Arabic Kajal

[Anita Damelio]

WhenI was 13 years old, I stood in front of the mirror and traced a rich black liner around the inner rims of my eyes. Before that moment I'd only been allowed to wear makeup for special occasions and parties, with my mother as the makeup artist, dabbing my eyes with kohl. They would quickly start to water and, as I blinked, the liner silhouetted my eyes with its deep, intense magic.

As a Pakistani American teenager growing up in a Philadelphia suburb, traditional kohl was a talisman of sorts. I looked different than almost everyone in my town. When I felt I didn't belong, lining my eyes with even the lightest touch of kohl instantly reminded me of Pakistan and made me feel confident in my beauty.

Kohl is a magic spell, a declaration of intention, a will to power. After remaining in an abusive relationship, using kohl helped me gather the pieces and transform into myself again. Kohl was, and still is, a home for me. No matter where I am or what challenges I confront, it is an asset both humble and powerful.

In South Asia, kohl may be kept in small brass bottles. By Far tote. JW Pei bag. Jewelry, counterclockwise from top: Prounis chain, pendant, and ring; Sauer bracelet; Prounis ring; and Sauer ring. Prop stylist: Samantha Margherita

When you see kohl or kajal used legally on the side of an eyeliner in the U.S., it is a marketing term meant to make you think of intense black pigments and creamy textures. But these liners are not made of traditional kohl's compounds (which, according to the FDA, may include high levels of lead, often in the form of lead sulfide). They are made of the same color additives in most modern eyeliners because of the FDA's ban on kohl color additives and potential health risks.

Traditional kohls can come in a few different forms: as a creamy stick or pencil, in a squeezable tube, or in a pot, similar to a powder. This last form is usually kept on hand for religious purposes, applied delicately with a clean finger or a separate applicator, but it may also be used as makeup if you're old school. (My grandmother keeps hers this way.) Traditional kohl is called "surma" by Muslims, who may use it for religious purposes; it may be worn as an eyeliner during Ramadan.

Regardless of how it is created, kohl, when used as a cosmetic, is applied on the waterlines of the eyes, making them look pronounced without trying too hard. "It's a no-fuss, easy product," says Natasha Ramachandran, a model in New York, who grew up in India. "You don't have a lot of makeup on, and kajal... it adds a little something to your face. A lot of women seek comfort in that."

Throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, traditional kohl is a cultural and cosmetic staple, yet it is not without potential health risks: "The black iron oxide and pigments in most commercially produced kajal may contain elevated levels of lead," says Renuka Thergaonkar, PhD, a cosmetic chemist in Mumbai. "Prolonged application can cause excessive lead storage in the body, which impacts the brain."

In South Asia, traditional kohl transcends surface-level beauty and is often used as a form of protection against the evil eye, a jealous gaze believed to cause fatalistic harm and injury. "Recently, I had a bride come to me for her makeup, and her mother told me to put a dot of kajal behind her ear [to ward off the evil eye]," says Syed Zubair, a Karachi-based makeup artist.

In traditional households, newborns' eyes are delicately dabbed with kohl because of the widely held belief that it repels not just the evil eye, but the glare of the sun and some diseases. In Ayurvedic medicine, kohl is said to have healing properties for cleansing and rejuvenating the eyes, and practitioners use it to make preventative treatments for eye infections.

Try one of these options that you can find in the U.S.: Kulfi Underlined Kajal Eyeliner in Nazar No More has all of the pigment but none of the smeariness of traditional kohls. Rituel de Fille The Black Orb Enigmatic Eyeliner comes in a pot reminiscent of traditional kohls (smudge it on with your fingers or a brush). Neither contain traditional kohl color additives, so both are legal in the U.S.

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HASHMI KAJAL 4.5 gm Long wearing intense black kohl gives your eyes a classic look by applying Hashmi's kajal which is evergreen & classy product. Get a signature style by using Hashmi's long-lasting kajal that's reliable and shines to make your eyes look more beautiful.

Galena eye paint (later termed kohl in Arabic, from the Akkadian word for the cosmetic) was widely used in Ancient Egypt. It was derived from a natural mineral form of lead sulfide. Upper eyelids were painted black and lower ones were colored green (from malachite), as depicted in ancient texts that describe the use of both. Ancient graves from the pre-historic Tasian culture point to the early application of galena in Egypt, a custom stretching from the Badarian period through to the Coptic era.

The Louvre Museum in Paris has a 4th-century-AD dilekythos, a double blown-glass cosmetic tube for kohl in its collection (see below). Makeup was applied with an ivory, bronze, or glass stick. As a substance, kohl has always been culturally precious. Ancient Emirati women were buried with at least three things as the essentials for the afterlife: jewelry, pottery, and seashells containing kohl. A wonderful variety of unique kohl-container styles are still being found throughout the Middle East, North and West Africa, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia.

In Egypt, the 18th Dynasty saw an increase in domestic comforts and a growing taste for luxury. The wealthy embellished their homes with elegant utilitarian objects, including cosmetic pots, which had always been an important part of Egyptian life. This miniature jar from the period is shaped as a Nubian slave figure and still contains traces of the kohl. The various shapes and types of kohl containers reflect the culture that was using it and makes a wonderful study on its own.

In Punjabi culture, surma is a traditional ceremonial dye, which predominantly men of the Punjab wear around their eyes on special social or religious occasions. It is usually applied by the wife or the mother of the person.

The Prophet Muhammed used kohl and recommended others to use it because he believed that it was beneficial for the eyes, and it is used by Muslim men today during Ramadan as a sign of devotion. Curiously, the Prophet used to apply kohl to his right eye three times, and twice to his left eye. Tradition runs deep, as this use of kohl began around 610 CE when Muhammed began teaching.

Koh is still used in Ayurvedic medicine for healing, and in Southern India in particular, women of the household prepare the kajal, adding various beneficial herbs to the formula. Local tradition considers it to be a very good coolant for the eyes. It is also used for eye infections and conjunctivitis, as a protectant from the heat and glare of the sun in the desert, and shielding the eyes against dust and sandstorms.

In the 18th Dynasty, Ancient Egyptian Queen Hastshepsut ground charred frankincense into her kohl eyeliner. In addition to preventing eye infections, this formula kept the flies away which were the main cause of transmitted eye disease. The Egyptians historically used sulfide of antimony rather than lead.

Kajal / kohal / arabic powder eyeliner with applicator included, this brand is one of the most authentic and original in the world of arabic beauty. Long-lasting, natural, healing thanks to its natural ingredients such as arabic samgh. It makes you itch when applying it is normal. It comes in a small closed plastic bottle.

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Kajal/kohal/khol powdered arabic eyeliner with applicator included, this brand is one of the most authentic and original in the world of arabian beauty. Durable, natural, healing thanks to its natural ingredients such as the Arabic samgh. It causes you itching when you apply it, it's normal, it's like that. It comes in a small closed plastic bottle.

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