Even
if
you’re a makeup maven, we bet you never knew some of these fun (and weird)
facts about aesthetics through the ages. Consider this your kooky cosmetics
education. Enjoy! :)
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1. Mona
was a Trendsetter
Have you ever wondered why the Mona
Lisa has no eyebrows? Da Vinci didn’t run out of paint; he simply portrayed the
hairlessness (plucked-out eyelashes and eyebrows, shaved foreheads) that was
all the rage at the time.
2. Pay for Poop
Upscale
spa-goers can now pay for the privilege of getting bird poop smeared on their
faces. The nightingale droppings in pricey “geisha” or “nightingale” facials
are believed to soften, brighten, and nourish the complexion.
3. Ballpoint Against B.O.
In 1952, deodorant with an
applicator based on the same principal as the newly invented ballpoint pen was
first marketed in the U.S. The groundbreaking product? Ban Roll-On.
4. Pale & Dangerous
For hundreds of years, European
women used ceruse to lighten their complexions. Unfortunately, the vinegar and
lead that made up the paste was known to cause hair loss and potentially lethal
lead poisoning.
5. A Snip Solution
Acne and burn patients in the U.K.
may be treated with vavelta, a clear liquid that contains skin cells that
rejuvenate and revitalize damaged skin from the inside out. These skin cells,
called fibroblasts, are isolated from foreskins donated by mothers of
circumcised baby boys.
6. Eye on Poison
During the
17th and 18th centuries, women used drops made from the poisonous plant
belladonna to dilate their pupils, which was considered attractive. Occasional
use damaged vision; prolonged use led to permanent blindness.
7. A Fishy Smile
It’s true:
the shimmer and shine in your lipstick and nail polish comes from fish scales.
The FDA-approved color additive, guanine (often called pearl essence), is also
found in fragrances and hair and skin care products.
In ancient
Rome, “cosmetae” were female servants who applied cosmetics to wealthy Roman
women and bathed them in perfume. It is also said that cosmetae dissolved
various cosmetic ingredients in their own saliva.
9. Raising Awareness of Razor
When a
sleeveless-evening-gown-clad model on the cover of the May 1915 issue of
Harper’s Bazaar magazine was pictured with hairless underarms, the Wilkinson
Sword razor company began marketing women’s underarm hair as unhygienic and
unfeminine. And so it began…
10. Hooker Makeup?
In the
Victorian era, makeup became associated with actresses, women of questionable
morals, and prostitutes. Upper-class women wore hardly any makeup, boasting a
pale complexion.
11. Scent Bombs
French
fragrance house Cire Trudon recently introduced a range of Perfumed Stink
Bombs. The glass vials are designed to be smashed on the ground, releasing the
fragrance within and instantly scenting a room. Consider it “guerrilla
perfume.”
12. Leech Locks
Dying your
hair black in ancient Rome involved feeding leeches, putting them in vinegar,
leaving the substance to ferment for two months and thicken into a paste, then
applying the mixture to the hair and allowing it to dry for a day.
13. A “Smart” Ingredient
If your
favorite skin care product purports to increase moisture retention and promote
smoother skin, cerebrosides might just be a key ingredient in the concoction.
Did you know that the raw material for cerebrosides in cosmetics comes from
cattle, oxen, or swine brain cells or other nervous system tissues?
14. Name Game
In 1915,
T.L. Williams created a cosmetics company and named it Maybelline in honor of
his sister, Maybel, and Vaseline brand petroleum jelly, which was the base
ingredient of his new mascara product.
15. Prescription Beauty
New
research suggests there’s more to alluring Ancient Egyptian eyeliner than meets
the eye. According to the American Chemical Society, the lead-based eye makeup
boosted production of nitric oxide, which in turn boosted the immune system to
prevent and treat the eye infections common in that time and place.
16. “Down-there” Dye
What will
they think of next? Whether you want to match your hair above, cover gray, or
just have fun, you can now purchase specially formulated color dye for the hair
“down there.” betty™ products are available in auburn, black, blond, brown, hot
pink, aqua blue, lilac, and ruby red.
17. Turpentine, Turpentine…
When
waterproof mascara entered the beauty industry in 1938, it was made of 50
percent turpentine. In 1958, Revlon introduced its “Roll-On Mascara” – the
first waterproof mascara without turpentine.
18. Stylish Snail Slime
You may
think of them as common garden snails, but Helix aspersa are moving up
in the world – specifically in the manufacturing of beauty and skin care
products. As it turns out, snail slime does an excellent job of preventing and
treating skin conditions such as acne, scars, and burns.
19. “Smells Like You…”
Cleopatra
is famous for – among other things – soaking her ship’s sails in perfume so the
fragrance would reach Rome (and Marc Antony) before she did. In “Antony and
Cleopatra,” Shakespeare writes that Cleopatra’s sails “were so perfumed
that/The winds were love-sick with them.”
20. Pee Rinse?
White
teeth were coveted in ancient Rome just as they are in many parts of the world
today, but the Romans used a more controversial method of tooth whitening –
they brushed and gargled with urine. (What they didn’t know was that it was the
ammonia in the urine that was responsible for the bleaching.)
21. The Anti-Pearly Whites
Black
teeth are not always the result of poor dental hygiene – in Vietnam and other
parts of Asia, women and men take part in the ritual of teeth blackening to
enhance sex appeal, maintain healthy teeth, and not be mistaken for an evil
spirit.
22. Cockroach Red?
When you
see “cochineal extract,” “carmine,” “crimson lake,” “natural red 4,” “C.I.
75470,” or “E120” on a product label, you might not know that these terms refer
to the red dye in your cosmetics – which is derived from the dried bodies of
female cochineal insects.
23. Bleeding for Beauty
In order
to achieve the pale complexion that was once so desirable, medieval women would
bleed themselves using leeches or by slashing one of their veins and draining
the blood into a cup or bowl.
24. Spot On
Beauty
marks were held in high regard long before Cindy Crawford and her iconic mole.
Renaissance women went so far as to make their own “beauty spots” from small
circles of black velvet, which also proved useful for hiding pimples, warts,
and scars.
Thanks for the info:
So, Hair. We all have it; some more, some less. If you are like me, you walk down the aisle
in any beauty store and ask yourself, what do all these products do? Do I need ALL of them? What type of hair do I have? So this is the approach I take. Over the years, I think I have tried over 100
different shampoos/conditioners, hair sprays, gels, pomades, you get it! If it sprays, pumps or comes out of a tube
I’ve tried it. Trying all these products
mostly comes from me being ADHD about my hair styles. In junior high I had a perm with what I referred
to as “wave” bangs. I would use gel and
then comb it over and curl the end around like a little pin curl. Really?
Hold on, it gets better! In high
school, I still had a perm but now I had what we refer to here in California as
“Cha-Cha” bangs or “the fly catcher.” I
would curl them with a curling iron, tease them and spray the heck out of them
so they would stand about 3” tall. Since
then I’ve been a little more conservative in the height of my hair, but still
like to style it a bunch of different ways. 
Overall friends, don’t be afraid to try products. Most retailers have great return policies, so
if you don’t like it, take it back!
