Cleopatra was one of the most famous queens in all of Ancient Egypt. Everything in her aroused admiration, both her character and her dedication with which she took care of her body and her aesthetics. In Supercurioso we write a lot about the last monarch of the country of the Nile, since we believe that her person is tremendously inspiring and powerful. In this article, We are going to reveal all the secrets about Cleopatra’s makeup.
The ancient Egyptians, unlike other civilizations, were very neat when it came to hygiene. Especially the royals. These were delivered to the daily cult of the body and also adorned it with wigs or various jewelry. The Egyptians were pioneers in many fields and Egyptian makeup was no exception.
After reading this article you will see that the history of Cleopatra’s makeup means that this was an art, intensifying the beauty of the monarch. If you continue reading you will discover why.
Find out what Cleopatra’s makeup looked like
To start this article, we want to make it clear that most upper-class Egyptians wore a lot of makeup. The ancient Egyptians painted their faces because they believed that this protected them from all diseases. This is why Cleopatra’s makeup was always so impressive.
It is worth emphasizing that the canons of beauty at this time they concentrated on making the eyes look as big as possible. This was achieved thanks to eyeliner and brow shaping. In addition, the skin had to become perfectly tanned.
This study about Cleopatra’s makeup was carried out by French scientists from the Louvre Museum. This has allowed the Egyptian make-up and, that of Cleopatra itself, be admired all over the worldboth by scientists and by many women throughout history.
1. What was Cleopatra’s makeup made of?
Cleopatra’s makeup was composed of minerals, among which salts and lead stand out. These minerals helped the immune system, since they had healing properties.
Despite the minerals in Cleopatra’s makeup, it was not harmful. The above because the Egyptians knew perfectly the amount or proportion that they should use. Now then, the dark makeup that was placed around the eyes was conducive to prevent the scorching heat of Egypt from damaging the outline.
2. Cleopatra makeup: A very careful ritual
Cleopatra had a daily beauty ritual for her entire body, but she loved it focus on her eyes. For this reason, he gave priority to outlining the gaze, generally with feline traits. Let us also remember the importance of cats in Ancient Egypt.
This was done with the aforementioned mixture, which received the name of galena. They also dominated the use of different colors, in addition, of course, black. It should be noted that in Egyptian culture, colors had different meanings.
Queen Cleopatra’s attendants used antimony to generate green and blue colors. These were applied to the eyelids, with the intention of creating more lively and bright eyes. To complete Cleopatra’s makeup, they used a mixture of red ocher and iron oxide to get terracotta colors. With these they impregnated the lips.
In the court of the queen, everyone had to wear makeup and with perfect presentation. As mentioned above, makeup was very important at that time, as it was considered to Ancient Egypt the cradle of cosmetics. So much so that people were buried with their beauty products.
Some secrets of the makeup ritual of the queen of Egypt that you should know
Like all of us who enjoy a good and elegant makeup, the queen of Egypt had some secret tricks that made her ritual even more impressive. Among these are:
- To achieve a fresh and much younger appearance, the queen took baths of milk and honey. The moisturizing properties of lactose and the antioxidants of honey, along with the high concentrations of collagen and vitamins A, B, D and E, achieved cleaner and stronger skin.
- To care for your beautiful eyes and protect your skin from the sun’s rays, Rose water could not be missing from Cleopatra’s makeup. A product that today is widely used in the makeup process.
- And the wrinkles? Cleopatra had a solution for them. This was a fabulous ointment based on onion, lily, honey and melted wax.
Cleopatra makeup in the modern world
Cleopatra has always been on everyone’s lips and the way she put on makeup has created a trend in society. One of the most popular representations of the queen of Egypt was made by the great actress Elizabeth Taylor in the film “Cleopatra”.
In it we can see the interpreter wearing spectacular makeup, with very tanned skin, perfectly slanted eyes in a feline look and blue eye shadow. All this complemented with impressive jewels and flowing silk dresses, turned Liz Taylor into the spitting image of Cleopatra..
More recently, the famous singer Katy Perry also played the queen of Ancient Egypt in a video clip. In it, a more modern version of Cleopatra appears, with a make-up similar to that assumed for the great ruler of Egypt, but with colors more in keeping with our current times.
As you may have seen after reading this text about Cleopatra’s makeup, the great queen of Ancient Egypt has inspired many women throughout history. Her makeup, in addition to favoring her physical appearance, also produced benefits for her health due to its composition. Something that greatly impressed the scientists who discovered this fact in the ancient Egyptian papyri.
Now we would like you to give us your opinion about this text that you have just read. Did you know that the Egyptians in general and Cleopatra in particular dedicated so much of their lives to having a better physical appearance? Have you ever heard that Ancient Egypt was the birthplace of cosmetology? Would you dare to make up like the great Egyptian queen? Leave us your comments, we are looking forward to reading them!