20th century face powder label
Cosmetics have been used since Egyptian times. They were also commonplace in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. The idea of using cosmetics to enhance the appearance has not changed since these times. Using cosmetics is still designed to capture the appearance of youth in perfect health. Colourful cosmetics hide the appearance of pale cheeks, pale lips and fingernails and dull hair.
Many of the cosmetics used contained dangerous ingredients. There was often more importance put on the application of cosmetics rather than washing and cleaning the skin.
From the 1400s onwards whitening the face was one of the most common cosmetic practices. This was still popular in the 1800s. A mixture composed of carbonate, hydroxide, and lead oxide was commonly used. This could lead to muscle paralysis or death when used repeatedly. It was replaced by zinc oxide in the 1800s.
Another way to have whiter skin was to bleed yourself. This was done by using the widespread medical practice of using leeches or occasionally a more extreme method called cupping. This involved drawing blood by heating air in a glass cup while having it pressed against the skin. When the heat source is removed the cooling air causes a vacuum.
Mid 20th century
leg tan label
In the 1920s having tanned skin became popular when Coco Chanel was seen with a tan on the Duke of Westminster’s yacht. The idea of having brown skin became more attractive and products were produced that could create this colour artificially.
Nail varnish label dating
from the early 20th century
Staining of the fingernails has been used in cosmetics for a long time. The first examples date from 3000BC in China. They used gum arabic, egg whites, gelatine and beeswax to create the varnish. The royal family in China used gold and silver nail colours. In the first century AD black and red were also used. The lower ranks were only allowed to wear pale colours. In Egypt the colour of nail varnish used also represented social class. Henna was used to dye the nails. Modern nail varnish comes in a variety of colours and is actually a variation of car paint.
Label for hair cream dating
from the early 20th century
Hair dye and dressing hair is not new. The Romans, Ancient Egyptians and Greeks were all involved in elaborate forms of hairdressing and dyeing. Most of the early hair dyes, such as henna, indigo, sage and camomile, could only darken the hair. Roman women would show off their dark shiny tresses that had been dyed with a mixture of boiled walnuts and leeks. They also used blond dyes made from goat’s fat and ashes.
In the Renaissance, blond was also popular as it was considered angelic and mixtures of black sulphur, alum and honey were painted onto the hair and left to work in the sun.
It was in 1907 that the first synthetic dye was created by French chemist Eugene Schueller. It was originally called Aureole, but later it was renamed L’Oreal.
