When did people start wearing makeup?

Moment of Um

American Public Media

Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Colored eyeshadow, glossy lipstick, rosy blush – people use all sorts of makeup to change how they look. But when did we start using makeup? And how has it changed over time? We asked archaeologist and Brains On producer Anna Goldfield to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s making you blush? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll help you face the answer!

Transcript

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0:00.0	From The Brains Behind Brains on, this is the moment of um.
0:07.7	Answering those questions that make you go um. Moment of Am comes to you from APMSTUES. I'm Zinan Jim Norp. Hi.
0:35.2	I am here to wish all of you Earthlings a very happy Galpigloup day.
0:40.5	It's a special holiday we celebrate on my home planet Kalorpas.
0:45.3	On Galpigloup day, we celebrate our beautiful faces by covering them with purple volcanic mud paste.
0:52.7	We gather with friends and families and smear paste on each other's faces with much laughter and shouting,
1:00.0	ha, ha, ha.
1:02.4	Once the paste has dried, we take turns peeling it off of one another and examining the crumbs and crud that it has removed.
1:11.0	Lots of mud crud means that the year has been well spent,
1:15.1	and then our faces are fresh and clean,
1:18.0	and ready to collect the next year's crad.
1:21.3	I have heard that you humans also sometimes cover your faces
1:25.4	with a glup of different colors called mikup.
1:32.0	No, no.
1:33.2	Make up.
1:34.9	That's what it's called.
1:36.9	Make up.
1:38.3	Make up.
1:39.5	Why is it up?
1:41.4	Why is it not down?
1:43.7	What is it for? Is it exactly as my friend Emma was wondering?
1:49.2	Why did humans invent makeup in the first place? Let us consult a human who knows about things.
	...

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