Do you know what your eyeshadow is made of? Did you think of soot? Probably not, but soot was a standard component of kohl, used to darken the area around the eyes in the ancient world. Think Ancient Egyptian eyeliner. Makeup is nothing new and has dramatically evolved throughout time, but some things haven’t changed. Look at the back of a highlighter. The ingredients list often goes on and on, with names like Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone, and Polyacrylamide as commonplace. Let’s look at a brief history of makeup ingredients, and the secrets within modern, lengthy ingredient lists.
The History
Hygiene was important to the Ancient Egyptians, with at least the upper classes bathing daily. This emphasis on appearance extended into the realm of cosmetics. Our first records of makeup come from Ancient Egypt’s 1st Dynasty (c. 3100-2907 BC). Unguent jars were found in tombs, used by both men and women to keep their skin hydrated and youthful in the extreme desert climate. Applying kohl, as previously mentioned, also was common at the time; Egyptian gods and goddesses were often depicted wearing eye makeup. Kohl (at least for the wealthier classes) was made “by grinding the natural elements of galena, malachite, and other ingredients into a powder and then mixing them with oil or fat until one produced a cream” and was later stored in sometimes elaborate wooden boxes, depending on the status of the family. While some cosmetics were made in the household, most were in such demand that they were produced and sold professionally.
In Ancient China, makeup was also present, often reinforcing the standard of natural-looking, pale skin. Emerging c. 770-476 BC, foundation, or face powder was made by grinding fine rice. Blush, or rouge, is speculated to have been around even earlier, since the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 to 1050 BCE). Rouge was often made from the juice of red and blue flowers and often additional ingredients such as pig pancreas to improve its consistency and was applied to the lips and cheeks. In the Middle Ages, lead products were used in face makeup (yes lead!) and other agents thought to keep the skin “fair” such as grounded lily root. One recorded face-makeup recipe was the L’ornement des Dames from the 13th century, including an unusual ingredient: flour.
“There is a white make-up that is very easy to make. Put very pure wheat in water for fifteen days, then grind and blend it in the water. Strain through a cloth, and let it crystalise and evaporate. You will obtain a make-up which will be as white as snow. When you want to use it, mix it with rosewater, and spread it on your face which has first been washed with warm water. Then dry your face with a cloth.”
Fast forward to the Victorian Era, makeup was largely considered unacceptable by Queen Victoria and as such was only allowed if natural looking, such as light rouge and naturally dyed eyebrows. Therefore, to achieve the look of natural beauty without the use of heavy makeup products, many women resorted to behind-the-counter products to cover blemishes and toxic materials. These methods included eating deadly arsenic to attain translucent skin and dropping belladonna into one’s eyes to enlarge the pupils, translating to beautiful women in Italian for its use during the Renaissance. However, belladonna is largely toxic and if used at high doses, can cause blindness.
Although makeup had been around for millennia, the term was actually coined quite recently, by Hollywood entrepreneur Max Factor in 1920 for its use in technicolor films. While originally made of talc, a now-recognized carcinogen, Factor’s Pan-Cake was a large success and is still sold internationally today (but no longer in the United States). It is also important to note in any history of makeup the lack of shade diversity and preference for paler skin tracing all the way back to the Ancient World. These beauty standards were and are toxic, turning many towards dangerous skin-whitening agents throughout history.
Present Day
Today, while makeup ingredients have become further controlled in quality and are often less toxic with the rise of massive makeup brands, other issues still persist, including ethical and sustainable sourcing. The makeup industry has had its fair share of shady scandals, and this shouldn’t really come as a surprise seeing that the majority of makeup supply chains are complex and often hard to trace. This allows shady suppliers, often of the natural resources demanded by makeup brands and consumers, to sell their unethically sourced products to corporations under legal pretenses. This has occurred in the harvesting of mica in India, a common ingredient used to give cosmetics their coveted shimmer. In certain regions of the nation, the use of child labor is commonplace to mine mica, with an estimated 22,000 kids working in one part of the nation.
Palm oil is another commonly used ingredient in many consumer goods, not just cosmetics. Estimated to be found in more than 70% of cosmetics, the conversion of previously diverse tropics to homogenous palm tree plantations often causes large-scale deforestation and, consequentially, climate change and biodiversity loss. The majority of palm oil is currently produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, devastating their natural habitats while supporting their economy, highlighting the all too familiar battle between environmental sustainability and economic growth in developing nations.
Conclusion
All in all, when considering which makeup product to purchase off the shelf the next time you visit Sephora, ULTA, or your local pharmacy, it is worthwhile to take some time to consider what goes into these products before they arrive at the shelf. Hopefully, there’s no lead or arsenic (let’s NOT go back to the Victorian Era)! However, the reality is that in today’s increasingly interconnected and globalized economy, it’s hard to know exactly where these ingredients come from as an individual consumer alone. There is a need for greater corporate transparency when it comes to their supply chains. Currently, there are a few independent websites you check out to evaluate beauty brands and their products: INCIDecoder (ingredient information), Think Dirty (ingredient scanner), Peta Beauty Without Bunnies (animal cruelty), B Corp Seach (companies with a positive impact).
0
0
Average Rating