From racy to romantic, a confident lip has been marked by quite some drama, literally! đ Here we are, deciphering the history of lipstick and how its meaning in womenâs lives has changed over the years. We have also included some tantalizing facts about lipstick that we bet you had no clue about. Prepare to see the stick in a different light after you finish reading this informative piece!
Society has suffered a love-hate relationship with lipsticks for, like, forever! Believe it or not, several governments, including the mighty British Parliament, have had a shot at banning the magic stick! On the contrary, this iconic beauty product ignited absurd territorial demands when Elizabeth Taylor allegedly forbade other women from wearing it on her film sets!
Suggested read: There is a perfect RED lipstick for your skin tone
Since the pre-historic era, humans have always tried to distinguish themselves from others and place themselves superior to the rest. Tools, garments, ornaments, and cosmetics were some of the ways we managed to do that. However, the lipstick became one of the most noticeable ways to transform our appearance. It was the easiest way to get noticed by the members of the opposite sex.
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In the prehistoric period, lipsticks were made from natural sources like fruit and plant juices. When early civilization started dawning in the Middle East, North Africa and India, new kinds of lipsticks, manufactured using advanced processes, began to come up. The earliest ones to do this were women from Mesopotamia. They would grind precious gems and use the dust to embellish lips with gleam and riches, if the lipstick history is to be believed!
Indus Valley Civilization women applied lipsticks regularly. However, it was Egypt where major advancements in the lipstick manufacture took place. Here, the members of the royal family, the clergy, and the elites used several types of lipsticks, some of which had poisonous ingredients causing fatal illnesses. It was in Egypt that the popular carmine color, hauled out from bodies of cochineal insects, was developed. This process is popular even today, though the governments in the U.S. and the E.U. regulate the presence of this pigment in cosmetics.
After Egypt spread its inventions across the whole of Europe, lipstick started being associated with important names in the Greek and Roman empires.
On the other hand, when Christianity took over Europe, lipstick became an obsession of the past. The Catholic Church doomed the use of lipstick, especially red lipstick, as a cosmetic used by the followers of Satan! The resurrection of the lipstick happened in the 16th century when Queen Elizabeth I implemented certain dramatic fashion changes. Though she popularized stark white faces and bright red lipstick, the lipstick soon fell into the margins of the society as it was linked with prostitutes and women from the lower class. This association did not change for several centuries in the history of lipstick.
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The Industrial revolution of the late 19th century was responsible for bringing back commercial lipstick into pop fashion. Now, with easy manufacturing, low price, growth of the art of photography, and popularization of it by the leading ladies on screen, lipstick became a household thing in the latter half of the 20th century. By then, the avant-gardists in the makeup industry had already come up with modern swivel-up tubes and glossy recipes! Today, we know how lipstick dictates the fashion world with a new trend and a new color coming up almost every second!
Letâs just do a quick recap of the history of lipstick, chronologically, before we move on to the tempting lipstick facts!
1. All natural, 3000 BC
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Women of ancient Mesopotamia are regarded as the first women who invented and wore lipstick, by crushing gemstones and applying the dust to their lips as glitters. Ancient Romans, the elites especially, used homemade lip color. The Egyptians, the likes of Cleopatra VII, crushed ants and carmine and added them to a base of beeswax for a rubicund shade.
2. Fit for the Queen, mid-1500s
Queen Elizabeth I
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Lipstick became unpopular for a while because it was associated with prostitutes who used it to lure customers. However, Queen Elizabeth the First, revived the look when she donned a pale white face and crimson lips.
3. Produce to the Court, 1770
Red lips again met with a controversy when the British Parliament passed a legislation that women who used cosmetics were witches attempting to lure the opposite sex into marriage. This outlook towards makeup as an art of deception was popular in those days.
4. On the Silver Screen, late 1800s
Sears Roebuck catalogue assembly
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With the Sears Roebuck catalogue offering rouge for lips, the tide once again turned in favor of the stick. This was when lipsticks were colored with carmine dyes. Actresses particularly fancied the red lipstick because they needed to darken their lip color to stand out in black and white movies.
5. Going mainstream, early 1900s
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The first metal lipstick tube was invented by Maurice Levy in 1915. Prior to this, lipsticks were draped in silk paper which for obvious reasons made it troublesome to carry around for touch-ups. Within a few years, leading beauty companies like Chanel and Elizabeth Arden started selling lipstick.
6. The In crowd, 1940s
Elizabeth Taylor
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Liz Taylor, who is among numerous other things, also famous for saying, âPour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together,â proclaimed that no one else would be allowed to put on a red lipstick on her set! Hypocritical much?
7. The Hollywood Effect, 1950s
Marilyn Monroe
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In the 50s, the red lipstick embraced its sexy avatar. With stars like Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth donning it, the lipstick now was a symbol of boldness.
Suggested read: How to choose the right lipstick for your skin tone
8. Out with the old, 1960s and 1970s
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New hues emerged, making the classic red, one of the numerous choices. Pastel colors and nude tones became popular while the punk movement brought in violet and black shades.
9. Still a classic, 1980s and 1990s
Madonna
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And red made a comeback with M.A.C. presenting its first line of lipsticks. Pop diva Madonna, with her perfect pout, made everyone jealous! Though other colors were unveiled, red now became revolutionary!
10. The power of red, 2016
Taylor Swift
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From Gwen Stefani to Emma Stone to Taylor Swift to a you and a me, we all lurve the lipstick, donât we?!
Time for some facts about lipstick!
1. Did lipstick imply that you were a prostitute? If yes, why?
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Prostitutes use colored lips to attract customers with each color depicting the color of their clit!!! So the man knows what he is in for!
2. We need a lipstick ban!
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The lipstick was supposed to be banned in Great Britain. It was called âthe vice of the paintingâ! However, the bill was not passed!
3. The lipstick as an indicator of social standing
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Even men used to color their lips to indicate which rank in society they belonged to!
4. Somebody of George Washingtonâs stature wore the lipstick!
George Washinton
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Sometimes! And well, makeup too. Also a powdered wig. Thatâs all! đ
5. Lipstick became the symbol of womenâs liberation
The Suffragette rally
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In the 1912 NYC Suffragette rally, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other early feminists, protested with painted lips, which was supposed to be a symbol of emancipation!
6. Some believed lipstick application should be a punishable offence
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All women under 44 who wore makeup were considered to be creating a false impression!
7. Elizabeth II and her signature shade
Queen Elizabeth II
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This soft red-cobalt hue was called âThe Balmoral Lipstick,â after her Scottish home.
8. Lipstick supposedly caused some diva moments!
Liz Taylor demanded that no one other than her should be allowed to wear the red lipstick on the sets! Is that even legit?!
9. Winston Churchill rejected lipstick as an item to be rationed
Winston Churchill
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For the duration of the Second World War, all the cosmetic products were rationed. However, there was one exception: the lipstick! Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of Britain, declared that lipsticks would be kept in production as he thought that would have a positive effect on the morale of the English people! Pointless to say that lipstick sales went to an all-time high during the war! So there you have the psychological effect of lipstick!
Suggested read: How to effectively remove stubborn lipstick stains
10. 80 percent of women in the U.S. don the lipstick!
Image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
In the late 1990s, the percentage had hit the 98th mark! From mid-2000 onwards, 80 percent has been a consistent average for American women. This is 10 percent lower than French women!
Lipsticks arenât going anywhere! As long as fashion exists, lipsticks will not only be a part of it but rule it, like it has done for so many years! The classic red, particularly, has always been the popular choice. Though it has been associated with different things (contrasting ones too!!) over the years, it has always emerged as a victor! Although anthropologists say that red lips connote an aroused labia (yeah, I know, anthropologists are either the best or the worst kind of people at a party!!), it has also always been a symbol of nerve. Either way, we love it and will continue to, right?
Featured image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
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