What is mascara made of?



What is mascara made of?

Mascara is used to make eyelashes longer and thicker. It usually comes in tubes with a brush. The brush is dipped into the tube and then combed through the eyelashes.

Wikipedia states that  : “Exactly where the word “mascara” comes from is unclear, but it is most frequently thought to be based from the Spanish word máscara meaning ‘mask’ or ‘stain’ and the Italian word maschera meaning ‘mask’”

Even though makeup companies may say that their mascara is better than other mascaras because it does something others don’t, all mascaras are made up of the same basic ingredients : pigmentation, oils and waxes.

Pigmentation: For black mascara, carbon is used and for brown, iron oxide is used.

Oils: Oils make the mascara moist so you can apply it easily. Mineral oil, linseed oil, castor oil, or lanolin may be used.

Wax: Beeswax is used to hold mascara together.

Most mascaras have guanine which the dictionary defines as:

 “A purine base that is a component of DNA and RNA, forming a base pair with cytosine. It also occurs in guano, fish scales, sugar beets, and other natural materials”

People once thought that mascara contained bat droppings but this was found to be untrue because there is no guanine in bat droppings.

origins of makeup



Origins of makeup

Makeup originated in the African Middle Stone Age, over 100,000 years ago.

When Native Americans went to war they would paint themselves with paints made of different berries, plants and leaves.

Throughout history, fashion and what is thought to be beautiful has changed drastically. For instance, it was once thought that being overweight made you beautiful. This is because the wealthier people could afford to buy more food than the poor and so being overweight showed that you had more money. Nowadays, the situation is very different, being skinny is thought to be beautiful and some people even develop eating disorders due to being so infatuated with the idea of being skinny.

Skin tone has also changed in what we perceive to be beautiful. Years ago, it was thought that pale skin was beautiful because the peasants who worked the fields were tanned due to exposure to the sun. The rich people used to go around with umbrellas to protect their skin from the sun and so were paler. In this way, pale skin showed wealth.

The flapper style in the 1920’s used a lot of red colours including red lipstick, nail polish and dark eyes. Suntan also became a big thing around this time. Fake tan was produced to give people the “sun kissed” look.

Nowadays, There are many different brands, types and colours of makeup to choose from, ranging in price and quality and a huge proportion of women wear makeup regularly.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Saoirse and this is my blog on makeup.