Mid Brain reports:
Beautypress.com has an interesting article about trends in lipstick over the last 9 decades. Apparently there’s a connection between socioeconomic conditions and the color and shape of women’s lips. The author tracks these trends starting with the 1920s and shows how lipsticks have been influenced by social conditions of the times. Very interesting stuff and it got us thinking how lipstick chemistry has changed over time.
Pigments of the past
Earliest references to lip color can be traced back about 5000 years to ancient Babylon. At that time women crushed semi-precious stones and smeared them on as lipstick. Ancient Egyptian women used iodine and bromine to give their lips a purple-red color. Cleopatra supposedly mixed crushed carmine beetles and ant’s eggs to create her lip look. Henna and fish scales (for shimmer) were other common ingredients were added over the centuries. In the 1500’s lipsticks made of beeswax and plant oils became popular in England. This basic concoction of natural waxes and plant oils remained the lipstick base of choice for the next several hundred years.
Current colors
The “modern” era of lipstick really began with the invention of the pushup stick 1915. Then, in the late 1940s, long lasting lip color was pioneered by Hazel Bishop. While today’s lipsticks still employ natural waxes (like beeswax and candellila) and natural oils (like castor oil), cosmetic chemists have a much wider range of ingredients to formulate with. New emollients, thickeners and pigments have resulted in lipsticks that are vastly superior in texture, spreadability, and color longevity compared to those from even a few decades ago. With the addition of moisturizers and sunscreens lipsticks can not only color your lips but actually keep them soft, moist, and protected from the elements. And of course lets not forget advances in packaging which have helped create different product forms like lip glosses. What’s the best lipstick of all time? The kind that you can buy right now!
(Despite these advances, no product is perfect and you’ll still find that lipstick traces left on a glass or other places. Here’s a lipstick fun fact: According to a 1996 survey by Shisedo Cosmetics, Tokyo, 87% of American women admit to having left traces of lipstick in unwanted places!)
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Leave a comment and let the Beauty Brains community know if you’ve ever left a trace of lipstick in an “unwanted place.” (Trust me, your answer can’t be as embarrassing as Sarah Bellum’s!)
Sources:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/524929/lipstick_the_evolution_history_of_this.html?cat=69
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
1- a book that was not mine
2- err…I’ll keep that one to myself
3- in a shop trying on some blouse
I don’t think I’ve even had the chance to leave lipstick in an embarrassing place. One of the few advantages of never getting asked out on a date.
I was at a work Christmas party and my husband and I were chatting with the owner of the company about beer. I said I am not a big fan of it and he insisted I taste his beer. I took a sip, but I left my red lipstick on his glass. My husband and I walked away after we chatted, only to see his wife walk over, take a look at his glass, then look right over at me!
@Mid Brain: Thanks for once again demonstrating your jealousy. At least I HAVE the chance to put my lips in some “unwanted places.”
@MD: Come on girl – SHARE! I wanna know what your number 2 answer was!!!
@ Kathleen: Did your husband get fired after the party? LOL.
I don’t think I’ve ever left lipstick where it shouldn’t be, but I have hennaed my lips.
It looked like a horrible fungal infection of the mouth while on (it’s a greenish-brown paste when mixed) but once off I had lovely peachy-copper lips.
Beginner’s tip: don’t lick your lips while it’s on!
On top of my father-in-law’s shiny bald head. We chose not to tell him it was there, so he walked around the family Christmas party for an hour with red lips just above his forehead.