The concept of cosmetics 'Cosmetique' has passed into Turkish from French, it means beauty preparation related to image beautification. The origin of this concept is based on the Greek 'Cosmos' concept of ornament, beautification, tidying up.

Cosmetics; They are all products and substances applied to the body or any part of the body to be cleaned, beautified, attractive and gain a different appearance.

For thousands of years, people, men or women, have been trying to beautify themselves, to make themselves admired by others, to look young, to hide wrinkles, scars, acne or various scars on their faces, to protect their skin from the sun, wind and cold, to remove unwanted hair on their body, to prevent hair loss or to change its color. They made paints, ointments, lotions and perfumes for Because the desire to look beautiful, to be well-groomed and attractive is an irresistible process that arises from the existence of humanity. In parallel with this, the history of cosmetics is just as old.

Information on the use of cosmetics and perfumes, BC. It dates back to 4000 years ago and in parallel with the development of humanity, the use of cosmetics has been increasing from the first ages to the present day.

Small bowls in which paints applied to the face were mixed, which were found in archaeological excavations in Ancient Egypt, where the objects were buried with the dead, and ointment containers that still preserve their fragrance after thousands of years, reveal the importance of cosmetics in Egyptian society and the idea that souls can rest better in these fragrances. demonstrated its prevalence.

It has also taken its place in history that the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, who lived in the 1400s BC, was the cosmetologist of her time and that the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra owed her beauty to the cosmetics she made.

The knowledge of the Egyptians in the field of cosmetics reached the Hebrews, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and Greeks.

The idea that physical beauty is a sign of the existence of a perfect soul was adopted in ancient Greece, and it was found valuable because the outer reflects what is inside and represents virtue and intelligence. Plato believed that what is beautiful is good and what is good is beautiful, and thus the idea that our visible face mirrors our shadowy true self was born.

And let's not forget that the most beautiful woman of all time, Helen of Troy, for whom armies fought, a giant kingdom was destroyed, and known throughout history as 'the beauty that lifted thousands of ships', owes her beauty and attractiveness to the strong scent that the sorceress gave her. Helen became the symbol of feminine charm, the proof of the power of beauty.

The Chinese, who played an important role in the development of cosmetics, saw cosmetics as the symbol of nobility and Chinese women painted their faces in different tones from gold to silver according to the level of nobility. Those who are considered to be lower class are prohibited from being painted.

The leap in the use of cosmetics occurred in 18th century Europe, especially in England and France, where both sexes tried to achieve a completely artificial appearance. Towards the 1880s, a new era was opened in the history of cosmetics with the developments in technology and especially in publishing and the discovery of advertising.

By the 20th century, make-up has become one of the indicators of being fashionable in Europe and America.

As it can be seen, although the concept of beauty is different in every period of human history, the only thing that does not change is that the place of cosmetics and cosmetic products in our lives is increasing day by day, as it has been in history.

In the historical process, women have been identified with the concept of beauty, and with the developing technology and the needs of the age, a lot of progress has been made in the field of cosmetics. The widespread increase in the use of personal care and cosmetic products among men in recent years has brought about the exponential growth of the cosmetics industry. The cosmetics market, which has reached 250 billion dollars in the world, has become one of the sectors that attract attention with its growth in Turkey in recent years.