Make up has played a role in most societies in the world for a long time during which it has developed dramatically. Dating back to ancient times, namely the Egyptian period, where makeup was used as a means of repelling evil spirits. However it was previously not only used for visual purposes, but highly used due to the widespread belief that eye makeup would improve vision and deter all bad spirits away. Conversely since then, make up has developed drastically, and can be purchased in a wide assortment of diverse styles.

Mascara which is a well known form of eye makeup originally was made up from charcoal and used by ancient civilizations for superstitious and religious reasons. This type of eye make up in the form its used in today was only really starting to be produced in the 1900s (nineteen hundreds) when it included a form of jelly substance based on petroleum. It was left that way until 1957 when it was changed into a lotion type product which was significantly different to its predecessor. This was the closest to contemporary products that one can buy today from all-good retail stores.

An alternative well known make up item is foundation . The painting of the face was talked about in the old testament which gives an indication of how far back this was carried out. The purpose of this predicament was primarily to colour peoples' faces for centuries to come. The first viable basis made for use in the modern era was developed in 1914, for those in the acting profession, using a powder base as opposed to the more traditional oil based makeup foundation. This particular formula proved to be very popular, so much so that by the 1940s 1 out of 3 women were using it .

Wide ranges of different composition types have appeared in modern society which include lip stick, lip gloss and nail shine all of them from humble beginnings centuries ago however now they can be found in many of the worlds cultures with advances in appliance method and uses occurring every day.