copyright Prof G. K. Monga, ICLES, M. J. College, Vashi

Ever since man has walked this earth, the inherent desire to enhance his appearance by improving his skin texture and by using various decorative items has been evident through various carvings, paintings and other forms of art. Ajanta caves give expression to the art of painting, and here we witness beautiful damsels adorned with fascinating hair styles and fabulous jewellery.

The Indus valley people, especially the women possessed a unique sense of beauty. They knew the art of toiletries and cosmetics. A vanity case found at Harappa had a number of accessories such as pincers, ear-scoops and tweezers which indicates the interest women had in beauty care then. The use of lipsticks, application of face paints and other cosmetics were familiar to them. Round metal rods in copper and bronze with both ends rounded and polished were used for applying cosmetics. Expensive perfumes and cosmetics were kept in special vessels having four compartments. The discovery of small toilet tables and oval shaped bronze mirrors and combs of various shapes and sizes made of ivory clearly indicate that the women of Indus Valley cared for their beauty and looks.

Dating back to the remotest antiquity is "Ubtan" a body application used for the beautification of the body and is the legacy of the rich Indian Heritage. "Ubtan",the paste-mixture of turmeric, saffron, sandalwood, Bengal gram and seeds of yellow mustard, is applied by brides and bridegrooms, while reciting "ved mantras" as an important ritual of marriages in India. Upon scientific researches of its ingredients, it has been found that the Ubtan not only enhances beauty, but also possesses definite medicinal values by virtue of its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, antiperspirant, deodorant and skin toning properties thereby ruling out the possibilities.

In Modern times, cosmetology means the science of beautifying skin and its appendages. It revolves around two distinct fields

a) Science of cosmetics, toiletries personal care products and cosmeceuticals

and b) science of minor and major cosmetic procedure.

Cosmetics enhance beauty and self-confidence by feeling good. Today, and aesthetically pleasing appearance is considered vital component of self-esteem, social image and job worthiness. Today thousands of people flood to cosmetic surgeons to create the winning look and figure for them Sushruta was the ancient Indian Surgeon who is considered as the father of plastic surgery. He reconstructed the nose of a person, which is perhaps the world's first plastic surgery performed nearly 26 centuries ago.

Nose Surgery, breast enlargement, liposuction, face-lifts or botox therapy - the most common beauty treatments among Indians are no longer the domain of the film stars. Corporate executives, housewives, grandmothers and teenagers from varied socio-economic backgrounds are visiting cosmetic clinics without any fear of failure.

Dermatosurgery means surgery of the skin. It is an overlap surgery specially evolved from Dermatology. Dermabrasion is a procedure consisting of planing of the raised skin so as to achieve levelling effect to make scars less conspicuous.

Abrasions carried out on the facial skin for better aesthetic look date back to 1500 BC in Egypt. They mainly used alabaster and pumice stone.

Cosmetic camouflage is the use of temporary experiment methods for covering disfiguring lesions of the exposed skin. Minor lesions like acne, small scars or post inflammatory pigmentation necessitate camouflaging measures. Cosmetic Camouflaging is best achieved when texture and colour of the tattooed skin matches surrounding skin.

Tattooing is the process of uniform implantation of minute pigment granules into the dermis, so as to create a permanent cosmetic camouflage using manual or electrically driven needles.

Decorative tattooing or Godna, depicting various figures, wardings and designs has been in vogue from ancient times and continues to be so even today. Presently there is a fashionable trend of cosmetic tattooing such as permanent eye-liner, lipstick, moles etc.

Tattooing was observed in the mummies and documented in archaeology in ancient Egypt around 2000 B.C. It has been performed in various countries throughout the countries for a variety of reasons. Greeks, Romans and Nazis used the technique of tattoo to mark prisoners of war, animals and slaves. It has been practised for personal adornment, for aesthetic and religious reasons as decorative tattooing throughout the world. Major contributions in this include Egypt, China, Greek, Rome, India and recently even the western countries.

- Pigments and instruments used for tattooing have also come a long way. Early crude tattoo needles made of bone have been replaced by electrically operated tattoo machines and pigments made from root or plant extracts have now been replaced by Iron oxide and synthetic pigments. Since ancient times both men and women have been fond of ornaments such as ear-rings, nose rings anklets made from various materials like gold, silver, bronze, gems, coral shells etc. certain ancient tribes wore large heavy earring, the modern style is wearing light, delicate and multiple earrings. Males prefer to decorate single ear with 1-3 earrings.

Nose piercing is also very popular amongst Indian women. Both ear and nose piercing have also been practised on religious grounds. Traditionally the gold smiths and jewellers carried out these procedures. In today's modern era, people are cosmetically aware of the complications such as infections tear etc. Therefore nowadays people approach medical practitioners for ear or nose piercing. Multiple techniques varying from simple manual cost effective needle technique ~o costly automatic ear piercing gun-shot technique are now available.

There are certain myths regarding the cosmetic usage common in our Indian society that requires clarifications. This can be achieved by cosmetic counselling.

Thus cosmetology has come a long way from the ancient world to the modern times. Today, due to the blessings of modern medical techniques, cosmetology has become more scientific diversified and well organised.