Beauty Across Time

Beauty Across Time Style Like an EgyptianLP examines beauty breakthroughs through the centuries and around the world!

Our time in front of the mirror, in the chair, at the manicure table—under the watchful eyes and at the careful hands of stylists, colorists, nail artists, makeup artists and other beauty professionals—is the blink of an extended eyelash next to the developments that got us where we are today!

"Beauty in Time" returns every Monday in March!  Details to follow!

Part 1: Style Like an Egyptian

4000 B.C.E.: In Egypt, eye makeup is used to protect against disease, repel insects and moisturize the skin, using black galena on the upper eyelids and green malachite on the lower lids. Kohl eventually replaces galena.

3000 B.C.E.: Egyptians are the first to use hot wax for hair removal.

2000 B.C.E.: Middle Eastern women begin using string held twisted between their teeth and fingers to catch hairs and pull them out.

2000 B.C.E.: Egyptians mix water and citrus juice to make shampoo and use plant oils and animal fats as conditioners.

1800 B.C.E.: Babylonian men powder their hair with gold dust.

1000 B.C.E.: Ayurveda, the science of long life, begins in India.

400 B.C.E.: Babylonians and Egyptians darken their skin with hematite and red ocher or lighten it with white lead or yellow ocher.

306 A.D. The Dioclerian Baths are built in Rome. Up to 6000 people bathe in an area more than 32 acres in size.

1562: Giovanni Marinello publishes The Beautification of the Ladies, in which he describes what is now known as the "Introduction to Cosmetology." The book includes recipes on bleaching and coloring hair.

Late 1600-1700’s: “Patching” is the rage in Europe. Small bits of silk are cut into crescents, flowers and stars and glued to the skin of one’s face to hide pockmark scars.

1765: Legros de Rumigny, a former baker, who became a court hairdresser in France, publishes Art De La Coiffure Des Dames, a book on hairdressing. He opens an “Academie de Coiffure” (a hairdressing school) in 1769.

Coming Tomorrow: Soap for the Future!

(Below) Alicia Novak, stylist and beauty educator, writer of the "Beauty Across Time" series
Beauty Across Time Alicia Novak

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