mass of all walk of life have found ways to enhance their feature throughout history . But for centuries , it was the copious folks and patrician who had the luxury of using extravagant cosmetic . And it ’s still that way today , to a degree — while a lot of people can order $ 30 Kylie Lip Kits at will , a smaller portion of social club can afford to ( and does ) buymoisturizers deserving more than $ 2,000 .
In anepisode of Stuff You omit in History Class , host Tracy and Holly take us through the history of cosmetics around the world . While they finally get to the time in history whenmakeupis made for the masses , we ’re go to explore some of the ways the rich have used cosmetic to arrange themselves apart from the ( literally ) poor who ostentate their feature makeup - less .
Let ’s get going with the ancient Egyptians . By 4000–3500 B.C.E. , Egyptians were lining their eyes in that famous cat - eye fashion . But the fanciest family line were n’t content with doing their makeup at home;the rich carried little carve or painted kits of makeup , some decorated lavishly with gems , so hint - ups were promptly uncommitted . By the metre Cleopatra takes the throne ( 51 B.C.E. ) , she ’s wearing a bright red lipstick madefrom crushedcarminebeetles — a dye that ’s still commonly used . But the poor folks ? They had to settle for watered down clay , which credibly was n’t as vibrant .
Nail polish start to become the rage in ancient Asiatic civilization around 3000–1500 B.C.E. The Chinese used colors mixed with egg , beeswax or gum arabic as a kind of stain . But once again , the rich distinguished themselves from common people through cosmetic : While it was considered socially appropriate for Chinese aristocracy to wear vivid nail colors , the people wore only pale colors .
get ’s skip onwards a little act to a time and berth where the nobility flips its position : Victorian England . In the mid-1800s , Queen Victoriadeclared make-up vulgar(as it was only suitable , in her opinion , for prostitution or the stage ) . So , the British upper classes begin rick up their non - powdered noses at the stuff . But by the meter the Edwardian era rolled around ( 1901–1910 ) , woman were eager to put on their faces again . However , the stigma around composition did n’t vanish overnight , so women would refuse makeup use … andsneak in the back doorat beauty salons to grease one’s palms their product .
To read a lot more about the development , use and paste of cosmetics throughout history and societal class , clack the podcast musician in this clause .
