You can’t go out in public today without seeing a woman wearing eyeliner, or a man if you’re at a bad concert. For many, it’s a cosmetic essential. But forget L’Oreal and Maybelline — it was the Egyptians that first provided us with those trademark black-rimmed eyes.
Egyptians created “kohl” by crushing and mixing a variety of ingredients ranging from black copper oxide to burnt almonds, and stored the result inside small granite pots. They started the famous trend of lining eyes with kohl in order to recreate the image of Ra, the sun God. But Egyptians didn’t use kohl just to make a fashion statement. The eyeliner was useful for keeping bacteria out of their eyes and stopping nasty infections. It was also effective in preventing the glare from the sun affecting their eyesight.