Did You Know These Interesting Beauty Facts?

Mad about makeup? Your favorite product or beauty trends might have an interesting history.

1. The founder of Maybelline, Tom Lyle Williams, named his brand after his sister Mabel, who used to make her lashes look thicker and darker by using a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust.

2. The ancient Egyptians created the first beauty makeup out of copper and lead ore.

3. The first nail polish was invented in China in 3000 BC. Thank goodness the formula has been adapted over the centuries because this first nail polish consisted of beeswax, gum, egg whites and colored powder.

4. Some makeup products in the 1930s contained radioactive material. The brand Tho-Radia made a range of perfume, face powder, lipstick and other products that contained thorium chloride and radium. It was believed that radiation was good for the skin. These products are no longer on the market.

5. Revlon was the first beauty brand worldwide to introduce red nail polish to the market.

6. In the 19th century, lipstick was given its red color by adding carmine dye, which was extracted from cochineal, scale insects from South America that live on cactus plants.

7. In the 1800s, eyeshadows and lip stains often contained poisonous ingredients such as mercuric sulfide and belladonna.

8. The tube of mascara we know today was first manufactured and packaged in 1913 by Rimmel.

9. In medieval times, women went to great lengths to obtain a pale, porcelain skin, including placing leeches on their bodies to drain their blood, making them seem paler!

10. It wasn’t until the 1920s, when Coco Chanel accidentally got sunburnt on a yacht trip, that tans became popular.

11. Before L’Oréal launched the first beauty hairspray produced for the mass market in 1960, women had to choose between slicking their hair down with a greasy brilliantine or using a mechanical sprayer to coat it with shellac dissolved in a solution of water and alcohol.

12. During the Second World War, there was a shortage of cosmetic products. Makeup was never rationed, but there was a lack of ingredients – resources such as alcohol and petroleum had to be used for war supplies instead.

13. To date, the oldest perfumery was discovered on the island of Cyprus. An archaeological team unearthed evidence of a massive perfume factory dating back 4 000 years during the Bronze Age.

14. The famous Chanel No 5 perfume got its name because Coco Chanel approved and preferred the fifth sample that perfumer Ernest Beaux developed for her.

15. Max Factor, a popular and affordable brand most of us are familiar with today, started out in 1904 as a company by the founder with the same name, manufacturing made-to-order wigs and theatrical makeup for the growing film industry. Ten years later, in 1914, the grease-like face paint used on stage and film was made into a cream with a thinner consistency and packaged in jars.