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Medill Reports Depictions of Queen Nefertiti's alluring gaze always seem to suggest that she knew something we don't. We just never had proof. Until now. 
French scientists recently discovered that ancient Egyptians eye makeup may have doubled as protection against eye infections. The Queen's secret was right in front of our eyes and hers all along."Beauty was important to them, but of course there was this practical side," James Phillips, curator of Near East archaeology and anthropology at the Field Museum. In the study, published in the current issue of "Analytical Chemistry," Christian Amatore, Philippe Walter and colleagues report that ancient Egyptian makeup preserved in the Louvre contain four different lead-based substances that boost production of nitric oxide by up to 240 percent in human skin. Nitric oxide has been shown to jumpstart the immune system to help fight disease. Ancient Egyptians, because of the marshy climate on the Nile River, had troubles with eye infections. The scientists' conclusion? While many Egyptians revered eye makeup's "magic role" in protecting them from illness, Egyptian "chemists" may have deliberately concocted these lead-based cosmetics to prevent and treat eye diseases. But for Phillips, "deliberate" is an iffy hypothesis. "Did they know? Maybe they knew a little bit, I mean, cause and effect is a strange thing," he said. "They could observe diseases & but I know of no conclusive texts that say they knew how to deal with these flies dropping eggs in the eyes, the bacteria." Either way, the lead-based chemicals are not native to the region, so regardless of Egyptian motives, it's plausible that they brewed the substances to put in makeup for some reason or another possibly just for aesthetics, according to Phillips. Still, the French finding is an interesting one considering cosmetics regulations today focus on the toxicity of lead. "It sounds to me that you have two things going on," Phillips said. "One: it may have been preventing diseases, but on the other hand it's bound to cause diseases." Because of this, David Steinberg, a cosmetics regulatory and preserve expert who writes for "Cosmetics and Toiletries" magazine, said the French scientists' finding has no practical applications for women's cosmetics today. "They had no concept of safety," Steinberg said. "Now would they work today? Yeah. They'd probably kill you, too. And they'd be against the law." Steinberg said using lead in eye makeup would be against Food and Drug Administration guidelines, as well as against California Proposition 65, a law designed to keep certain chemicals including lead out of the state's drinking water. The moral of the story? You may want to walk like an Egyptian, but you certainly don't want to start applying makeup like one.
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