The author is less concerned with the cosmetic in contemporary pop culture (a shout-out to Taylor Swift’s cat-eye is mercifully brief), and more about the “glorious and profound histories swirling around” it — particularly how people of color continue to turn to it as an essential part of their heritage. She takes us on a whirlwind tour: to the Neues Museum in Berlin, where the bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti, dating to between 1351 and 1334 B.C., sits behind bulletproof glass; to the Chari-Baguirmi region of Chad, where Wodaabe men not only wear liner on days they perform in the annual Worso festival, but carry mirrors “to keep their looks, especially their kohl, in check”; to Iran, where its cosmetic use, according to one woman, is “a tool for female empowerment and civil disobedience.”We visit Petra, Jordan, to meet Bedouin hunks, some cave-dwelling, who admit they use kohl “because they are aware that women, mainly white tourists, may find them more attractive that way.”Hankir also explores the “expressive and transgressive” “winged” chola aesthetic rocked by young Mexican American women in Southern California, along with the Indian classical dance performance kathakali, for which male performers in Kerala carefully pile on the kajal for an hour before taking the stage.

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Persons: Taylor, Nefertiti, kohl, ” Hankir, kajal Organizations: Neues Museum Locations: Berlin, Chari, Baguirmi, Chad, Iran, Petra, Jordan, American, Southern California, Kerala