Cleopatra’s Eye Make-Up Had Health Benefits

The heavy eye make-up used by ancient Egyptians may have been good for the eyes. This is according to a study by French scientists published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. The researchers found that the lead in the cosmetics helped fight off bacteria that cause eye infections. It did this by stimulating the cells in the immune system. The scientists, from the Louvre Museum and the CNRS research institute, analyzed the lead salts found in the make-up. Lead is usually a risk to health but the low levels in the make-up had health benefits. Lead researcher Philippe Walter said: “We knew ancient Greeks and Romans noted the make-up had medicinal properties, but we wanted to determine exactly how."

The make-up used by the ancient Egyptians helped darken the eyes and make them look sexier. It sometimes took many weeks to make the special mixture. The most famous “model” for the cosmetics was the Queen of Egypt Cleopatra. She used eye make-up to try to win the heart of the emperor Mark Anthony. The story of their love was made famous by the Shakespeare play ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’. Fashion has changed little in the past 2,000 years. Women and men spend a fortune every year on making their eyes look more attractive. There is a multi-billion-dollar industry based on mascara, eyeliner, eye moisturizer and false eyelashes.

COMPREHENSION 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A study by Egyptians found their ancient make-up was healthy.	T / F
b.	The chemical lead can reduce eye infections when used in cosmetics.	T / F
c.	Low levels of lead makes the body’s immune system fight bacteria.	T / F
d.	Ancient Greeks used make-up but ancient Romans didn’t.	T / F
e.	Ancient Egyptians sometimes spent weeks making make-up.	T / F
f.	The Egyptian queen Cleopatra used to be a make-up model.	T / F
g.	Shakespeare wrote a well-known play called ‘Cleopatra and Anthony’.	T / F
h.	The eye make-up industry is worth millions of dollars.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	make-up	a.	keep away
2	study	b.	more desirable
3.	fight off	c.	attempt
4.	analyzed	d.	beautiful
5.	exactly	e.	report
6.	sexier	f.	lots of money
7.	try	g.	investigated
8.	a fortune	h.	cosmetics
9.	attractive	i.	artificial
10.	false	j.	precisely