Lipstick Facts

Lipstick has been around for a very long time. Scientists found paintings on the walls of caves that showed women wearing lipstick. At this point it is not known whether they wore it to attract men or to scare them off.

Another interesting fact is that even Cleopatra was wearing a lipstick that is supposed to have been made of henna, a substance that today is use as hair dye. This made lips to remain colored for several days. Egyptians at that time also used a plant dye called focus to produce lipstick which made the lips purplish, but they did not know that this substance contained mercury, which is very poisonous.

Some texts tell that women in the ancient times applied juice of acrid plants (like wild iris) to add color to their lips. Such juice made the blood flow to the lips, so they remained red for a longer period of time.



In old times Japanese women were not allowed to appear in public without wearing makeup. The thick layer of makeup made them look like they were wearing some sort of mask.

It is said that in Latin America and in some eastern countries women colored their lips with carmine. Carmine is a substance of animal origin. The sources of it were insects called cochineal, which were dried and the ground to gain a powder-like substance.

In the seventeenth century Britain all kinds of makeup were banned because they were considered to be the ‘devil’s work’ and church considered that women who painted their lips red did it just to lead those around them in sin. Later, in the eighteenth century, the British Parliament passed a law banning the usage of makeup and declared those women who painted their lips red to lure men into matrimony witches, punishable by death. In this period there was a law in England according to which men were allowed to divorce their wives if they found out that during the matchmaking makeup concealed defects that became visible after the marriage.

In the 1800’s makeup was considered to be the province of actresses and prostitutes and at that time no decent woman would wear it. Even more, those who wore makeup were despised by those around them. All this was true until the Second World War, because at that point movie industry begun to develop and this gave lipstick a kind of respectability. At that time it was thought to be a woman’s duty to wear makeup and to look good.



I think that the most important fact regarding lipstick is that in 1915 it took for the first time the look that we know today, a retractable stick. Not much later Elizabeth Arden said that girls who were wearing lipstick had better chances to get a job, than those who weren’t wearing any.

Today a big part of lipstick manufactured in the USA contains castor oil, which makes the lips shine and it dries in a couple of minutes into a tough film. It is not so well-known that ingesting castor oil can affect the fluid balance causing an increased level of urination. So we can say that those women who wear a lot of lipstick have to visit more often the restroom.