An exploration of how, since the 19th century, the modern cosmetic industry has drawn on classical images and references to create a perception of idealised beauty as a way of advertising the products. Using visual, literary, documentary and archaeological evidence, the contributors offer up a series of different case studies to show how antiquity has been used in cosmetic advertising and marketing. Each chapter features a wide range of case studies addressing a variety of cosmetics, from make up to menstrual products and from perfume to skin cream.

Starting by looking at the interaction of cosmetic advertising with Hollywood films and the notion of ancient knowledge as a political propaganda tool, contributors move on to discuss the prominence of certain ancient figures – divine or human – in the modern cosmetic industry, and how are they are used to promote various, often toxic, standards, such as whiteness or exoticism (which are not mutually exclusive in cosmetic advertising), thinness, femininity and masculinity, and youth. The final sections of the book take a deep dive into particular cosmetic types. While the illustrations in the book bring the topics to life, readers can also find an online exhibition at https://makeupmuseum.org/im-your-venus/.

Jane Draycott is Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Glasgow, UK. She has written academic books and articles on a range of subjects related to classical reception, ancient history and archaeology.

Laurence Totelin is Reader in Ancient History at Cardiff University, UK. Her research focuses on the history of Greek and Roman medicine and science. She has published extensively on ancient botany, pharmacology and gynaecology. Her recent publications include A Cultural History of Medicine: Volume I (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021), and with Mark Bradley and Victoria Leonard Bodily Fluids in Antiquity (2021).