Always wonder why mom used to keep a spot with black kohl, on my cheek or towards left of left eye. She always said its a beauty spot which makes you look more beautiful and keeps you away from evil eyes. I had this spot throughout childhood in my make up. And gradually stopped keeping it myself.
Surprisingly I never thought of it until few days back when I heard about Roman’s were using patches. History says the beauty patches are ancient. They are used from Egyptian times, initially its used to hide the scars and patches on their faces. As time passed, (considered from 18th century) the functional purpose of patches turned into fashion.
Initially taffeta was used to make little plasters and was cut into different shapes. Shapes were the crescent moon, the star, different flowers, and even animals or people. The face looked like a shadow-play performance.
Their positions on the face varied. There were, however, some favourite places. The seven principal ones were: at the corner of the eye, la passionnee; la galante, in the middle of the cheek; la baiseuse, at the corner of the mouth; on a pimple, la receleuse; on the nose, l’effrontee; la coquette, on the lips. A round patch was called l’assassine. At one time, women wore patches circled with diamonds on their right temple.
(Source: http://marilynkaydennis.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/the-fashion-of-beauty-patches/)
Few antique Patch Boxes!!
I
MyDinacharya 