By Courtney Kitts

 Although eyeliner made a big impression in the 50’s with celebrities such as Marylyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth and Barbra Stanwyck, it was invented much before that, and used long before anyone even knew what a movie was.

 Eye liner was first used In southern Iraq and Egypt by both men and women.  At that time, people believed very strongly in decorating the human body, and this was an important method used to do so.  It was also a sign of wealth; if you wore eyeliner, you were assumed to be fairly well off.

The first time it was ever documented, was in 400 BC by the ancient Egyptians, but the ancient Iraqis soon did the same, making it difficult to tell which nation actually invented it.

 It was used all through out the countries, soon spreading all through out the world.  It was used all throughout the home of the Pharaoh, to remind people of the Pharaoh's wealth and superiority.

 It was a sign of wealth.  It was also believed to ward off evil spirits and protect against “the evil eye” depending on the orientation in question.  It was also a religious belief in Iraq.  Was used for aesthetic purposes.

People took ground lead sulfide, water, and sometimes various dyes ( depending on the wealth of the individual), mixed it into a thick ointment like substance and smeared it around the eyes.

 People often got eye infection and other form of bacteria in there eyes leading them to lose their eye sight or even die.  Unfortunately, people did not realize it was due to the eyeliner; they thought it was some form of evil eye, so they took it as a warning and used more, until they finally discovered the problem and changed some of the ingredients.

It eventually evolved into the eyeliner that people still use today, and is used for nothing other then beauty.

Thank you for your time I hope you learned a lot.

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