Over five thousand years ago, the ancient Egyptians used eye shadow, not only for cosmetic but practical purposes as well. Dark pigment painted around the eye helped protect the eye from the bright midday sun glaring off the desert sands.

 

　　The earliest eye paint in ancient Egypt was a thick, bright green paste made from the mineral malachite.

 

　　By the time Queen Cleopatra came to power in the 1st century BC, Egyptian women had at their disposal a whole rainbow of cosmetics, all of which were made from rocks, minerals, and plants in the region. Cleopatra used the bright green malachite paste of the ancient Egyptians on her lower eyelids.

 

　　On her upper eyelids, she used a deep blue eye shadow with gold-colored pyrite flecks, made from ground lapis lazuli stone. She darkened her eyebrows and lengthened her eyelashes with black kohl, a mixture of powdered lead sulfide and animal fat. And for lipstick and rouge, Cleopatra used red ochre, a type of clay colored red by iron oxide.

 

　　The Egyptian queen even wore nail polish, made of the reddish-brown dye called henna, which comes from the Egyptian privet tree. And Cleopatra often had her palms painted with henna in elaborate designs. Like the ancient Egyptians before her,

 

　　Cleopatra used her cosmetics not simply for beauty’s sake, but for certain benefits that beauty might bring. With Julius Caesar as her lover and, later, Marc Antony as her husband, Cleopatra consolidated Egypt’s power with that of Rome.

 

 

 

 

　　为什么埃及艳后要化妆？

 

　　5000多年以前，古埃及人画眼影不仅仅只是追求漂亮，其实它是有实际用途的。正午的艳阳照射着沙漠，抹在眼部周围的黑色涂料能够保护眼睛免受强光的伤害。

 

　　古埃及人最早使用的眼影是由一种矿物质—孔雀石制成的它，看起来就像一团厚厚的亮绿色糊状物。

 

　　公元前1世纪，埃及艳后克里奥佩德拉开始掌权后，埃及女性便可以自由使用各种各样的化妆品，这些化妆品均由当地的石块，矿物质及一些植物制成。埃及艳后则在她的下眼睑上涂抹古埃及人曾使用的孔雀石眼影。

 

　　在上眼睑中，她会用一种带有金色黄铁矿斑点的深绿色眼影，这种眼影的原材料是天青石。同时，她还会描眉，用黑色的眼圈粉来拉长睫毛。这种眼圈粉是由粉状的硫化铅和动物油脂混合而成。对于口红和腮红的选择，埃及艳后则会选用赤铁矿粘土，这种粘土会因氧化铁的作用呈现出红色。

 

　　埃及艳后甚至还懂得亮甲，她的指甲油是由叫做指甲花的红褐色染料制成，这种指甲花生长在埃及女贞树上。同时，埃及艳后也经常会在手掌中用指甲花做出各种各样的精致图案，就像在她之前的古埃及人那样。

 

　　埃及艳后使用化妆品不纯粹为了追求漂亮，而是漂亮之余带来的一些好处，埃及艳后曾做过朱利叶斯凯撒的情人，后来又嫁给了马克安东尼，她利用自己在罗马的势力巩固了埃及政权。