[Beauty] History of Mascara

Ask a woman for her top 3 beauty must-haves and it will always include Mascara. It performs beauty miracles and has become a makeup kit staple that transforms women's eyes from sleepy, plane Janes to bombshell with just a few strokes of the magic wand.

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But, did you know that it is considered as one of the oldest known cosmetics in the world today? Its history can be traced as far back as 4000 B.C. in ancient Egypt. Back then, women blended kohl with crocodile dung, water and honey and used bone and ivory as mascara applicators to create the very first mascara.

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Egyptian men and women used mascara to darken their lashes and conceal their eyes to ward off evil spirits, bad energy and ill-wishers because they believe that the eyes are the windows of the soul.

It wasn't until the Victorian Era in the 1830's that the practice of deepening and richening lashes were revived. Victorian women were known to be very vain, elaborate and spend hours beautifying themselves. They experimented with many different cosmetic recipes including their very own mascara concoction done by mixing ashes with elderberry over a hot fire.

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In 1917, Eugene Rimmel, founder of Maybelline Cosmetics, created the very first packaged cosmetic mascara. It is produced from a blend of petroleum and black coal dust. The modern history of mascara began with a powder cake form.

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It has since been reformulated, made waterproof, stuffed into a tube with a brush and the rest as they say is, history.

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Beautiful history, that is.

Beauty Nut,
Paige xx