ANCIENT ANAMBRA WOMEN’S ACCESSORIES AND MAKEUP
Makeups and accessories are added auxiliary ornaments that beautify a woman. At a point in life, Zara makeups, eye pencils, lipsticks, gold, silver, and diamond necklaces were not common among the Anambra women rather traditional ornaments and makeups were the means of beautification the women upheld in those days. For aesthetic purposes, the women made use of the following:OTANJELE: Otanjele is a traditional eye makeup that enhances facial appearances. It is synonymous with the modern eyeliner women use today. This eye makeup assists in making the eye appear rounded, conspicuous, and attractive. The traditional eye makeup is said to possess medicinal powers that heal the eye, enhance vision, clean dirt from the eyes, kill germs in the eyes and even stop blood from flowing from wounds in the eye. It has a multi-purpose act that beautified the people and at the same time kept them away from the eye doctor. Well, at least now we know why the people of the old did not use glasses and eye drops.
JIGIDA: Jigida is the well-known waist bead fashion that has surprisingly resurfaced to the present day. It is made from beads strung on fishing lines or threads and then wrapped around the waist. It can be worn in rows, up to 5 rows can be worn by a lady. This way, it beautifies the waist and gives it a beautiful shape. The beads from ancient times were sometimes made from cowries, glass, and metals. It holds different cultural significance depending on the culture of the community and tribe but in the Anambra State, it portrayed femininity and sensuality. It was used mostly for ceremonies like weddings and traditional dances. For example, in the legendary things fall apart, Akueke wore four rows of jigida on her waist for her marriage. Pg: 103.
ULI AND UFIE: Uli played a vital role in beautifying women in ancient times. It equally served as medicine for wounds and joint pains but today the major focus of Uli will be the beautification aspect. Uli is a body art that gives additional beauty to the body of a woman. Its juices are extracted from the Uli fruit, and ground, and mixed with clay, clay, soil, and camwood to produce a variety of colors like Blue, Red, Black, and Yellow. It gives an Anambra woman a particular sense of confidence, well-being, and sexual attractiveness when Uli is applied to her face and body. This can be synonymous with the way women of this age feel when they beautify their faces with makeup.
Ufie is also known as camwood was used for beautification and medicinal purpose in ancient Anambra. The women applied camwood on their bodies due to the nice refreshing scent it has. This served as makeup and perfume for the women. In many scenarios in which things fall apart, Achebe takes note of how significant Uli and Ufie are to the wives of Okonkwo. On pages 37-38 he wrote, Okonkwo’s wives… set about painting themselves with camwood, drawing beautiful black patterns on their stomachs and back.
Sadly, these makeup and accessories are no longer invoked due to colonization and modernization but will always remain a means of beautification and adornment in Anambra tradition.
