Beauty Secrets Reveal: Cleopatra’s Ancient Make-Up Inspo

sola rey

6 years ago

Queen Cleopatra, one of the most famous beauties in ancient history make-up secrets will be reveal here to inspire you for your New Years’s celebration ladies.

Over 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used eye shadow, not only for cosmetic but practical purposes as well. Dark pigment painted around the eye helped protect the eye from the bright midday sun glaring off the desert sands.

The earliest eye paint in ancient Egypt was a thick, bright green paste made from the mineral malachite.

By the time Queen Cleopatra came to power in the 1st century BC, Egyptian women had at their disposal a whole rainbow of cosmetics, all of which were made from rocks, minerals, and plants in the region. Cleopatra used the bright green malachite paste of the ancient Egyptians on her lower eyelids.

Eye Shadow:

On her upper eyelids, she used a deep blue eye shadow with gold-colored pyrite flecks, made from ground lapis lazuli stone.

Eyeliner:

She darkened her eyebrows and lengthened her eyelashes with black kohl, a mixture of powdered lead sulfide and animal fat.

Ancient Egyptians wore lipstick to show social status rather than gender. Lipsticks with shimmering effects were initially made using a pearlescent substance found in fish scales.

Lipstick:

Cleopatra wore a unique red lipstick created from flowers, red ochre, fish scales, crushed ants, carmine, and beeswax. Her signature shade (the right shade of scarlet for her lips) made red a popular choice, and as a result, the use of carmine became more widespread. Ingredients were mixed in either brass or wooden bowls (depending on class levels) and once the color had been created it could be applied directly onto the lips. This was done using wet wooden sticks that acted as an applicator brush.

Nail Polish:
The Egyptian queen even wore nail polish, made of the reddish-brown dye called henna, which comes from the Egyptian privet tree. And Cleopatra often had her palms painted with henna in elaborate designs. Like the ancient Egyptians before her.