We may think that cosmetics are a relatively new invention but the truth is that they have been around for centuries. Women (and sometimes even men!) have historically used cosmetics to enhance their appearance and to make themselves look and feel more attractive since ancient times. And, they’ve used some unusual stuff along the way!

Most experts credit the Egyptians as the first civilization to really set trends in the use of cosmetics although their use may actually date back further than this. It is thought that the Egyptians were however the first people to promote the use of kohl as a cosmetic on the eyes — a trend that still continues to this day!

Of course not all of the substances that were used by ancient civilizations could be checked in the way that they can be today. So, for example, many Egyptians did themselves no real health favors by using lead and mercury to make up many of the cosmetic substances that they used. White lead was particularly popular as it could make a useful white paste with a variety of uses.

Many early civilizations played it safer with their cosmetic production and used natural products and substances such as beeswax, henna, egg and flowers and plants. The discovery that bird droppings could be used to lighten the color of your hair, however, was not one that carried on through time!

During the years cosmetic production changed but many relatively dangerous substances remained the norm. In the days of Elizabeth I, for example, a white face was a sign of great beauty so court ladies would paint their faces a stark (and often quite scary!) white using white lead. This also poisoned them of course.

It wasn’t really until the 1700s that people started to realize that using substances such as lead, mercury and the ever popular arsenic wasn’t doing their skin or their longevity much good. Unfortunately it was to be a good few centuries before the cosmetic industry became regulated enough to stop manufacturers using these kinds of harmful substances in their products.

So, over the years women have used a hair removal cream based on rat poison, eyelash dyes that have blinded them, foundations that have rotted their skin and maybe contributed to their early death and various facial products based on arsenic. And, things sometimes don’t seem much better today with levels of lead found in certain lipsticks in the past decade or so.

Nowadays, however, women (and men) who wear cosmetics are generally lucky enough to have regulators looking after their general health. Given the global trend towards improving our own health and that of nature and the environment in general, many cosmetics and related products are much more natural than they ever used to be.

The big advantage here is that our skins will suffer less from using today’s cosmetics than they did just a few decades ago. They’ll certainly do better than if we were living in Elizabethan or Ancient Egyptian times!