Cosmetics

by Read Listen Learn

Cosmetics

People have used cosmetics for more than 6,000 years. Upper class Ancient Egyptians used animal and vegetable oils mixed with lime powder in the same way as we now use soap. They believed that personal hygiene was important to the gods and, so, the rich took showers every day. At parties, slaves put cones of perfumed fat on the heads of all the visitors to the house and, as they got warmer, the fat melted on their hair. This made them smell beautiful. And all rich Egyptians – men and women – wore make-up. The same was true in Ancient Greece.

In the Middle East, perfume is very popular today, but the Gulf Arabs have used it for thousands of years. Just as men from Najran in Saudi Arabia wear flowers around their heads even today to make them smell nice, so the Bedouin used perfume thousands of years ago. Although the countries in the Gulf are strong believers in Islam and live very religious lives, the Holy Quran says that Allah loves hygiene and beauty and so there has never been a problem with perfume (if cosmetics are not used to attract men or women sexually).

In fact, Abu Al-Qussum Al-Zahrawi, one of the first Arab medical experts, wrote the nineteenth chapter of his long book on medicine about perfume and cosmetics. He called it ‘The Medicine of Beauty’. Today, the Arabian Gulf is still well-known for its wonderful perfumes for both men and women.

People have used perfumes in Europe for hundreds of years too. In Queen Elizabeth’s time – from 1558 to 1603 – this might be to cover bad body smells, because people did not wash very often. The people thought the Queen was very clean because she had a bath twice a year – even if she didn’t need one!

However, cosmetics are not only perfumes. Medicines to make the skin look whiter have always been popular, as white skin meant that people did not need to work in the sun. So, richer people, who had more time to stay indoors or who worked inside buildings, wanted to look as white as they could to show their wealth. The first English Queen Elizabeth, used lead paint to make her look white, because this was a sign of youth.

Of course, everyone knows that in India many people use kohl around their eyes and many men prefer to colour their beards with henna to hide the white hair in them. This has been popular since the fourth or fifth century. These days, they sometimes use hair dye to bring back the rich black colour of their hair too.

However, until 1909, most people could not afford cosmetics, but all that changed when L’Oréal started business in France. American companies, like Max Factor and Elizabeth Arden, soon followed.

Nowadays, cosmetics have a worldwide market of more than one hundred billion US dollars. The USA, Japan, Germany, China and Russia are all major users. The aerosol was invented in 1941 and this made hairspray and deodorant necessary products that nearly everyone had to buy.

As skin whitener has sold more and more in India, China and south-east Asia, new products have become popular in Europe and the US that make the skin look darker – they are called tanning creams.

However, with financial growth, there has also been criticism. The cosmetic companies have often used very unscientific information to sell their products.

They have asked people to believe that cosmetics are healthy and that they can slow down ageing. They have added vitamins to their cream but have not tested their benefits. At the same time, many activists are angry about testing beauty products on animals. They say that it is wrong to spray deodorant into rabbits’ eyes to see if they get sick and that we should not make monkeys and dogs ill because we want to look more attractive. In 2009, the European Union banned all testing of beauty products on animals.

Perhaps the most important criticism of cosmetics companies has come from women though. They say that these companies are making women into sex objects by telling them to buy lipsticks and skin whiteners.

If men look handsome without lipstick, why should women need to wear it? And why is white skin better than dark skin? Does it mean that black people are not as beautiful as whites?