Kohl is a very dark makeup people put around the eyes. School books often call it a black pencil, and shops do sell it that way, like eyeliner. Though actually, for a long time kohl was not a pencil at all. It was a fine black powder. People wet it a little and draw it along the eyelids with a small stick. This is everyday in many parts of North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia: women use it so the eyes look bigger and brighter, and in some families men and even small children wear it too, not only for beauty. Some old kohl had lead in it, which can hurt you, so “old and natural” is not always safe. In English today, kohl often just means a smoky black eye pencil or powder. It feels a little more special than the ordinary word eyeliner, and a little tied to those older ways of dressing the eyes.