Information and Diversity
Speech Outline
Formal Outline: Egyptian Beauty
Introduction
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Attention Catcher: Hair extensions, anti-wrinkle cream, unpleasant body
odor, and methods for eliminating stretch marks. All this sounds pretty
modern, doesn’t it? Yet, all of these were concerns and creations of the
Egyptians.
Listener Relevance Link: What the Egyptians found beautiful and the
products they used has affected us today. Such as things like how we
developed the liking for the hour-glass figure and the kind of cosmetics we
use everyday.
Speaker Credibility: I have studied what the Egyptians found beautiful in
their culture.
Thesis Statement: Today, you will realize how much of an impact the
Egyptians actually had on the beauty industry today.
Preview of Main Points: We’ll discuss Cleopatra and how was she
significant, what Egyptians had to do with their hair to be considered
beautiful, and we’ll discuss how cosmetics played a big role in beauty.
Body
I.
First Main Point: Cleopatra was known for how beautiful she was.
Listener Relevance: Cleopatra was the Britney Spears of the Egyptians. She was
famous, beautiful, and confident.
A. She was considered an infamous beauty.
i. But this was not natural; she had a lot of help with all the cosmetics
that the Egyptians produced themselves.
B. Legend says that Cleopatra was actually fat and ugly.
i. Egyptian researchers claim that this is only a myth.
ii. The real Cleopatra was rather plain, with noticeably bad teeth.
iii. She was probably no more than five feet tall and a little on the plump
side.
C. She was not fat, she was curvy.
i. She wore these curves with confident.
ii. These curves would soon be desire by every woman in the world.
Cleopatra modeled the typical hour-glass figure. She was the one that
made it famous.
D. The Egyptians were convinced that their ancestors of 2,000 years ago had
great seductive powers.
i. Cleopatra served them well by being a very seductive woman.
ii. She was a charming, intelligent queen and a sly temptress.
iii. Cleopatra had a brief affair with Caesar before forming a political and
romantic relationship with Mark Antony.
Transition: Since Cleopatra was so powerful, she was able to influence the Egyptians to
follow her beauty ways.
II.
Second Main Point: Egyptians were vain in their appearance.
Listener Relevance: Like today, Egyptians also worried about thinning or graying hair.
A. Hair was considered sacred.
i. They wished to preserve the appearance of youth for as long as
possible.
B. The Egyptians also praised thick hair.
i. They would use hair extensions and wigs made of real hair, horse hair,
palm-leaves, straw, or sheep’s wool.]
ii. Egyptians would shave their head to add the hair to their wigs for
thickness.
iii. According to Tour Egypt Monthly, an on-line magazine, Egyptian
women shaved not only their heads but also other parts of their bodies
and would wear open pleated skirts to reveal this.
C. Egyptians wore wigs not only for a fashion accessory, but as a necessary
means of hygiene. Head lice were very abundant during this time.
i. The wigs were usually divided into three sections with one going
down the back and the other two down either side at the front of the
breasts.
ii. It was believe that a women’s wig could enhance her sexuality.
Transition: Not only was hair important in the beauty world of the Egyptians, so was
their cosmetics.
III.
Third Main Point: The Egyptians loved ornamentation.
Listener Relevance: Cosmetics were very essential to the Egyptians just like they are to
the American women today.
A. The ornamented eye was highly adored to the Egyptians.
i. It was very fashionable to have impeccably dark, outlined eyes
ii. Ornamentation for purely physical appeal was inadequate.
iii. Enhancement of beauty for aesthetic and seductive purposes was the
goal. These goals also went much deeper to spiritual and magical
intents.
B. Egyptian eyes are often described as “almond” the lines are in fact like
those of a cat.
i. Cats, both domestic and wild bear the characteristic of black outlined
eyes, often with a long straight line emerging towards the ears.
ii. Cats represent the bounty of life to the Egyptians.
iii. They also represent beauty, prosperity, grace, fertility, and the ability
to protect ones loved ones, and the capacity to enjoy life.
iv. Even, today the root of the word feline is related to fertile and female.
C. Their makeup was always perfect and never has any smudges or were
there any uneven lines.
i. The most popular colors were green and black, but they also used a lot
of blue.
ii. The makeup was usually applied from the eyebrow to the base of the
nose with a round-ended stick with made from wood, bronze, or glass.
D. There were more cosmetics than just eye makeup.
i. There was an article called Ancient Egyptian Beauty Aids that I found
at emuseum.mnsu.edu that claimed that lipstick was made out of red
ochre and fat, that mixtures of chalk and oil were used as cleansing
creams, and that henna was used as hair dyes.
ii. On September 21, 1999 L’Oreal wrote an article called Colour and
Beauty in Ancient Egypt. It claimed that the Egyptians were indeed
highly skilled “scientists” based on their extremely sophisticate
techniques for applying makeup.
Conclusion
I.
II.
III.
Thesis Restatement: Hopefully, you have realized how the Egyptians
contributed to the beauty world today.
Main Point Summary: We discussed Cleopatra and how is she significant,
what Egyptians had to do with their hair to be considered beautiful, and we
discussed how cosmetics played a big role in beauty.
Clincher: According to CNN, Egyptologists and chemists came to
conclusion that the chemical compounds that was used in Egyptian cosmetics
was also used by the Greeks and Romans to treat infections eye diseases such
as conjunctivitis. This shows that many products that we use today and in the
past can trace back to the Egyptians. These are not new creations; they have
been around for a long time.
References
Beauty Worlds. (2000, October 22). Hair in Ancient Egypt[4 paragraghs].Beauty
Worlds[online], Available at http://www.beautyworlds.com/egypthair.htm [version on
October10,2002]
CNN. (1999, September 22). Researchers find health secrets in ancient Egyptian eye
shadow[2 paragraghs].CNN.com[online], Available at
http://www.cnn.com/STLYE/9909/22/egyptian.eyes/ [version on October 22, 2002]
Fashion Alley. (1999-2001). Beauty Secrets My Mummy Never Told Me[5 paragraghs].
Fashion Alley[online], Available at
http://www.fashionalley.tv/beauty/makeuphistory.htm [version on October 10,2002]
Iafrica. (2002, October 10). Egyptians dent that Cleopatra was fat and ugly[22
paragraghs]. Iafrica[online], Available at
http://iafrica.com/loveandsex/features/25473.htm [version on October 10,2002]
Illes, Judith. (1996). Cats Eyes and Eye Make Up[12 paragraghs].Tour Egypt
Monthly[online], Available at http://www.egyptmonth.com [version on October 10,2002]
L’Oreal and the French Museums Research Laboratory. (1997, September 21). Colour
and Beauty in Ancient Egypt[7 paragraghs]. All Press Releases[online], Available at
http://www.loreal.com/us/press-room [version on October 22, 2002]