Body Adornment and Cosmetics

Citation:
Ademuleya, BA.  2016.  Body Adornment and Cosmetics. Encyclopedia of the Yoruba. , Bloomington: Indiana University Press

Abstract:

The paper is an overview of the Yoruba custumal practice of adorn their bodies using a variety of means. The paper classified body adornment into three, namely; body marking, dressing and accessories, and cosmetics. It identifies the differences in the variety forms in the Yoruba adorns the body and observes that apart from adding beauty to the body, it also serves as a form of identifying the beholder by his or her lineage or town of origin. It also observed that every Yoruba sub-group could be identified by their uses of dresses, hair dressing, and use of accessories and jewelries which symbolizes the wearer’s status, his or her wealth, as well as his position within the society as well as one form of facial mark or the other. It concludes that the basic intention of having the body adorned by the Yoruba is generally for the purpose of beautification, status enhancement and Identity.