EARLY ACCOUNTS
OF MĀORI MAKEUP
Nā Sarah Hudson
Our tīpuna used earth pigments on their skin, hair and clothing.
The act of rubbing earth on your skin can be really practical. This application can act as a protection from insects or the sun, it can also be form of insulation from the cold.
Through early ethnographic accounts we can also gather that some use of earth pigments were cosmetic - there are some really glam-rock descriptions from a few hundred years ago!
We’ve illustrated a few examples and encourage you to have a go - extend this whakapapa of natural makeup, and be sure to share the results with us @kauae_raro on instagram.
This depiction of the personal adornment from 1769-1770 by Sydney Parkinson, is usually regarded as documentation of hairstyles. What also sings out to me, is the use of kōkōwai.
The following images are my creative interpretations of descriptions found in early photographs and a Nat Geo article from 1996 entitled “Make-up with Mud” by Gerard Hindmarsh.
I’ve proudly worn the kōkōwai circles on my cheeks to a couple of dawn blessings over the last few years, and look forward to seeing more Māori recreate these looks, and push the boundaries with new ones, in the future.
