Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created synthetically. The products serve various purposes, including personal and skin care. They can also be used to conceal blemishes and enhance natural features (such as the eyebrows and eyelashes). Makeup can add color to the face, enhance features, or alter appearance to resemble a different person, creature, or object.
People have used cosmetics for thousands of years for skin care and appearance enhancement. Visible cosmetics for both women and men have gone in and out of fashion over the centuries.
Some early cosmetics contained harmful ingredients, such as lead, which caused serious health problems and sometimes resulted in death. Modern commercial cosmetics are generally tested for safety but may contain controversial ingredients, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), formaldehyde releasers, and ingredients that cause allergic reactions.
The European Union and regulatory agencies around the world have stringent regulations for cosmetics. In the United States, cosmetic products and ingredients do not require FDA approval, although marketed products are monitored for safety. Some countries have banned using animal testing for cosmetics.
Definition and etymology
The word cosmetics is derived from the Greek (), meaning "technique of dress and ornament," from (), "skilled in ordering or arranging,"Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. κοσμητικός in A Greek-English Lexicon and from (), meaning "order" and "ornament.".Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. κόσμος in A Greek-English Lexicon
Legal definition
Though often referred to socially as makeup, cosmetics technically include substances used to clean or alter the complexion, skin, hair, or teeth—placing eye shadow, teeth-whitening strips, and perfumes under the same umbrella.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates cosmetics, defines cosmetics as products "intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body's structure or functions." This broad definition includes any material intended for use as an ingredient in a cosmetic product, with the FDA specifically excluding pure soap from this category.
The European Union defines cosmetic products as "any substance or mixture intended to be placed in contact with the external parts of the human body (epidermis, hair system, nails, lips and external genital organs) or with the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, protecting them, keeping them in good condition or correcting body odours;".Article 2.1.a of the Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009
In Canada, cosmetics are defined as "any substance or mixture of substances, manufactured, sold or represented for use in cleansing, improving or altering the complexion, skin, hair or teeth and includes deodorants and perfumes." This list includes hand soap, unlike the FDA, and handmade cosmetics.
China has the most complicated legal definition of cosmetics, stating; "chemical products that are applied on the surface of any part of the human body (such as skin, hair, nails and lips) by smearing, spraying and other similar ways to keep the body hygiene, to get rid of undesirable odors, to protect the skin, to enhance the beauty of the appearance." Notably, all oral care products are excluded from this definition. Cosmetics are also split into two categories, special use and non-special use. Special use cosmetics, which includes hair products, deodorants, whitening products, sunscreen, and anti-aging products, has stricter regulations, and must have an administrative license in order to produce. Non-special use cosmetics are defined as "all other cosmetics not considered special use cosmetic”, and can be divided further into domestic and imported cosmetic products.
Use Cosmetics designed for skin care may be used to cleanse, exfoliate and protect the skin, as well as replenish it, using body lotions, cleansers, toners, serums, moisturizers, eye creams, retinol, and balms. Cosmetics designed for more general personal care, such as shampoo, soap, and body wash, can be used to clean the body. Cosmetics can also be designed to add fragrance to the body.
Cosmetics designed to enhance one's appearance (makeup) can be used to conceal blemishes, enhance one's natural features, or add color to a person's face. In some cases, more extreme forms of makeup are used for performances, fashion shows, and people in costume and can change the appearance of the face entirely to resemble a different person, creature, or object. Techniques for changing appearance include contouring, which aims to give shape to an area of the face. Some women have described peer pressure to use cosmetics resulting in objectification.
Products used for haircare, such as permanent waves, hair colors, and hairsprays, are classified as cosmetic products as well.
History
Cosmetics have been in use for thousands of years, with ancient Egyptians and Sumerians using them. In Europe, the use of cosmetics continued into the Middle Ages—where the face was whitened and the cheeks rouged—Angeloglou, Maggie. The History of Make-up. First ed. Great Britain: The Macmillan Company, 1970. 41–42. Print. Though attitudes towards cosmetics varied throughout time, the use of cosmetics was openly frowned upon at many points in Western history. Regardless of the changes in social attitudes towards cosmetics, many occasionally achieved ideals of appearance through cosmetics.
According to one source, early major developments in cosmetics include: Kohl used by ancient Egyptians Castor oil also used in ancient Egypt as a protective balm Skin creams made of beeswax, olive oil, and rose water, described by the Romans Vaseline and lanolin in the nineteenth century.
Historically, the absence of regulation of the manufacture and use of cosmetics, as well as the absence of scientific knowledge regarding the effects of various compounds on the human body for much of this time period, led to a number of negative effects upon those who used cosmetics, including deformities, blindness, and, in some cases, death. Although harmless products were used, such as berries and beetroot, many cosmetic products available at this time were still chemically dubious and even poisonous. Examples of the prevalent usage of harmful cosmetics include the use of ceruse (white lead) throughout a number of different cultures, such as during the Renaissance in the West, and blindness caused by the mascara Lash Lure during the early 20th century. During the 19th century, there were numerous incidents of lead poisoning due to the fashion for red and white lead makeup and powder, leading to swelling and inflammation of the eyes, weakened tooth enamel, and blackened skin, with heavy use known to lead to death. Usage of white lead was not confined only to the West, with the white Japanese face makeup known as also produced using white lead. In the second part of the 19th century, scientific advances in the production of makeup led to the creation of makeup free of hazardous substances such as lead.
Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, changes in the prevailing attitudes towards cosmetics led to a wider expansion of the cosmetics industry. In 1882, English actress and socialite Lillie Langtry became the poster girl for Pears of London, making her the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product. She allowed her name to be used on face powders and skin products. During the 1910s, the market in the US was developed by figures such as Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Max Factor. These firms were joined by Revlon just before World War II and Estée Lauder just after. By the middle of the 20th century, cosmetics were in widespread use by women in nearly all industrial societies around the world, with the cosmetics industry becoming a multibillion-dollar enterprise by the beginning of the 21st century. The wider acceptance of the use of cosmetics led some to see makeup as a tool used in the oppression and subjection of women to unfair societal standards. In 1968, at the feminist Miss America protest, protesters symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can", with cosmetics among the items the protesters called "instruments of female torture" and accoutrements of what they perceived to be enforced femininity.
, the world's largest cosmetics company is L'Oréal, founded by Eugène Schueller in 1909 as the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (now owned by Liliane Bettencourt 26% and Nestlé 28%; the remaining 46% is traded publicly).
Although modern makeup has been traditionally used mainly by women, men also use makeup in order to enhance their own facial features or cover blemishes and dark circles. The negative stigma of men wearing makeup in countries such as the United States has weakened over the years, with the number of men using makeup increasing in the 21st century. Cosmetics brands have increasingly targeted men in the sale of cosmetics, with some products targeted specifically at men.
Lead has been used as a makeup product since the 18th century. It is said to be lethal to women who apply it daily to achieve a pale complexion, representing nobility, as tanned skin represents the working class. Lead can be detrimental to people's health and cause death if mixed with vinegar, which it allows lead to be absorbed through the skin.
Types of cosmetics
Though there are a large number of different cosmetics used for a variety of different purposes, all cosmetics are typically intended to be applied externally. These products can be applied to the face (on the skin, lips, eyebrows, and eyes), to the body (on the skin, particularly the hands and nails), and to the hair. These products may be intended for use as skincare, personal care, or to alter the appearance, with the subset of cosmetics known as makeup primarily referring to products containing colour pigments intended for the purpose of altering the wearer's appearance; some manufacturers will distinguish only between "decorative" cosmetics intended to alter the appearance and "care" cosmetics designed for skincare and personal care.
Most cosmetics are also distinguished by the area of the body intended for application, with cosmetics designed to be used on the face and eye area usually applied with a brush, a makeup sponge, or the fingertips. Cosmetics can also be described by the physical composition of the product. Cosmetics can be liquid or cream emulsions, powders (pressed or loose), dispersions, or anhydrous creams or sticks.
Decorative
Primers are used on the face before makeup is applied, creating a typically transparent, smooth layer over the top of the skin, allowing for makeup to be applied smoothly and evenly. Some primers may also be tinted, and this tint may match the wearer's skin tone or may colour correct it, using greens, oranges, and purples to even out the wearer's skin tone and correct redness, purple shadows, or orange discolouration, respectively.