Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

RiceAlicorn t1_izpmncr wrote

Reply to comment by rbobby in The Magic of Makeup: How Ancient Egyptians Used Cosmetics for More Than Just Beauty by StationFrosty

No? If you read the article, it describes how the practices back then were different.

I don't think many people today wear eyeshadow to ward off the threat of Satan or other evil entities.

37

fluffy_doughnut t1_izq5dj8 wrote

You'd be surprised. Part of the process of preparing the body for funeral is not only putting it in proper clothing, but also doing makeup. After we die, our faces change, skin tone looks different etc and this is why the makeup is usually done. Not only on women, but also men.

People who come to say last goodbye to their beloved ones want to remember them looking almost the same as when they were alive. Definitely nobody wants to see bruises and other obvious signs telling you that you're looking at a corpse.

25

RiceAlicorn t1_izq6a5f wrote

I'm not surprised. I didn't say that the traditions were completely different and alien to us — just that they were different. I'm aware that some of the makeup practices in the past wrre done for similar if not the exact same reasond as today, but at the same time they also did makeup for other reasons (such as specifically to ward away evil).

0

the_turn t1_izrn2f9 wrote

The guy was clearly replying only to the comment and not to the article humorously.

Western funereal practices with which I am familiar (admittedly only a subset of Western practices, and an even smaller subset of global practices) all include the application of make up in both living and dead contexts, and that was all the comment that was being replied to specified.

The comment mentioned nothing about the nature of the specific practices.

5