Roman day to day life was quite similar to our life now. People were fixated on appearing healthy and youthful. The complicated nature of beautifying oneself  differentiates it from a more modern cosmetic routine. This was due to the fact that makeup application was a process that had to be repeated more than once daily. The low techy production process of cosmetics of the age led to the resulting products being inordinately ruined to a large extent by climate. The enlargement of the Roman Empire rapidly changed the way in which people lived, their increasing wealth allowed a lucky section of the Empire to indulge in such luxuries and hence as the Empire grew, and wealth increased Roman society became more infatuated with looking good. For example, Greek and Egyptian views on beauty were massive influences on Roman views. Romans, however, felt that the preservation of beauty was more important than an exaggerated, less than natural look. A desire to look pure was the reason for the more favored ordinary appearance. Depraved and deceiving is how woman who wore excessive amounts of make were thought of as.

One’s foundation layer of make up was the most important aspect of a Roman woman’s daily beauty routine. This is because pure white skin was a central to the Roman perception of beauty. At its conception, the base layer of make up was a material, greasy in nature, for the reduction of skin flaws. Recipes for this layer included such ingredients as wax, honey and any other fatty substances. Roots, the carcasses of cattle are what the components that formed foundation began to develop into and be made by standalone make up businesses. The production of make up became fairly complicated and expensive, and this meant that for the lower classes of the time, it may have been too expensive. Found by archaeologists was a tub of this foundation cream, that was in good condition in Englands  capital. This tub was dated to near 200 years ago.A pot of this cream, which was nearly 2000 years old, was found in Central London

To make the skin more pale, people used materials like powder of chalk, dung of crocodile and even lead. The fact that Roman’s were aware that lead was poisonous reinforces the point of how important white skin was to them.

This is a marked contrast to the utilization of lipstick by these people. Proof that is was a factor in the make up routine of these people is lacking.

It was slaves who brought the whole process of applying cosmetics to a woman. Because of there skill in the application of cosmetics, certain slaves were very important to Roman’s. With use of a variety of components and the binding qualities of there own spit, they conceived their own rudimentary make up products. Needless to say, make up in those times was a smelly business.

 

 

 

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