To Blacken the Eye Lashes and Eye Brows (1833-1854)

I finally found references to eye make-up, which were not forthcoming in my first foray into the field.  Other than mentioning belladonna to dilate the pupil (do not do this; also, it is apparently only need by those of us with dull grey eyes), the references are all to precursors of mascara/the eyebrow pencil.  Eye-shadow is, still, not a thing.

The Toilette of Health, Beauty and Fashion (Boston, 1833):

To Blacken the Eye lashes and Eye brows
The simplest preparations for this purpose are the juice of elder berries; burnt cork, or cloves burnt at the candle. Some employ the black of frankincense, resin, and mastic; this black, it is said, will not come off with perspiration.

This same receipt appears, verbatim, in The Book of Health and Beauty (London, 2nd edition 1837); it is also repeated in the The American Family Keepsake (Boston, 1849) and One Thousand Things Worth Knowing (New York, 1854). The Amateur (1851) mentions burned cork used as stage makeup.

So, does it work?

Burnt clove applied to my right eyebrow and lashes.
I suspect there's no such thing as a flattering eyebrow selfie.

And burnt cork, again on the right.

The cork definitely gives a darker color than the cloves (more char coming off).  After playing around with it a little, I am favoring the cork for my eyelashes and the cloves for the eyebrows. I think the cork is simply too dark for my eyebrows, while the cloves add a subtler color. At the same time, I couldn't tell that the cloves had any effect on my eyelashes, making the cork more useful there.