For centuries, people have strived to look their best. You might be surprised to know the practices people used to enhance their eyes for beauty, magical and medicinal reasons. Today, there are multitudes of mascaras out there to choose from, but that wasn’t always the case.

Ancient Egypt

In 3,500 BC Egyptian men and women believed certain cosmetics would strengthen their vision and help scare away evil spirits. The makeup often contained Galena to repel insects and malachite, an alleged aphrodisiac. The most popular eyelash cosmetic of the day was kohl, which helped to protect the eyes from sun glare and looked super fierce. Additionally, their cosmetics were kept in cute little pots and glass jars. Good packaging went a long way back in the day too.

Ancient Rome

Women of the Roman Empire picked up the trend of long, thick and curly lashes from the women of Egypt and India. They used kohl or burnt cork, mixed with saffron or antimony to darken their eyelashes. This lasted until the church condemned the artificial appearance and Christian women started avoiding cosmetics to please god with a natural appearance.

Medieval Times

In Medieval times and until the 18th century the natural trend went wild when women generally removed eyelashes and eyebrows in order to highlight the forehead. Women’s hair was regarded as an erotic feature and thusly women were not supposed to show their hair in public, even eyebrows and eyelashes. Some religions considered visible lashes and brows a sin, and makeup was considered for prostitutes. So there.

The Victorian Era

Victorian era women realized that god didn’t care about eye makeup and darkened their eyelashes and eyebrows using old homemade methods, like ashes, or lamp soot mixed with elderberry juice. This practice essentially continued until Eugene Rimmel, the personal perfumer of Queen Victoria, developed a new mascara formula based on coal dust and petroleum jelly. The new non-toxic product quickly revolutionized cosmetics and was immediately adopted by European women and soon became a successful multi-national business and eventually what is now Rimmel London.

Thankfully there is no longer a need to grind up stones to make our beauty products. RapidLash is today’s answer for healthy-looking and fortified lashes and brows. Choose products you love to accentuate what is naturally yours thanks to RapidLash.

Shannon C., Lashing Out