The Ancient Egyptians were known for their creation of cosmetics, particularly their use of rouge. Ancient Egyptian pictographs show men and women wearing lip and cheek rouge. They blended fat with red ochre to create a stain that was red in color.

Greek men and women eventually mimicked the look, using crushed mulberries, red beet juice, crushed strawberries, or red amaranth to create a paste. Those who wore makeup were viewed as wealthy and it symbolized status because cosmetics were costly.

In China, Rouge was used as early as the Shang Dynasty. It was made from the extracted juice of leaves from red and blue flowers. Some people added bovine pulp and pig pancreas to make the product denser. Women would wear the heavy rouge on their cheeks and lips. In Chinese culture, red symbolizes good luck and happiness to those who wear the color.

In Ancient Rome, men and women would create rouge using lead II,Iv (red lead) and cinnabar. The mixture was found to have caused cancer, dementia, and eventually death.

In the 16th century in Europe, women and men would use white powder to lighten their faces. Commonly women would add heavy rouge to their cheeks in addition.