Mascara History.

There was a material named kohl that was used to darken the eye areas. Namely the lashes and eyebrows. Kohl was the substance used by both men and women to guard against evil, and offer protection to their souls. Crocodile droppings and honey would be added to the kohl to give it the viscosity needed to stay put and not run down the face of the user. Babylonians, Greeks and Romans picked up this cultural idea from the Egyptians, and kohl became widely used throughout those empires. After the demise of the Roman empire, kohl basically faded away over time.

Western culture had very little comfort with makeup until the Victorian era. With the Victorian era, came opinion change, and feelings shifted radically with the acceptance and marketing of cosmetics. Women began to use and spend a majority of the time devoted to beauty regimens. Enormous efforts were made to garner illusions of long, dark eyelashes. While making such attempts women created a type of mascara of their own at home. The item here that people would see as mascara today was not created or developed until the 19th century

The chemist Eugene Rimmel formulated a cosmetic using the new petroleum jelly. The name Rimmel became known for the substance. Across the Atlantic Ocean around the same time period, in 1913, a man named T. L. Williams created the similar substance for his sister Maybel. Now you know where the company Maybelline comes from. Mascara developed at that time was a blend of petroleum jelly and coal. It was quite messy, and a better concept was readily developed soon after.

A cake which was made of soap and black dye in a fifty fifty split was created, and then applied to the eyelashes. Still this was also a terrible messy. No real strides in improvement came to be until 1957 with an idea created by Helena Rubinstein. Back then during 1957, Rubinstein formulated a cake in a cream lotion base that evolved mascara into a softer material that would stay where it was applied.

After a while a grooved rod was invented, and made application of eye lash makeup that much easier to deal with.. This brush amazingly picked up the same amount of mascara each. Then of course the grooved and angled brush was invented, and it very similar to what is used to apply mascara today.

The most recent advancements regarding mascara have been made in the areas of color and texture. The never ending struggle to look different as well as having a smooth application result, it what interests consumers the most. No one wants clumps or flakes, and who would?