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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The ancient lipstick vial found in Iran. Left) the carved chlorite vial containing the cosmetic preparation. Right) image of mineral composition of the substance found. Source: Left: M. Vidale, Right: F. Zorzi /Nature CC BY 4.0 DEED

Ancient Red Lipstick Found in 4,000-Year-Old Vial Unearthed in Iran

Archaeologists studying a unique artifact obtained from an ancient cemetery in Iran have identified it as a small cosmetics vial made from chlorite. Most notably, inside the vial they found the...
Queen Elizabeth I portrait, National Portrait Gallery, London. Source: Public Domain

Five Things You Didn’t Know About Queen Elizabeth I (Video)

Queen Elizabeth I, a figure often shrouded in speculation, possessed intriguing facets beyond her stoic public image. Contrary to popular belief, her preoccupation with appearance extended beyond...
Lead white was a lethal pigment. Source: rodjulian / Adobe Stock.

Lead White Was a Lethal Pigment That Painted a Deadly History

Lead white, a pigment as notorious as it is historic, has painted a perilous line through human history. For over two millennia, this deceptively vibrant hue has been a silent killer , lurking in the...
People have been dying to be beautiful for centuries, and toxic cosmetics are nothing new. Many makeup ingredients have proven painful, or even deadly, over the years. Source: KNV / Adobe Stock

Dying to be Beautiful: 7 Crazy Ingredients Used in Ancient Cosmetics

Makeup has been around for centuries, but getting your glam on in ancient times wasn’t as simple as going to your local Sephora. Before safe and regulated products existed on the market, ancient...
Hygiene has evolved over the years, but we’ve been taking showers for centuries. Women bathing in a public gymnasium; Gouache painting based on an ancient Greek vase. Source: Wellcome Collection / Public Domain

Hygiene Through History: How Filthy Were Our Ancient Ancestors?

People in the past have a reputation for being dirty and unhygienic, but is this true? While many aspects of personal hygiene have evolved over the centuries, others have remained surprisingly...
Chinese woman in white makeup, illustrative of how lead white makeup was once worn.	Source: yuri2011 / Adobe Stock

The Chinese May have Been First to Use Synthetic Skin-whitening Cosmetics

A new study suggests that the Chinese may have been the first to use synthetic skin-whitening makeup and were making it before the Greeks and Romans. Bronze jars excavated from an elite tomb in...
Main: Earliest surviving beadnet dress with the lozenge pattern (CC by SA 3.0). Inset: A bead-net dress. Photo source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Dress like an Egyptian: Fashion, Style and Simplicity in Ancient Egyptian Clothing

The ancient Egyptians may have created some of the most mind-bogglingly complex and intricate monuments known to man, but when it came to clothing, they kept it remarkably simple. Ancient Egyptian...
Queen Elizabeth I as depicted in the film Mary, Queen of Scots. Credit: Focus Features

Was Queen Elizabeth I Killed by her Poisonous White Makeup?

Queen Elizabeth I was one of the most successful, celebrated queens in British history. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn , she came to the throne on November 17, 1558, following the death...
A woman in the hunter-gatherer Stone Age collecting berries, which could be used for medicine or ancient makeup. The oldest ever evidence of makeup was connected to a ceramic object long thought to be a child's toy from 6,000 years ago in Slovenia!

6,000-year-old Make Up Or Hunter’s Camouflage Cream? You Decide.

Ancient makeup from the Stone Age, a time of hunters and gathers. Really? The world’s media is buzzing with a story about prehistoric Europeans “using makeup,” 6,000 years ago. This discovery could...
Ancient Egyptian eye makeup was protective and poisonous

Ancient Egyptian Makeup: Beauty and Protection with Poison

It’s sort of like the evil eye , but in reverse: the good eye, brought on by an application of lead-based kohl makeup that was unknowingly poisonous to ancient Egyptians but also had anti-microbial...
Elizabeth Taylor, ‘Cleopatra’ (1963).

A Brief History of the Enduring Iconic Female Phenomenon of Red Lipstick

Red lipstick is a modern-day symbol of sex appeal and an attribute of femininity. Many modern women may be surprised by the fact that our recent generations are not the ones which invented this...
Ten Unusual Ancient Traditions that Would Not Thrive Today

Ten Unusual Ancient Traditions that Would Not Thrive Today

Cultures evolve or change over the ages; this is an undeniable fact. However, many of the practices of ancient people and cultures would be practically incomprehensible for most people today. Be they...
Ancient Egyptian Mummy Head Shows Woman Had Skin Condition Due to Beauty Practice

Ancient Egyptian Mummy Head Shows Woman Had Skin Condition Due to Beauty Practice

A 3,500-year-old mummified woman’s head shows signs of a skin condition from bleaching. The woman may have been prominent in Egyptian society and was 20 to 25 years old when she died, researchers...
A picture of an Egyptian woman applying kohl to her eyes.

Bygone Beauty and Body: The Origins of Cosmetics in the Ancient World

Cosmetics may be defined as “substances that you put on your face or body that are intended to improve your appearance”. The desire to improve one’s appearance is something that seems to be...
Roman women bathing

Swans Fat, Crocodile Dung, and Ashes of Snails: Achieving Beauty in Ancient Rome

Now learn, my dears, the art of beautifying your faces; learn by what means you can retain your charms. This line, taken from Publius Ovidius Naso's (Ovid's) Medicamina Faciei Femineae , or The Art...
4,000-year-old cosmetics shop

4,000-year-old cosmetics shop found in Cyprus

Archaeologists have unearthed a unique 4,000 year-old cosmetics workshop at the Pyrgos-Mavroraki archaeological site in Limassol, Cyprus. It is the first time that evidence has been found of...