Section
The Making
Pigment, soap, scent and the long chemistry of adornment
How the substances people put on themselves were made, by whom, and what happened when the making went wrong.
- 01
Ochre, and the trouble with calling it the first cosmetic
People have ground red earth for a hundred thousand years. What that proves about the origins of cosmetics is narrower than usually claimed.
- 02
Kohl, galena and the chemistry of the painted eye
Ancient eye paint was mostly lead. Analysis of surviving samples produced one of the strangest findings in cosmetic history, and a durable myth.
- 03
White lead and the very long goodbye
Lead white was worn on faces for two millennia and its toxicity was known for much of that time. Why it took so long to go is the real question.
- 04
From the still room to the laboratory
Cosmetics were made at home, then by apothecaries, then by chemists, then by corporations. Each move changed who was allowed to know the recipe.
- 05
Perfume as a craft and as a language
Perfume has notes, accords, families and a pyramid. None of that vocabulary is very old, and most of it was invented to teach or to sell.
- 06
How colour cosmetics came to be regulated
The permitted colours list is the least glamorous document in the industry and the most consequential. It was written after people were hurt.
- 07
Soap, and how washing became a virtue
Cleanliness has not always meant washing, and washing has not always meant water. The idea that a clean body indicates a good person has a traceable history.
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