Hi Laura, thank you for your comment. I didn’t know that. So glad they were able to make it safe for people too.

I did know that the Egyptians loved their essential oils, and that they mixed red ochre and water together to create their own lip paint. However, I had no idea that the ancient Egyptians wore human hair wigs on their heads – or that they dyed grey hair with henna (not too different from us in that respect!).

I only recently learned from research by Hallmann (2009) that the lead used by the ancient Egyptians to create kohl wasn’t actually harmful for the wearer, because they were able to alter the lead in such a way to make it harmless (and actually beneficial) for the wearer. Just like the Egyptians, the ancient Greeks also applied a heavy kohl to their eyes. While their makeup and style was similar in some respects, there were also some significant differences between the ancient Greeks and Egyptians when it came to their look. In case your readers want to contrast the cosmetics here with those of ancient Greece, we recently posted a piece on the real history of the Greek goddess look:
https://makeupscholar.com/greek-goddess-makeup/

Thanks again for this info – I learned a lot!

Laura.

Christine, I’m glad you like it. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?

And thanks for sharing my post on facebook. I just liked your page. 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CMR-Make-Up-Artistry/146870352040258#!/pages/CMR-Make-Up-Artistry/146870352040258

Please like my page and support this article because I just posted it on my page!

Raj, all the best with your assignment and I’m lead this post helped you. Unfortunately my sources didn’t mention the period so I’m not sure in what decades these practices took place, sorry.

Arleih, you’re welcome.