Egyptian Beauty

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Ancient Egyptian Beauty Aids

Egyptians were vain in their appearance. Cosmetics, perfumes and other rituals were an important part of their dress.

She Loved Her Beauty

Egyptian women loved to adorn themselves with make-up: ochres made of iron oxides, commonly found in Egypt provided rouge while malachite, a copper ore, was the basis of a green cosmetic used to adorn to eye, and the colour of which symbolized fertility.

Dark grey eye paint was also used and this was a derivative of a lead ore called Galena.

Eye make-up also had magical and medicinal purposes; Galena not only protected its wearer from the "Evil Eye" but it also contained disinfectant and deterred flies.

Eyes Beauty

Fashion!

Eye makeup was probably the most characteristic of the Egyptian cosmetics. The most popular colors were green and black. The green was originally made from malachite, an oxide of copper.

In the Old Kingdom it was applied liberally from the eyebrow to the base of the nose. In the Middle Kingdom, green eye paint continued to be used for the brows and the corners of the eyes, but by the New Kingdom it had been superseded by black. Black eye paint, kohl, was usually made of a sulfide of lead called galena.

Its use continued to the Coptic period. By that time, soot was the basis for the black pigment. Both malachite and galena were ground on a palette with either gum and/or water to make a paste. Round-ended sticks made of wood, bronze, haematite, obsidian or glass were used to apply the eye make-up.

The Egyptians thought that an abundance of facial hair was a sign of uncleanliness and personal neglect. An exception to this was a man's thin mustache or goatee.

There was no soap so an oil or salve was probably used to soften the skin and hairs of the area to be shaved. Tweezers with blunt or sharp ends were used for removing individual facial hairs.

Beauty & Clothes

Women attended not only to their bodies but also to their clothes; examples of women being massaged with oils and dressed in fine linens, and garlanded with flowers are commonly depicted in the art of the time. In their graves we find combs and hairpins. They thought thick hair was best and used hair extensions and wigs.

They even dyed their hair and wigs a variety of colours with blues, greens, blondes and gold colours being the preferred colours.

Egyptian Facial Mask

1 egg beaten
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 T flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 T whole milk
Mix together all ingredients until creamy and well blended. Spread the mixture over your face and neck and leave on for 15 minutes. Rinse well with cool water and pat dry.
Yield: 2 ounces, enough for one facial mask