The History and Culture of Men’s Grooming

“Then, Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.” Genesis 41:14.

7 minute read

Grooming practices could arguably be as old as human existence. I’m sure Adam had a lot of natural and homeopathic practices based on all the available plants, flowers and leaves in the Garden of Eden – before he was excommunicated from God of course! However, it was really the Roman empire that was attributed for popularising the concept of beauty and grooming. For one, Romans were extremely cultured, sophisticated and business savvy. The Romans not only traded physical products such as the oils, perfumes and dyes but the story and lifestyle of how these products could be used as mediums to achieve beauty preservation, sensuality and decoration. The very word “cosmetic” comes from the Greek work “kosmos” which describes the art of adorning the body (Romans spoke both Greek and Latin). Because the Roman empire did a large amount of trade with France, the French labelled all the “adornment commodities” as “cosmetique” and later, those products were resold to the British Empire who now coined the Anglo-Saxon term “cosmetic”. But we’re not here for a course in linguistics! We’re here to look at the different historical and cultural perspectives of men’s grooming and how much things have NOT really changed!

The Egyptians

Anthropologists argue that the Romans stole cosmetic practices from the Egyptians and touted it as their own, thereby commercialising cosmetic commodities as a “Roman thing”. Nevertheless, the Egyptians had a very cultural relationship with cleanliness as the rule of thumb was, a dirty physical life and body cannot enter into the afterlife and be presented to the gods. Even preparing dead bodies had very clear rules for bathing, adorning and clothing. The very bible verse at the beginning of this article suggests the level of grooming needed to address or be in the presence of an Egyptian royal. Needless to say, cosmetics weren’t a vain or superficial practice. It was also synonymous with good health and fortune. Honey was used a miracle skin rejuvenator. Kohl was a type of mascara used by all but more common in the middle- and upper-class families to prevent evil eye, or “maljo” as we like to call it in the Caribbean. Perfumes were derived from many traditional spices were also all the rage. Mint was used as a deodorant. Fats were used as creams and style emollients for wigs as shaved heads were symbols of the wealthy.

The Romans

While the Egyptians were a more practical society in terms of cosmetic practices, the Romans has a more hedonistic affair with cosmetics as it was used by men, women, prostitutes (which was legal in Rome) and the wealthy. Pure white skin was an integral component of Roman beauty standards. Men wore makeup and rouge as it was considered that a light face and pink cheek was a sign of good health which equated to good sexual virility. Wealthy Roman men had their nails cut. Fake teeth were made from bone, ivory and other ceramic bases. Bath houses were prominent architectural fixtures. Hair was also dyed in blacks, browns and reds (although the latter was reserved for sex workers) using animal fat mixed with crushed leaves as grey hair was not considered beautiful or sexually appealing. While cosmetics were fashionable for a large portion of the Roman society, pockets of society, especially Stoic philosophers deemed cosmetics for men as effeminate, yet the lack of grooming was considered unrefined and for the poor.

The Chinese

During some dynasties, men and women wore rice powder on the face to make it white and had drawn on brows for exaggerated expressions – similar to that of a fine painting. Hair was also a big component of beauty standards for the Chinese as both men and women had long, black, straight and healthy hair and wore extravagant and structured hairstyles. The men shaved their hair except for the top of their head and kept it long. They then wrapped it up in a knot which is identical to the infamous man-bun and top-knot that some of us live for!

The Hindus

The Kamasutra is not just a sex-position booklet. It’s Indian literature that described how the ancestors of ancient India enjoyed material luxuries and how cosmetics and aesthetics helped one experience “earthly” pleasures like sex, music, dance and poetry. Think of those historical texts as the GQ, Vogue or Esquire magazines of the Hindus at the time. They were instructional and lifestyle-oriented guides on earthly pleasures. Ayurvedic practice was also a big thing for the Hindus as they were big on hair and skin health. Many of the cosmetic commodities such as turmeric, saffron and moringa are used quite extensively in today’s beauty and grooming products.

The Tribes

The Vikings, Persians, Native Americans, Africans and Arabs wore body paint and facial markings made from clay or mud for a variety of reasons. Some, to exaggerate a more aggressive look when going to war. Some, to make identification of hierarchies within the tribe – the more elaborate or pigmented the dye on the face or body meant more status, power and respect this individual deserved. Other tribes had more practical usage for body paint – simply to be used as a sunscreen and to keep cool in hot climates. With doctors also used “body masks” to help their patients achieve spiritual healing as these body masks were also infused with essential oils and extracts from plants.

The Victorian Era

This was a particularly interesting timeframe for cosmetics. Firstly, a certain narrow-mindedness perverted the society as culture was based around what was deemed appropriate behaviour. Women reached the heights of femininity while men were discouraged from being too preoccupied with cosmetics as the use of grooming products and practices were negatively connotated based on religious and moral grounds from the Protestant church who at the time, had a big influence over national policy and cultural norms. Body modification was therefore a substitute for more tangible products such as the use of perfumes and oils like in the Roman empire. Corsets and bodices were popular. Puffy sleeves made it look like men had more muscles and upper body mass than they actually had. Among the practices that were allowed for men, included bleaching hair to achieve a platinum blond shade. However, because these bleaches were made with lye, the person’s hair fell off and therefore had to use platinum coiffed wigs instead. White complexions were also admired. Unfortunately, some of the whitening face powders contained lead and arsenic which caused serious respiratory illnesses or death. Cosmetic mass marketing was achieved during this period and everyone- regardless of social class – had access to cosmetics. The downside, however, is that these products were not exactly FDA approved and had many crazy ingredients that would shut a company down if they were to even think of using it in their product formulas today.

Today

Evidently, not much has really changed from the ancient times to present day. We still want to look our best and use cosmetics and grooming as a method of creating an individual look and standing out from the crowd or attracting a mate. Celebrity culture has a big part to play in the early 1990’s that furthered the popularity of cosmetics and grooming. Similarly, the “influencer” culture is what we experience now as the celebrity culture that permeated the 90s. the only difference from what our ancestors were doing to now, is that we have science and technology at our disposal to further enhance and support beauty, cosmetic and grooming claims. Similarly, just like the good, the bad also follows. Today, we are obsessed with our looks thanks to social media, facetune and selfies. This is all to say that if that’s your scene – all the power to you! However, we shouldn’t be obsessed with these practices and grooming habits as these should enhance your life and not be the primary focus of your life. Who knows?! People from the future might look back at us and laugh at how we’ve wasted time pursuing unattainable, unrealistic and superficial beauty ideals.