Isn’t it amazing how many misconceptions many people seem to have about the way makeup was worn in ancient Egypt. We look at pictures from movies such as those of Elizabeth Taylor and we assume that the ancient Egyptian’s makeup technique may have been…well….a bit odd?
Small details such as say, blue eye shadow worn clear up to your eyebrows. It leaves you to wonder whether or not that was actually ever considered attractive. Though we do use this look in movies to capture a very futuristic look. After all… What Supernova would don a mere “natural looking” effort of color…right? And you notice the eye shadow always seems to be accompanied by red lipstick. Not a big fussy deal but, red is not necessarily everybody’s color. And then of course there’s the thick eyeliner that reaches all the way to the extended end of the eyebrow. As for blush….well it’s never been left out but, if you pay attention to the ancient Egyptian paintings we never seem to see much in the way of blush.
So have you ever wondered about this?
But, I’m not here to criticize. I’m actually here to point out modern facts that prove these bad make-up jobs were no historical epidemic and that the Egyptians were of course no where near naive to beauty (as you know I’m sure). The makeup colors actually found in ancient Egypt were actually very precise and is a very enticingly enhancing habit still carried on by today’s Egyptians.
Well…. with a little less eye shadow.
If you notice the example above it shows the standard lack of heavy eye shadow painted on faces on tomb walls as well as what you’d see on temple walls. The ancient Egyptians did have a blue mineral that they ground for cosmetic use but, it simply wasn’t used for the shock value that Hollywood has stereotyped it for. The real make up practices once used are still carried out today but, the blue color is applied lightly. Not at all matching the thick shadowed mimics in movies.
As for lip color you don’t see that applied to faces painted on the ancient walls either. Rather it seems the lips are left natural. It seems that perhaps the ancient Egyptians also valued paler colored lips in spite of having hennas ranging in color from orange to a deep red available which they favored for both fingernails and hair.
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