Beauty and cosmetics in ancient Egypt

The green eye paint called Udju [3] was made of malachite, a copper carbonate pigment.

[7] Mesdemet, or kohl, was used for lining the eyes and it revealed to bring along potent health benefits in the form of protection from disease, bugs and sun rays.

Red ochre clay was ground up and mixed with water to create a paste to paint on the lips and cheeks.

[8] The ancient Egyptians created a remedy for burns by mixing the cheek and lip stain with red natron, northern salt, and honey.

[10] Modern research suggests that the lead compounds found in these eye creams causes nitrogen monoxide overproduction in the body of the wearer.

These palettes have developed into baboon shaped containers to hold the kohl which held symbolic meanings for the ancient Egyptians.

They often used a pad to apply powders to their face, and they used a reed with a piece of red ochre clay attached to the end to paint their lips.

Cosmetic Box of the Royal Butler Kemeni; 1814–1805 BC; cedar with ebony, ivory veneer and silver mounting; height: 20.3 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)
Used to crush and mix makeup paste.
Fish Shaped Makeup Palette used to crush and mix different powders to create makeup paste. Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ 1 ]
Merit's cosmetic box; circa 1390-1352 BC; wood, paint, faience , glass and alabaster ; height: 22 cm, width: 29.5 cm, length: 49 cm; from Deir el-Medina (Egypt); Museo Egizio ( Turin , Italy) [ 2 ]
Cosmetic box in the shape of an Egyptian composite capital, its cap being in the left side; 664–300 BC; glassy faience; 8.5 × 9 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Imaginary depiction of an ancient Egyptian woman applying makeup . Diorama from the Royal Ontario Museum , Canada.