Beauty and ancient civilizations

Though they didn’t have our technology at their fingertips, ancient civilizations were able to create clever, though sometimes dangerous, beauty concoctions. Nail polish originated in China around 3,000 B.C. The Chinese painted their nails with a polish made of gum arabic, egg whites, gelatin and beeswax. Ancient Egyptians made soap, soaked in milk baths to soften their skin, exfoliated with a mixture of crushed pumice stones and water and moisturized with olive oil. During this time, Egyptians also experimented with dramatic eye makeup. They smeared colorful malachite and galena over their faces and rimmed their eyes in kohl. Kohl was a paste of soot, animal fat and lead. Lead was used in cosmetics for hundreds of years. Ancient Greeks slathered lead all over their faces to whiten skin and clear blemishes. Centuries passed before people learned that lead is a dangerous ingredient with devastating side effects. Documented complications ranged from scarring to infertility to madness. Dangerous beauty, 15th to 20th century Beginning in the 15th century, the popularity of pale, white skin spread across Europe. Fair-skinned women hailed from the upper echelon of society, spending their days indoors — instead of laboring in the sun like the tanned-skin, low-class workers. So, the demand for lead-based skincare and makeup soared. Lead was used in various ways. It was combined with vinegar to make whitening foundation the main ingredient in early facial peels used to remove freckles. Queen Elizabeth I, one of the most iconic women of her time, suffered from facial disfigurement after repeated use of lead-based whitening foundation. It’s said she was so upset over her mottled face that she banished all mirrors from her castle. The Queen was actually spared when you consider that lead could cause muscle paralysis and death. It wasn’t until 1869 that the use of lead in cosmetics was challenged. The American Medical Association published “Three Cases of Lead Palsy from the Use of a Cosmetic Called Laird’s Bloom of Youth.’” This case study paved the way for the formation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1906. Three decades later, Ruth DeForest Lamb, the FDA’s chief education officer, published a book that documented the serious complications from beauty products. This prompted the passing of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act in 1938, putting cosmetics and medical devices under the FDA’s control.