The new box office champion of domestic animated films, “Nezha: The Rise of the Devil Boy,” can be considered another pride of Chinese animation!
The dark circles under “Devil Boy” Nezha's eyes have made many people express that they are different from what they imagined.




In fact, such a “makeup design” behind it
not only represents Little Nezha's resistance against fate,
but also represents the spirit of domestic animation not giving up and persisting in challenging the status quo.
It is an image of staying up all night to muster strength, as well as a spirit of perseverance.

Nezha is one of the mythological heroes that the author of “Investiture of the Gods” focused on depicting during the Shang Dynasty, and his mother, Lady Yin, also had a strong presence.

Compared to Nezha's “exaggerated dark circles,”
isn't Lady Yin's makeup more in line with our normal aesthetic?


Ancient women's facial makeup, besides powder and eyebrow pencil, also included forehead yellow, floral patches, slanting red, makeup dots, and lip color. The makeup process could generally be divided into seven steps:
1. Apply white pigment 2. Apply powder 3. Draw eyebrows 4. Paint forehead yellow (or apply floral patches) 5. Apply makeup dots 6. Draw slanting red 7. Apply lip color
※ Forehead Yellow: Also known as “goose yellow” or “crow yellow,” it is an ancient form of makeup.
Cosmetic Rouge
Actually, in the Shang Dynasty,
women already tried applying some red substances on their faces
to make themselves beautiful.
However, at that time, it was only used by dancers.

Until later, Zhang Qian brought it back to Central China,
and the women there improved it,
adding some red ointment to a container.
Afterward, the production of rouge became increasingly mature,
and various types of rouge were eventually created.


Ancient foundation was very simple; they ground rice into powder,
then added cold water to ferment it.
The sediment obtained after fermentation was called “powder essence.”
They then dried the powder essence to get the foundation.
However, this type of foundation was too coarse and would easily flake off when applied to the face.

However, soon after, an upgraded version of the rice-based foundation appeared,
called lead powder.
There is a saying, “wash away the lead,” where the lead refers to the women's foundation.
This type of powder was very fine and made the face look very white,
but it contained heavy metals, and frequent use could be fatal.
Dyed Eyebrows
In ancient women, eyebrows held a significant place.
Before drawing eyebrows,
they usually shaved off the woman's eyebrows first,
and then started drawing them.
Sometimes they would slightly smudge the tail of the eyebrows
to avoid making them look too stiff.
Therefore, drawing eyebrows in ancient times required a lot of skill.

So, sisters who accidentally shave off their eyebrows,
don't worry,
beauties in ancient times drew their eyebrows like this too~
Fashion is a cycle,
and this statement is certainly true!

Painting Goose Yellow
Ancient women also used to paste flowers on their foreheads,
which were also called floral patches.
They were mostly red,
and could be cut from shiny materials and pasted on the forehead.
From a distance, it looked like a flower blooming between the eyebrows.

Legend has it that once a princess was playing under a tree,
she looked up and saw plum blossoms in full bloom,
and just then, one fell onto her face,
so people began to imitate this.

Applying Lipstick
Ancient people placed great importance on lipstick,
and even in modern makeup, lipstick is essential.
Lipstick was found in a Western Han tomb,
and although so much time has passed, the color of the lipstick remains vibrant,
and the craftsmanship is exquisite.

In the Tang Dynasty, people used beeswax to replace some animal fats,
and then added cinnabar and purple grass to create various shades of lipstick.


In the Tang Dynasty, there were as many as 17 different shapes for applying lipstick.
Ancient people admired small lips, so to highlight a smaller mouth, they would first apply a white base,
and then apply the lip color.
Finally, they would draw another lip shape in the center of the lips with lipstick.


If you wanted to pursue a desired woman in ancient times, sending her rouge or lipstick
would surely win her favor.
Isn't this similar to giving YSL, MAC, or Armani as gifts today?
