Discussion in chat with a bunch of girlies today made me wonder: What kind of makeup would fantasy/medieval women wear? They probably don't have the same 'tools' we have, so what would they use? Where would they get makeup items? like eyeliner, blush, and things? What mixtures would they use for it all?

Just watching since I was one of those girlies - the only one who doesn't wear makeup (yet). But this will be a very interesting thread.

I have a post about this on the Historical Fiction side. Although, it is tailored to Colonial period makeup because of the discussion. Makeup has been around for a very long time, though. I mean, if nothing else think of the Egyptians who wore heavy eye liner, dark eye shadow, and false eyelashes.

I'll have to search for the HF link, though.

Here is the link, Airi.

The thread above is definitely something worth reading for this, I think.

*grins * Thanks, Elanor. Now I get to scratch something off my to-do list today! *hugs *

Well I know how to make make-up. And how to apply it properly.
I would have to say that in a fantasy book, you can have any type of make-up you want.

Lip stain would probably be berry juice. Eye makeup might be charcoal (liner) or pressed charcoal dust (shadow). Blush might be dried, ground-up clay, like made from reddish dirt as in the dirt on a baseball field. Or it could be a mixture of berry juices, or the oil from crushed pink/red flowers.

Yes, I'd guess it would mostly come from plants... berries and flowers as some have suggested. I'm not sure how much they would have thought about makeup in medieval-like times though, fragrance would probably have been more important.

Yeah... Without deodorant, imagine how much they would stink! xP phew!

I did some research of my own, I found a helpful website on it. I'd recommend checking it out. Eras of Elegance

As for fantasy, I never thought much on it. I haven't had to mention it in my stories, but for basic makeup I think blush would be available, lip dyes, eyeliner, and of course, perfumes. I'd look into how to make eyeshadow to see if there was much of a possibility of having it in the fantasy world.

~Calen

**dares to stick his head into a girly discussion**

What about military makeup? Grease paint, etc...

**runs and hides**

... and what the Picts et al. wore ...

Grease paint wouldn't be too hard to come by, I think. Probably animal fat mixed with dyes wouldn't that be lovely to smear on your face? On second thought, it would probably be a dry substance with oil added gradually until it became a paste.

One thing to remember when thinking about makeup is how it is considered by the people in your culture – you see, these days makeup is sort of a universal thing for people of our culture (I think), and the only the only real difference in its use between different parts of our society would be in the quality and how much and what kinds are used (I think). There were times and places, however, when it was not really thought of the way we think of it.

For example, on the frontier, in the 'wild west', 'painted women' were not exactly on the higher echelons of society, at least in some places. They were more on the level of barroom girls and other things like that. I don't – think the ranchers and people like that used makeup. So what they used to make it and how they put it on wouldn't necessarily be the woodsy sort of things since those type of people generally live in a more city-ish place.

Then there is the case where the rich use it and the lower class don't – the hard-working, sun-burnt peasant wives would laugh at the idea. In that case it could be made of more complicated ingredients, because the only people who used it could afford it.

Then there is the case where it isn't considered 'respectable' to use makeup, at least by the 'respectable' members of society.

And of course, there is the case of the American Indians – they wore makeup. Just, they didn't even try to make their face look natural. * grins * They had fun. So they could make it out of pretty much anything, of pretty much any color.

Thank you for pointing that out.