Page 18 - All About History 58 - 2017 UK

HAIR & BEAUTY

Handcrafted box
Dressing tables didn’t appear until the 17th century — before then, many
ancient cultures crafted ornate, portable boxes to store make-up. This
28-centimetre-long Cosmetic Box of Cupbearer Kemini was made of
cedar, with ebony and ivory veneer and silver mounting. It also had a
drawer for storing eight vessels and a compartment with a removable lid
for storing a mirror, a comb and other paraphernalia. Egyptian cosmetic
boxes could also be made from bone, bronze, faience or pottery.

Red ochre rouge
Green eyeshadow The Ancient Egyptians
As well as using kohl as eyeliner, used rouge in much the
EGYPTIAN
Ancient Egyptians would paint same way we would
their eyelids green. This eye shadow today, to stain their lips
would be made from crushed and cheeks a healthy red
malachite, a vibrantly verdant copper colour. It was made from
ore. This was commonly mined in powdered red ochre and
MAKE-UP KIT
the Sinai Desert — known to the mixed with water to form a
EGYPT, 2686-332 BCE Ancient Egyptians as Ta Mefkat, paste. Rouge was a symbol
‘land of turquoise’. Malachite was
of high status and so it was
also used as mineral pigment in a popular choice among
The Ancient Egyptians went to great lengths green paints dating from antiquity. both men and women.
to make themselves look good. Both men and
women wore eyeliner and coated themselves in
creams to ensure their skin looked smooth. There
are accounts of kings and queens bathing not
just every day but after every meal and covering
themselves in fragrant perfumes. To make sure Jar of honey
they could keep up their beauty regimen in the
afterlife, pharaohs filled their tombs with jars of Honey was a crucial
ingredient in the Ancient
make-up, jewellery and even wigs. Egyptian beauty regime. It
This culture of using cosmetics pervaded every
could be mixed with milk to
level of society. Even if they couldn’t afford the
create luxurious face masks
same products as the upper classes, commoners
or applied to the skin as
would do their best to imitate the same make-up
a moisturiser. Honey was
trends. For their part, the wealthy would also use
also useful for its medicinal
skin-lightening creams to emphasise that they did
properties that could sooth
not work outside in the sun all day.
However, we should think twice before the skin if it became sunburnt
dismissing the Ancient Egyptians as simply vain. or infected. Incredibly, pots of
Recent scientific research has suggested that the honey have been recovered
smoky-eyed look worn by Egyptians may have from Egyptian tombs still
had a medical benefit. Kohl eyeliner, when mixed perfectly preserved and edible.
with moisture from the eyes, would have had anti-
bacterial properties. Heavy application might also
have helped to reduced glare from the sun. Their
use of creams and lotions would also have acted Personalised finish
as a rudimentary sunscreen. While the Ancient The incised scene on the front
Egyptians would not have understood how this of the box depicts Cupbearer
worked, we do know they attributed magical Kemini, a high-ranking servant
properties to their make-up, believing it would who was the only one allowed to
summon protection to fend off illness. wait on the royal table, presenting
While cosmetics were used throughout the a vessel of ointment to Pharaoh
Ancient Egyptian’s reign, the best condition make- Amenemhat IV. It’s uncertain
up box we have is 3,000 years old. The so-called if the box originally belonged
Cosmetic Box of Cupbearer Kemini was found in to Kemini or Amenemhat, but
1910 by Howard Carter in the tomb of Pharaoh it was found in the tomb of
Renseneb. A hand mirror and four stone ointment Pharaoh Renseneb, a descendent
jars were found nearby and presumed to have of Amenemhat who ruled for four
belonged to it. months in 1777 BCE.

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