Image used with permission by geehair.com/ 

Here at Great Bend High School, some students like to do their makeup in different ways almost every day because it is a way to express themselves.

“What I enjoy personally about doing White and Black Makeup (also known as ‘Corpse Paint’ in the Black Metal Scene) is simply to just stand out and be myself as much as possible and just express myself by the makeup as it sets a tone for people that have seen me wearing it,” said Cole Sanders.

What exactly is ‘Corpse Painting’ you may ask. It is a style of white and black makeup used primarily by black metal bands to make them appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic. Typically, this style of makeup involves making the face and neck white, then making the area around the eyes and lips black.

What inspires Sanders is a lot of the bands that he listens to and enjoys. This style of makeup is typically only recognized by people who listen to the same music and are familiar with the makeup’s  history. Being recognized and finding people with similar interests is one of the things Sanders likes about doing this makeup.

“I enjoy doing eyeliner as it makes me feel more confident in myself and it makes me feel like I have control over that confidence,” said Chrisangel Adame.

The first time that eyeliner appeared was in 10,000 BC in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. There, both women and men of high status used it to outline their eyes to protect themselves from getting wrinkles in the dry desert wind. Lead, copper, and antimony were the materials that the Egyptians used to make their eyeliner, which, if you didn’t know, are toxic.

According to Adame, what truly inspires him to do makeup was many of the musicians he looked up to. When he was in middle school, trying to be more confident in himself, doing his makeup was one of the things that truly made him feel like he was being himself.

“Makeup for me is a form of gender expression. Makeup has no gender, and you can use it anyway you want. There are no rules when it comes to makeup or most art in general. You are the only one who can limit your creativity. I do hear negative comments about my makeup, but it just doesn’t affect me,” said Lex Sanchez.

Makeup first came to America in the 1800s, when entrepreneurs started manufacturing their own cosmetics lines. Eyeshadow can be traced to the same place eyeliner originated from, which was 12,017 years ago in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. To make their eyeshadow in Ancient Egypt, they used a substance called Kohl, which is made out of lead, oxidized copper, ochre, ash, malachite, crushed antimony, burnt almonds and chrysocolla ore.

What inspires Sanchez to do their makeup is their favorite singer, Chloe Moriondo. Sanchez likes how confident Chloe is and that is something that they want to be able to do one day. Even though Sanchez sometimes gets negative comments on their makeup, they keep doing whatever they like because they do makeup for themselves, not other people.

In the end, there are many ways that we can do our makeup. Whether you are a girl or boy or other, everyone has different ways of expressing themselves and making themselves feel more comfortable.