Health Care Website and Blog

Men and women have used some type of cosmetics for millennia. The purposes may have differed throughout the years - everything from denoting a particular place in a social structure up to and including pure vanity - but for whatever reason they were used, cosmetics are here to stay.

Throughout the centuries even men have used some type cosmetics. During the time of Louis XIV, all wealthy men in society wore powdered wigs, rouge on their cheeks, and dried ochre on their lips. Their wives even figured out how mix some fairly good quality foundations and moisturizers using what amounted to household ingredients: animal fats, paint and dried vegetables. These early cosmetics could actually be the first “all natural” products on the market!

Cosmetics weren’t mass marketed until the early 20th century. The first items started appearing quite unobtrusively in local drug stores, marketed to perhaps a segment of the female population that was of “questionable repute”. Advertising for these early products was usually found in the backs of ladies magazines of the time period, never on the front pages like today. But even with limited advertising, these items were flying off the shelves, purchased by lovely respectable housewives, college students, working women, and even teens who could save up enough for their first lipstick.

It wasn’t until the 1940s, however, that the cosmetics industry really took off. What happened? Movies were just coming out in Technicolor! Women could now truly admire their favorite movie stars and see exactly what made them so gorgeous - the black mascaras, the blue eye shadows, red lipsticks, and pink rouge - and they ran out to buy the same things.

Companies competed against each other for market share like no other product on the market! Expensive brands began to show up in leading department stores, giving drug store brands a run for their money. No matter where the counters were, makeup was selling.

“Make overs” were advertised every week, and even drug stores were competing with special sales and cosmetic consultants who were trained to help make you look beautiful.

Although the ingredients in many of the high end expensive lines purport to be better a quality, how much better can something really be? What exactly are you paying for at the major department stores that you aren’t paying for at the local mass retailer? Probably the packaging.

Everybody should know how to take care of their skin. Aftershave Fragrances The baby lotion that gently moisturizes your child’s skin is usually hypoallergenic and dermatologist reviewed. If you can’t afford Johnsons you should look into using Ivory.