Millions of women use cosmetics, often called “make-up”. The cosmetics industry is one of the biggest in the world. Most large stores sell cosmetics, and there are always shops at airports selling them cheaply. The word “cosmetics “refers to anything that people put on their faces to make them look better. Lipstick, face powder and cream, and eye make-up are the most popular.

Although more women than men use cosmetics, there are cosmetics for men as well as women. Some people even have cosmetic surgery to make their faces look different. They have the shape of their noses and eyes changed. The most widely used cosmetic is probably lipstick, as many women who do not wear any other make-up will often put on a little lipstick. Lipstick is made by mixing together different oils and colors. This mixture is then allowed to get hard and is cut into the shape of a small pencil. When a woman presses the lipstick to her lips, the end of it becomes soft, and some of it sticks to her lips, giving them extra color.

Cosmetics were probably first used in India, but it was the Egyptians, six thousand years ago, who made the most use of them. Rich Egyptian women painted their eyes green and black. They used a red color to paint pretty designs on their fingernails, the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet. Pictures of Cleopatra always show her wearing a lot of make-up.

In fact, different cultures have different cosmetics. For example, the Romans used a kind of cosmetics. They liked to make their skin very white and to paint their eyes. They also used a kind of lipstick. In England at one time, very rich women had baths in milk to make their skin beautiful. They also used a lot of sweet-smelling powder to stop people smelling their bodies, which were often very dirty because they did not wash very often or change their clothes.

At one time, some cosmetics were not safe. They were bad for the skin and some of the lipsticks and powders that people used were even poisonous. Nowadays, people in the cosmetics industry take great care to make sure that everything they use is completely safe.