by Marie-Luise Stromer

Created on: November 29, 2008

LOUD LIPS

Let's celebrate the 125th birthday of the lipstick, congratulations and jubilations!

We're celebrating the lipstick as we know it, women's desire to paint their lips is much older, though. Thanks to the diligent work of archaeologists we know that already 5000 years ago rich women in Mesopotamia crushed semi-precious red jewels and smeared the stuff on their lips. In Ancient Egypt a purplish red dye was extracted from focus-algin, iodine and some bromine mannite, unfortunately this mixture wasn't healthy and many women became ill. Cleopatra preferred natural ingredients: crushed carmine beetles for the deep red pigment, ants for the base, pearlescence, a substance found in fish scales, supplied a shimmering effect. (Eek!)

Queen Elisabeth I made a powdered white face and bright red lips fashionable, to get that effect she used a blend of beeswax and red stains from plants. The Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia didn't even trust natural stuff, she commanded her ladies-in-waiting to suck her lips to make them full and red!

Why have women always painted their *lips* red and not, say, their noses or their ears to attract attention? I found the following explanation on the net: "During arousel in mammals the sex organs fill with blood and are flushed red.This flush of red is simulated in the use of lipstick. The reddening of the face symbolises youth, sexuality and fertility." Well, well.

In 1883 two Frenchmen had the brilliant idea to make the red paste easier to use. Castor oil was added as well as beeswax and deer tallow to make it firmer and then the substance was *rolled into small sticks* and wrapped in tissue paper, the first lip*sticks* were born! They were presented in Amsterdam at the World Fair in 1883, but women didn't take to them at first. They were called saucisses' (little sausages) which sounded nice but they were very expensive, they melted in the handbags and looked too much like children's crayons.

The women's attitude began to change when in the 1920s film stars painted themselves small, dark red mouths, the most famous one being the actress Sarah Bernhardt who used to call her lipstick stylo d'amour' (love pen) because of its phallic shape. In later years film stars painted themselves wide, bright red lips and the female fans followed again. The final breakthrough came when the retractable lipstick tube was invented which found its way from America to Europe after the Second World War. In the 1960s warm, radiant colours were fashionable,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>