5,000 years of make-up in one video: Lisa Eldridge demonstrates beauty through the ages [Video]

For those of you looking for Halloween inspiration that doesn't involve blood and prosthetics, this is for you. Make-up artist Lisa Eldridge has created an incredible visual journey through 5,000 years of make-up, beginning with the dramatic ancient Egyptians and taking you right up to the relaxed variety of present-day beauty.

Coinciding with the launch of her book Face Paint: The Story Of Makeup, she has gone all out to create a dramatic re-enactment of the fashion of the face.

The professional make-up artist regularly posts beauty tutorials on how to achieve a whole host of looks, from Downton Abbey to how to apply bronzer. As with many of her posts, this historical tutorial is not simply a display of beauty through the ages but is also an illuminating look at the constantly shifting attitude to make-up over time. Whilst the ancient Egyptian men and women freely daubed on eye-liner on a daily basis, Lisa later switches to the austere Victorian age where any kind of cosmetic use was spurned.

These days, of course, anyone with a contouring brush can go wild with with their own make-up style and that is something that Lisa concludes beautifully with in the video. "Today, in many parts of the world, we have the power to choose without censorship any make-up look we want to wear each day." She continues: "You might want to wear a nude lip, or a vibrant pink lip, purple eyeshadow, or no make-up at all." However, with all of these options to try now, we can't help but want to experiment.

Face Paint: The Story Of Makeup by Lisa Eldridge, published by Abrams New York, priced £18.99, is available to buy now at Waterstones and Abrams and Chronicle.