Make Me Up

Makeup dates all the way back to the days of Cleopatra and the ancient Egyptians. Egyptians may not have been the first to use makeup, but they were the first to document the importance of using makeup on the face. It's also documented that the Romans used what we refer to today as eyeliner and mascara to accent their eyes too. During the European Middle Ages people adopted the idea of pale skin as it was seen as a sign of wealth. This continued into the Renaissance period but women in order to establish a sign of wealth started to use deadly elements like lead. But around the Victorian age people started to associate wearing makeup with prostitutes and actresses causing a decline in the use of face makeup. As surprising as it may be the modern makeup we think about today actually started in the 1900s. Tanned skin began to be associated with the working class and being out in the sun all day as similar to the Renaissance period where pale was a sign of wealth and by the 1930s makeup was available to all classes of society. Today, makeup is everywhere. There are thousands of makeup brands here in the US and around the world. We see commercials for a lot of makeup for brands like CoverGirl, Mayballine, and higher end brands like Mac and Lancome. We've come full circle as we are now using mineral makeup and earth friendly products that are healthy for the skin rather than killing people. Tanned skin is in again. Makeup though we may not think of it as a media aspect influences media and society in many ways. It influences the commercial aspects of media as we see it printed in magazines and there are ads of TV.


http://www.makeup-artist-world.com/historyofmakeup.htm