New Delhi, Oct. 16 -- Kathakali artist Balasubramanian explains in Eyeliner: A Cultural History, "We're transformed into extrahuman characters. The eyeliner is crucial to projecting the eyes onto the audience by enlarging them. Everything is precisely applied, with the intent that the eyes evoke the character's feelings."

Eyeliner, kohl, kajal, ithmid, surma, tiro, sormeh, guyliner and more make it to the pages of Lebanese-British journalist Zahra Hankir's book. Eyeliner moves through centuries past and present in this definitive account of one of the most used makeup products globally. It covers vast ground, from Queen Nefertiti in Egypt to geishas in Japan, from the Wodaabe people in Chad to Amy Winehouse. Kathakali performers set the ...