The first archaeological evidence of cosmetics usage is found in Ancient Egypt around 4000 BC. The Ancient Greeks and Romans also used cosmetics.

As of 2005, the cosmetics industry is dominated by a small number of multinationals that all originated in the early 20th century. Of the dominant firms, the oldest and the largest is L'Oréal, which was founded by Eugene Shueller in 1909 as the French Harmless Hair Colouring Company, and is now owned by: Liliane Bettencourt 27.5%, Nestlé 26.4%, the remaining 46.1% are publically traded. The true market developers were the 1910s American trio Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein and Max Factor. These firms established the market and were augmented by Revlon just before World War II and Estée Lauder just after. Some companies of the industry have been criticized for their practices in cosmetic advertising.