As L’Oréal’s epoch-spanning compendium 100,000 Years of Beauty proves, pulchritude has always been a priority—it’s just our methods that have changed.

Photo: Steven Krause

BODY PAINT

100,000 B.C.
Early Homo sapiens femme fatales paint their bodies head to toe with red ocher to advertise fertility.

8th Century A.D.
Mehndi, the art of decorating hands and feet with henna plant dye to provide marriage luck and protection from the evil eye, spreads across Africa, the Middle East, and, eventually, India. Celebs such as Gwen Stefani sparked a mehndi fad in the U.S. in the 1990s.

1960–Present
The first self-tanners, which stain the outer layer of skin with sugarcane derivative dihydroxyacetone (DHA), hit the market in 1960. Today, professional spray tans are a bikini model’s best friend.

Photos: Steven Krause; Neil Beckerman/Getty Images; Courtesy of the Everett Collection

ANTI-AGING

1st Century B.C.
Roman women stay youthful with a mask of Libyan barley, pulverized staghorn, narcissus bulbs, and honey.

1100s
Medieval maidens tighten their skin with a cream made of chickpeas, barley, almonds, horseradish seeds, and milk.

2010
Creams such as Lancôme Génifique (which boosts gene activity to stimulate protein production) harness the latest technology.

Photos: Getty Images; Courtesy of Lancôme

HAIR REMOVAL

950 A.D.
Arab women rid themselves of unwanted hair at hammams, where a paste made of caustic quicklime or boiled-down lemon and sugar is applied from the eyelashes down.

1400s
In jousting-era Europe, the eyebrows and hairline are plucked with tweezers to create the illusion of a high, curved forehead. The neck is elongated by removing hair at the nape.

1995–Present
The FDA approves the first hair-removal laser in 1995. The advent of the five-blade Gillette Venus in 2000 and the Tria laser in 2008 make it easy to de-fuzz at home.

Photos: Getty Images; © La Collection/Artothek

VOLUME CONTROL

25,000 B.C.
Plumpness and symmetry are revered by early man, as evidenced by goddess sculptures such as the Venus of Willendorf.

1600s
Herb-filled pomander balls are held in the mouth to plump the cheeks and disguise volume loss from age.

2007
Studies prove that hyaluronic acid–based injectable Restylane actually boosts collagen production.

Photos: Bridgeman Art Library; Getty Images

HAIR DYE

100 B.C.–300 A.D.
Greco-Roman women bleach their hair using carbonized beechwood and goat fat. Those with dark hair disguise grays with sediment from wine fermentation.

1500s
A strawberry shade known as Venetian blond is all the rage in Renaissance Italy: The color is achieved with a highlighting concoction of twigs, barley, licorice bark, and lemons.

1909–Present
Eugène Schueller, founder of L’Oréal, launches the first commercial synthetic hair dye in 1909. Now, at-home color miracles like L’Oréal Paris Excellence To-Go transform tresses in minutes.

Photos: © Gianni Dagli Orti/Museo Provinciale Sigismondo Castromediano; © Luisa Ricciriani/Leemage; © Archives L’Oréal/DR

SKIN BRIGHTENING

1st Century B.C.
Women of the Han Dynasty in China ingest a powder made of tangerine peel, melon seeds, and peach blossoms three times daily for 30 days to whiten their complexions.

2nd Century A.D.
To eliminate freckles and lighten skin, Roman women apply wild melon roots. The Greek physician Galen, who also created the first cold cream, notes that “ladies dedicated to luxury” prefer a crocodile dung mask. Romans reportedly soaked in baths of crocodile feces and mud for soft
skin.

21st Century
The Asian obsession with skin-lightening reaches the West: Creams are packed with melanin-inhibitors such as kojic acid, and dermatologists blast away brown spots with high-tech broad-spectrum-light IPL devices.

Photos: Getty Images; Peter Hiscock/Getty Images

EYE LINER

2,500 B.C.
Egyptians apply a mixture of kohl and animal fat around their eyes with pointed tools: The concoction’s medicinal properties also purportedly prevented eye diseases.

1920s–Present
Other than the formulation, eyeliner use has changed little in nearly 5,000 years.

Photos: Bridgeman Art Library

FOUNDATION

200 B.C.
Pallor-loving Greek and Roman women dust their skin with white lead. Though toxic, lead makeup is common worldwide until the 1800s.

1558–1603
Elizabethan-era ladies create the illusion of alabaster skin with ceruse (white lead and vinegar). They also apply a glaze of egg whites for a taut, shiny complexion.

1920s–Present
Early Hollywood stars such as Clara Bow popularize a greasepaint precursor to mass-market foundation. By 2010, makeup is often enhanced with SPF, emollients, and peptides.

Photos: Bridgeman Art Library; John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

TEETH

3rd Century A.D.
Japanese women lacquer their teeth black with a blend of iron filings, oak apples, and sake or tea.

1500
The first dentures—made of cow bone, ivory, and white marble—are introduced in Europe.

2010
White teeth are an American fixation: In-office procedures, at-home strips, and toothpastes all use peroxide to make gnashers gleam.

Photos: Getty Images; Monika Ribbe/Getty Images

HAIR EXTENSIONS

618–907 A.D.
Women of the Tang Dynasty sweep their hair over faux pieces to create elaborate sky-high buns with names such as “alerted swan chignon” and “worried chignon.”

1774–1789
Hair becomes political: Marie Antoinette sparks a fashion for extravagant three-foot wigs (reinforced with wire, gauze, and cloth) that are ornamented with vegetables, flowers, feathers, and model ships to reference current events. Marie Antoinette’s use of white flour to powder her poufs angered her impoverished subjects.

2009
Serge Normant (at his John Frieda Salons) teams up with superchic design house Balmain to create extension-like silk hair bonds that amp up volume. Thin-haired starlets rejoice.

Photos: Bridgeman Art Library

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