buy online.

Remember, you are beautiful!

What are your first makeup or beauty memories?