The ancients regarded the people who were fair-skinned were beauties. In the Books of Songs, the description of one beauty was like the following. The fingers were like the soft grass buds, the skin was like the smooth grease, the neck was fair and slender, the teeth were neat and white, the eyebrows were beautiful, the dimples appeared when she was smiling and the eyes were bright. The grease which was as white as polished jade was referred to the smoothness and tenderness of the skin of the beauty. For those who are interested in ancient poems, the Book of Songs is one of the best choices for them to learn. But one has to know how to study Chinese and know something about the classical Chinese, and then one will feel the charm of the passages in the Book of Songs.

The ancients had already realized that they could use the powder to make up the face. They knew that the powder could make face look much fairer and whiter, which certainly meant that they would be more beautiful. One sentence read that the woman was beautiful and she did not need any powder to make herself up. The words also read that praise for the beauty could not perfect my face but the cosmetics would make me good-looking than before. It was known that the powdering was already in the Warring States Period.

It was strange that the powdering was not only related to women but also to men. The History of the Han Dynasty recorded that the men made themselves up by decorating the hats with the feather of the pheasant and the clothes with seashells. The Eastern Han Dynasty also witnessed the make-up of men. The powdering to make up one was not the trend of one particular period but it was in all process of the history.

Those who studied Chinese and also did research in Chinese culture might know that the material of the powder was made of rice. Qi Min Yao Shu written by Jia Sixie in the Northern Dynasty recorded the detailed producers of making powder of making up. The ancients used the white powder to make up themselves. They also added some incarnadine powder to make the cheeks look more beautiful and fairer.