It was one of history’s most deadly cover-ups, responsible for countless deaths. Yet it had nothing to do with politics, crime or money.
The Greeks called it “kosmetikos”. The word means “skilled in decorating”, or “cosmetics” in English. Though face powder and eye paint go back to ancient Egypt, it was the Greeks of 700 B.C. who put a whole new face on makeup.
Although men of the time valued the natural look, they coloured their cheeks with rouge. But mistresses of the wealthy heightened the rouge’s redness by first applying white powder to their faces and necks. No one knew at the time, but the powder contained large amounts of lead which destroyed complexions and shortened lives. Though the rouge itself was made from harmless mulberries and seaweed, it was coloured with cinnabar, a poisonous, red derivative of mercury. Since the same cream was used to paint the lips, the toxin easily found its way into the body.
Just as dangerous was a popular Greek and Roman product called orpiment, used by both sexes to remove unwanted body hair. It’s active ingredient was arsenic. Even as late as the 18th century, European women were eating “Arsenic Complexion Wafers” which really did whiten the skin. The wafers worked by poisoning the blood so it carried fewer red cells and less oxygen.
Since arsenic, lead and mercury all affect the fetus, the chemicals resulted in countless miscarriages, stillbirths and deformities over the centuries. It wasn’t until the close of the 1800s that the French invented “safe” cosmetics.
“If looks could kill!”, we hear people say. Well they did, for hundreds of years. And they still do. In a society preoccupied with appearances, even our churches are filled with people who hide their true face behind deadly, disfiguring identities that are substantially made up.
That’s because we continue to put subtle conditions on love and acceptance. People are welcome, as long as they don’t have any “big” sins and grow as fast as we think they should. No wonder those who worry their struggles wouldn’t be understood hide their blemishes and cover up their fear, doubt and failure.
When we cake ourselves with the powder of pretence and the paint of emotional protection, we all but obliterate our natural beauty. Those toxins wrinkle the spirit. They eventually seep inside, poisoning lives, love and relationships. They can even cause rebirth defects as enforced conformity leads to deformity of the soul.
God won’t countenance a phony face. He calls us to wipe away every guise and disguise and recognize the true beauty that comes of seeing past imperfection to the grace of Jesus. He is patient and loving and able to help us overcome our struggles. Not even our sin can hide us from the love of God, and that perspective should give our faith a whole different complexion.
________
Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, Brantford, Ontario, Canada