Eye Makeup By Svenja Schmitt

• Rome
Men and women in the Near East painted their faces with kohl just like the Egyptians did. This was to protect them from the ‘evil eye.’ After the defeat of the Greeks by the Romans, the Romans adapted the Egyptian custom, albeit with different ends. To the Romans, applying eye shadow became a matter of fashion and esthetics. Other cosmetics took on a medicinal application in Rome. Plagues were so rampant throughout Rome, that aromatic gums and resins were burned to repel demons and bad spirits.