Let’s Decode Eyeliner: History of Today’s Essential Must-Have Makeup Product!
From Queen Nefertiti to modern-day female leaders, most people associate the history of eyeliner with ancient Egypt. Here’s all you need to know about it.
It’s amazing how a thin black line over your eyes can change your whole appearance, giving you a more stylish and edgy look. A simple swipe of a perfectly winged eyeliner adds to your confidence. It has been a shortcut to instant beauty over the past years. But that’s not when this fad started. It began in ancient Egypt as early as 10000 BC, where people used to trace their eyes with kohl to decorate their eyes, brows, and enhance facial features. Back then, “kohl was a mixture of galena, a form of lead sulfide, and other minerals mixed with water, oil, or other soluble substances, like animal fat,” as quoted in the Vice. With time, the ingredients changed, but not the primary use of the product.
In 1912, the archeologists discovered the bust of the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. She was known for her beauty and her almond-shaped eyes, covered with thick black kohl that fascinated many. It brought eyeliner to the following centuries to become an irreplaceable part of our makeup routine today. Over 12000 years ago, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, eyeliner was worn by both men and women. It was used not only for beautification but also to protect the eye area from wrinkles, reduce sun glare, honor the deities, and maintain hygiene. It has been established that kohl has antibacterial properties. Wealthy or poor, Egyptians of all classes wore kohl, the Egyptian eyeliner. However, the lead ingredients in the kohl were replaced by fire soot by the lower classes. Its shine and wear in the eyes became a signifier of a person’s social class.
From Queen Nefertiti to modern-day female leaders, most people associate the history of the ‘eyeliner’ to ancient Egypt and significantly Queen Nefertiti; however, it came to later unfold to different societies. In ancient Greece, eyeliner was used to magnify the eyes, also known as platyophthalmon, and in Rome, women used to dye their lashes daily, and line eyes with kohl, a mixture of ashes and oil, or saffron, and applied with either a thin stick or needle. The Japanese performance artists, Geishas, used to outline their eyes with charcoal traditionally. But now, they apply eyeliner along with red pigment.
With the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, the makeup became inspired by Ancient Egyptians. This phase was called Tutmania. Slowly, the actors of the silent black and white films started using eyeliner and makeup to enhance their expressions. Think Charlie Chaplin in “The Tramp.” However, in the early 1920s, makeup was associated with sex workers and considered vulgar, owing to Victorian ideologies. It became a means for society to categorize women and pass judgments on them. Moving forward in the 1950s, women were pressured to apply makeup and dress up at all times to keep their husbands “interested” after the war. The eyeliner styles took a great leap at this point with flirtatious cat eyes looks and other makeup products like lipsticks.
“From the ’60s onwards, makeup looks continued to evolve. Models like Twiggy went for heavy eyeliner along the lash line and eyelid crease, while the ’70s makeup fad leaned towards the use of a color like white and pastels. Pop singers took center stage in the ’80s, with excessive color and makeup application being in vogue. Singers like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper popularized neon eyeshadow and dark liner on both the upper and lower lash lines — the bigger the better,” as quoted in The Cosmopolitan.
The 90s featured a heavy grungy look with messed up eyeliner followed by the 2000s when celebrities like Paris Hilton and Avril Lavigne started wearing tight liner that is applied on the waterline, giving an illusion of thicker eyelashes. Later, with the advent of YouTube, we came across many tutorials on perfecting a winged eyeliner, which many of us still struggle with. Not only women but men have also used the product and, quite frankly, rock the look. The history of eyeliner from ancient Egypt demonstrates that make-up has never been limited to women. Also, the kohl has been replaced by liquid and pen eyeliner in varied colors along with black. Even if you skip the rest of the makeup, the eyeliner can add a sophisticated touch to your ensemble.
If you want to perfect that wing eyeliner and make sure that the next time you hold a kohl stick, it takes you no time to make your wings as good as the Egyptians, check out Habbit’s Makeup workshop by Trushna Parekh, beauty influencer and makeup artist!