In the contemporary world, the use of makeup is favorably popular. Makeup appeals mostly to women and whether a woman opts to acknowledge makeup or not she definitely has a natural desire to use it. Since the ancient times, makeup has been used to beautify women in order to boost confidence and personality. The use of makeup has its roots in Egypt where the first prototype of cosmetics is believed to have been used around 10 000 BCE.
The ancient Egyptians used some metal ores such as lead and copper in some of the elementary makeup forms whereas the Romans of ancient times used mercury as a prestigious cosmetic. These practices are obviously not safe today. In ancient times, the use of make was solely popular to the rich folks since it was a highly luxurious undertaking. Over the centuries, women have gone to extreme levels in an attempt to improve their appearance. Throughout history, women have risked their health by applying some homemade cosmetics and misguided makeup practices. For instance, the Egyptian and Roman culture account for the use of harmful metal such as lead and mercury which are toxic to the body. These metal ores were popularly used to turn the skin pale to some degree that was deemed a beautiful appearance in those times (Wheatley, 2012).
However, the use of cosmetics grew in popularity from century to the next, but was looked down upon by the church during the middle ages due to it vanity. In the 1800s, Queen Victoria denounced makeup deeming it “vulgar” and proclaimed its use only fit for actors. However, make became extremely popular among people of all walks of life by mid of the 20th century. In fact, this period was characterized by development of factories such as Factorowicz, which began in Russia and spread to the US in 1904 at the World’s fair, which took place at St. Louis Missouri (cosmeticsinfo.org, “a history of cosmetic” n.d).
In the modern world, the cosmetic industry has evolved into a multibillion venture, which is regulated by government directives to ensure safety of cosmetic products by abiding to manufacturing laws. The side effects of using primitive cosmetics have been done away with and most of the available cosmetic products are really useful for makeup and beautification purposes (Wheatley, 2012).
