Cosmetics are personal care products used to improve one's appearance by cleansing, conditioning, or coloring the body or face. Today cosmetics include soaps, shampoos, conditioning products for hair and skin as well as lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, and other make-up for the face.

Archaeological evidence found at paleolithic sites indicates that prehistoric peoples used various pigments mixed with grease to adorn not only the walls of their caves but also their bodies. Body painting, in addition to being considered ornamental, was thought to afford supernatural protection, and at some burial sites, large quantities of paints have been found interred with the dead. Among the seventeen different colors that archaeologists have identified as in use in prehistoric times, white, black, orange, red, and yellow seem to have been the most popular.

Both historical records and archaeological evidence show that the ancient peoples of the Middle East, like prehistoric peoples, used...