Picture the face of an ancient Egyptian. Chances are, whatever image just came to mind involved dark eye makeup. That's kohl, and the reason you probably pictured it is that practically every human being in ancient Egypt wore it. The only problem is that it was originally made of ground-up galena (lead sulfide), which of course would eventually give people lead poisoning. Kohl is still used today, mostly in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, where it's not supposed
to be poisonous but often winds up full of lead anyway.