Blogpost 4: History of "Make-Up"

Women now are so lucky to be in the age wherein everything has to be checked, tested and improved by chemists and dermatologists. Makeup now is usually for the benefit of our skin. They are used for sun protection, a flawless complexion, concealing of blemishes and overall helps with anti-aging. We all use make-up to try to look younger and more beautiful because we believe that there will always be room for improvement. But what are the cons of makeup? Many believe that makeup will clog your pores and will result in breakout of the skin. Another is that makeup will cause oily skin and or skin irritations. Regardless of the cons today, the cons of the past is worst. Women in the past had to suffer with physical pains of "make-up" just to try to be beautiful. 

In the article Suffering for beauty has ancient roots, it was stated that the birthplace of makeup was in Ancient Egypt. The Ancient Egyptian's makeup consisted of toxic elements such as lead, copper and manganese that can be very harmful not only to their skin, but their health as well. On the other hand, Ancient Romans were the first to embrace the idea of makeup. They tried to achieve the white complexion as a sign of wealth and status. For this, they would use white lead paint for the "dead white" look.

Similar to the Ancient Romans, women in the 15th, 16th and 17th century also tried to achieve the pale complexion. The makeup they had included toxic elements such as mercury, arsenic and lead which a curator at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Museum in Los Angeles said: “People would put whitening on their skin and over time, it would eat the skin away, causing all sorts of scarring". 

Even if our makeup today isn't as harmful as the past, doesn't mean we still wouldn't harm ourselves to achieve beauty. Skin whitening is very popular in the Philippines because similar to Ancient Rome, Filipinos have the idea that possessing the light skin is beautiful. Not all whitening is painful; however, one that interested me was the injection of gluthathione. First off, gluthathione is a substance consisting of three amino acids: glycine, glutamic acid and cysteine which slows down the production of melanin in our body and results in whiter skin.
When we first think of injection, we all know that it is to force a fluid into a passage. Well, doesn't that sound painful? 
In the article by Kelly Misa, Gluthathione injections-- are they good and safe for you?; it stated that it actually has a good benefit to our body even if it may sound a little extreme. However, she did suggest in being careful with where you buy it or have your treatment. Yes it may seem painful but at least, the pain might be worth it to improve your immune system and complexion as well. 

The only question left is how far women are actually willing to go just for beauty. Not necessarily only in the means of make up but with their bodies as well. We can already see that women were willing to harm themselves just to achieve a desired facial value but what about their body itself? Women still believe that there is a perfect body type and begin to harm themselves even more for this.