Justified and Ancient: Eygptian beauty secrets

We're all caught up with the excitement of the new beauty treats and potions that are arriving for 2009. But we'd do well to remember that people have been beautifying themselves for thousands of years. Yes, lovely as we are, people were lovely before us. What were they using? And did their preparations work?

Lets have a leetle look at the ancient Egyptians who were mad into the whole beauty business.

• Eyeliner
  It was they, not Amy Winehouse, who invented the whole thick as you like eyeliner craze. Guyliner was all the rage and men painted on the thickest, darkest kohl they could lay their hands on. Kohl was made from malachite or soot.

• Green eyebrows
  The Ancient ones went two tone with the colour of their Kohl. To be hip to the groove and down with the kids you had to know which colours went where. Quite difficult to tell this from pyramid paintings, so I'd imagine papyrus copies of Ancient Looks were circulated to let everyone know. Green kohl went on the eyebrows and in the corner of the eyes. Deepest black was used liberally to line the eyes and depending on what was in fashion could be used to colour in the whole area from eyebrows to nose.

• Hair today...
  Excess hair was out. Egyptians were crazy into tweezing and shaving, and while they didn't have Mach 3s or Tweezermans, they were pretty fastidious about their defuzzing routines. Men were only permitted to have a skinny moustache or a teeny goatee. Women weren't permitted to have either.

• Perfume
  Flower petals were crushed and layered with caster oil or fat and then smeared all over oneself in order to camouflage the disgusting odour of one's unwashed body. 'Tutenkhamuns L'eau de Toilette: the pong of the pyramids' was particularly popular

• Hair goo
  For special occasions only. Greasy perfume cones were made out of the fatty flower mixture and affixed to the top of the head. As the evening wore on and the dancin got a bit frantic (around Come on Eileen time) the cones would start to melt and drip down over the face, neck and shoulders in order to perfume their wearer. To keep oneself greasy and stinky, the cones were replaced throughout the night. Yummy times two!

Lipstick, tattoos, wigs, hair braiding, body lotions and oils were all a necessary part of life down on the banks of the Nile. It's amazing really how little has changed isn't it?