Even further back, Alexander the Great wore makeup for both
aesthetic and health reasons. Eye makeup "protected the
delicate skin around the eyes, kept off flies… and sheltered the
eyes from the sun's glare."
As he travelled around Asia, Alexander would send plant
cuttings home to a friend in Athens so that they could create a
garden especially for beauty products.
Ancient Britons were known by Romans as 'picts'—the painted
ones—because of the blue woad they daubed over their faces.
The 20th century
1920s
Image: Clara Bow and Marion Davies via Wiki
During the 1900s, the lower classes were labourers who spent
the majority of their time outdoors working the fields or selling
their wares. As a result, they usually had tanned skin.
A pale complexion came to symbolise a gentrified or
aristocratic person who did not have to work for their income.
Makeup of the 1900s consequently sought to emulate this pale
appearance.
Making your face white was a dangerous practise in the 1900s,
as the main ingredient in powders was generally arsenic.