Why Minerals Makeup?

Minerals and the use
of them in Make Up
have been around
since Ancient Times!
Since the early days
Of Egypt,  the concern
with beautification and
body care so was very
extensive. Cosmetic
implements, particularly
eye-makeup palettes,
have been discovered in
the earliest graves. Yet
CleopatraVII, last of the
Ptolemies, was herself
credited with writing
a book of beauty secrets,
an art that she was universally
acknowledged as mastering.

Egyptian concerns with beauty
and body care transcended economic status. Although many of the
artifacts that we are able to analyze today, derive from the upper
classes- kohl tubes bearing the names of Nefertitiand her daughters
have been found.

The earliest graves contain
cosmetic implements, not
only eye palettes but also
tweezers and razors. We
know, for instance, that the
Egyptians had access to and
used some 21 different types
of vegetable oils and in inu-
merable amount of natural
minerals for cosmetic pur-
poses, a vast repertoire even
by our standards. Many are
still in use today.

For the ancient Egyptians,
beauty, magic and medicine
were inseparable. No where
is this seen better than with
eye-makeup. Although
cosmetics were occasionally applied to lips and mouth, it is
difficult to envision an image of an ancient Egyptian lacking the
characteristic eye-make up. This make up was most typically
Mesdemet, deriving either from the minerals Galena (lead sulphide)
or from Stibnite (antimony sulphide). We have only to look at the
images the Egyptians left, to see for ourselves how stylish,
meticulous and beautiful they were.

To begin her toilette, the well-groomed Egyptian woman washed 
herself thoroughly with a special cleansing paste made from water
mixed with Natron. Natron is a naturally occurring mineral compound
of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.