Women across the globe don’t step out without a certain fashion and beauty staple item – the eyeliner. Not just that, there is not any one kind of eyeliner, there are several – liquid, gel, kohl, glitter and so on..
Every morning we get ready and draw a line across our eyelid and are amazed how it completely transforms our look, but do we ever wonder where this life savior came from?
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The First Eyeliner
The first traces of eyeliner date back to as early as 10000 BC and like any other ancient findings these traces are found in the earliest civilizations, that of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Unlike today, it was used by both men and women to enhance their eyes. Today, eyeliners represent fashion but back in the day, they served another purpose, devotion towards religion and gods. People from all walks of life used eyeliners until the fall of Egypt at the hands of Rome in early 1st millennia AD.
Use of Eyeliners After the Fall of Egypt
After the fall of Egypt, eyeliners practically fell out of fashion. They were not much in use during the reign of Greeks and Romans. However, they remained in fashion in Asia and were widely used.
Eyeliners post 20’s
Before the 1920’s, eyeliners were not popular in Europe and Asian fashion was not influential enough to change that. But it did change in the 20’s when a massive archeological discovery was made in 1922 by Englishmen Howard Carter and George Herbert. They discovered the tomb of the ancient Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun, under the great pyramids of Giza. This event was covered worldwide and the ancient Egyptian eyeliner was introduced to the world where it was instantly accepted. Cosmetic companies saw this as an opportunity for their business to flourish and eyeliners were introduced in the market.
Conclusion
Ever since the discovery of the ancient Egyptian eyeliner in the 20’s it was moderately used till the 60’s after which new styles of eyeliner emerged in the 70’s. Since then eyeliners have always been on the rise and are a huge part of the modern woman’s life.
