A Short History of Cosmetics

With all the billions of dollars spent every year worldwide on cosmetics, sometimes we may find ourselves asking, “How did it get to this point? When did it become the norm for me to have to wake up every morning and before I even go out the door I get to paint my face from top to bottom? Surely a woman way back in history didn’t just wake up one day and apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and rouge all at the same time. No, it was, like many things, a culmination of things from the past.

Remember the Egyptians? That was over four thousand years ago. Cleanliness and appearance were terribly important to the Egyptians. They believed the appearance was in direct link with the health of the soul. They strived to always look and smell good. And with a society who values their appearance, you’re inevitably going to have people who are going to make themselves stand out.

But the Egyptians, being the innovative people they were, used cosmetics for reasons that were even smarter than just trying to look good.

Mesdemet was the earliest kind of eye shadow- a substance made of copper and lead ore. The dark shades they believed would ward off evil eyes to their own. It was also a great disinfectant and insect repellant. Kohl was a dark powder that was also applied around the eyes in an oval shape. It was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. To further enhance their appearance, they would apply a mixture of water and red clay to the cheekbone area. They would also paint their nails colors of orange and yellow with a substance called henna.

As time moved on and cultures were exposed to each other more and more, the Greeks began to pick up on the many practices of the Egyptian’s use of cosmetics.

They would give themselves a pale color with a foundation that contained lead in it. This proved fatal on more than one occasion. As the Romans began to pick up the cosmetics practice, the pursuit of beauty became much less about functionability and took a turn into much more exotic routes. The Romans would paint their nails with a combination of sheep’s blood and cooked body fat. An ancient Roman man once said, “A woman without paint is like food without salt.”

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A Short History of the Growth of Cosmetic Surgery

Men were recognized to be less vain--or not vain at all--compared to women. Today, there are men known as ‘metrosexuals’ who seemed to be similarly ‘obsessed’ to beauty similar to women. Actually, the cosmetics market serves both sexes and is doing great business.

Searching for beauty and youth seems to have no gender bias. This is one reason why plastic or cosmetic surgery has become one of the most common practices in the field of medicine. In fact, people have been looking for self-improvement since ancient times. Records show that since around 4,000 years ago, people have turned to surgical ways to appropriate facial traumas.

In ancient India, doctors were known to have employed skin grafts for reconstructive facial works as soon as 800 BCE. Nevertheless, advancement in this field was somewhat slow throughout the world for several millennia.

Techniques were modified by the west from India and eventually enhanced for fresh applications. It was only later in the Greco-Roman period when this approach was recorded and spread throughout the western world. From that period on, plastic surgery improved at a much faster pace with the introduction of contemporary technology and the developments of science.

Despite the fact that many of the medical advancements originated in Europe, many surgical techniques were also established in the United States. This includes the first cleft palate operation in 1827, that was done by Dr. John Peter Mettauer. A number of other valuable advances ensued which have made plastic surgery what it is today.

It was only in the 60s and 70s, however, when plastic surgery became an in demand branch of medicine. Previously, one only went to a plastic surgeon secretly. Nowadays, it is a common and recognized practice. A cosmetic surgeon Florida based customers choose is among those sought for such treatments.

Throughout the early stages of its inception, the use of silicone breast implants became debatable. Nevertheless, it did not slow down the fast growth of this type of plastic surgery. At present, the most valuable trend is the usage of less intrusive cosmetic procedures like Botox. Approximately there are over 1.1 million Botox shots administered in the U.S. yearly, and the numbers are gradually increasing. A cosmetic surgeon Tampa based clients prefer administers this type of procedure to hundreds of patients.

The cosmetic surgery tampa clients want needs to be performed by accredited plastic surgeons. For the past several years, the number of cosmetic surgery treatments done throughout the world has increased by an average of 21 percent annually. The demand continues to rise despite the worldwide economic recession.

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