Ancient Mesopotamian women were possibly the first women to invent and wear lipstick. They crushed semi precious jewels and used them to decorate their lips. The Egyptians extracted a purplish-red dye from mineral rocks and ores. Cleopatra had her lipstick made from crushed carmine beetles, which give a deep red pigment, and ants were used for a base. Lipsticks with shimmering effects were made using a pearlescent substance found in fish scales, and Women in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization used lipstick for face decoration.
In Medieval Europe, lipstick was banned by the church and thought to be used as an 'incarnation of Satan'. Cosmetics were 'reserved' for prostitutes, but started to gain some popularity in the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1.
At this time bright red lips and a stark white face became fashionable with upper class women. It was made from a blend of beeswax and red stains from plants. By 1770, a law was proposed before Parliament, that a marriage should be annulled if the woman wore lipstick before her wedding day!
Throughout most of the 19th century the obvious use of cosmetics was not considered acceptable in Britain for respectable women. When Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837, she banished lipstick. It was considered brazen and uncouth. Some women still prepared their own makeup at home, and in the 1850s, reports were being published warning women of the dangers of using lead and vermillion in cosmetics applied to the face.
In 1884, the first commercial lipstick had been invented by perfumers in Paris, France. It was covered in silk paper and made from Deer tallow, castor oil, and beeswax.
In the United States, lipstick was coloured with carmine dye, which was extracted from Cochineal, a scaled insect native to Mexico and Central America, which lives on cactus plants. This lipstick was applied with a brush, and was expensive, also it was considered unnatural, so was discouraged for everyday wear. Later the carmine dye was mixed with an oil and wax base, giving it a more natural look. Fashionable women started to wear lipstick for photographs, so photography made lipstick more acceptable.
Throughout the early 20th century, lipstick came in a limited number of shades.
Dark red was one of the most popular shades in the 1920s. Flappers wore lipstick to symbolize their independance, and it was worn in the form of a 'Cupid's Bow', inspired by actress Clara Bow. At that time, it was acceptable to wear lipstick in public during lunch, but never at dinner.
In the early 1930s, Elizabeth Arden began to introduce different lipstick colours, and she inspired other companies to create a variety of lipstick shades as well. Teenage girls believed that lipstick was a symbol of womanhood, where as adults saw it as an act of rebellion. Many Americans, especially immigrants, did not accept teenage girls wearing lipstick for fear that they would be mistaken for "loose" girls, or prostitutes. A study in 1937 revealed that over 50% of teenage girls fought with their parents over lipstick.
During the Second World War, lipstick was scarce, because some the the essential ingredients, like petroleum and castor oil, were unavailable, but the War did allow women to work in engineering and scientific research, and in the late 1940s, Hazel Bishop, an organic chemist in New York and New Jersey, created the first long lasting lipstick, called 'No-Smear' lipstick.with the help of an advertiser, her lipstick business thrived.
Despite the increased use of cosmetics, it was still associated with prostitution. In the mid 1940s, several teen books and magazines stressed that men prefer a natural look over a made up look. Books and magazines also warned girls that wearing cosmetics could ruin their chances of popularity and a career. The implication of these articles was that lipstick and rouge were for teen girls who acted very provocatively with men.
In the 1950s, movie actresses Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor helped bring back dark red lips, and a survey carried out in 1951 revealed that two-thirds of teenage girls wore lipstick. By the end of the 1950s, lipsticks were available in shades of lavender, pale pink, peach and even white. Since parents generally frowned on teen girls wearing red lipstick, wearing these shades became a trend.
White or nearly white lipstick became popular in the 1960s, because rock groups such as the Ronettes and the Shirelles popularized these shades. As many lipsticks were either sheer, matte or slightly shiny, girls would apply white lipstick on top of pink lipstick to achieve the effect. During that time lipstick was associated with femininity. Women who did not wear lipstick were suspected of lesbianism.
In the 1970s, a number of cosmetic companies introduced lipsticks in more unusual colors such as irridescent light blue, frosted lime green, and silver sparkled navy blue, also at this time black lipstick became popular, and continued into the 1990s with goth makeup. In the mid 1980s, so-called mood lipsticks were available. This type of lipstick changed colour after it was applied, based on changes in the skin's PH, that supposedly reflected the mood of the wearer.
In the 1990s, lipsticks in semi-matte shades of brown were very popular, inspired by several T.V. shows. By the end of the 1990s, shiny pearl shades containing light refraction pearls became popular, also a wax-free semi-permanent liquid formula had been invented.
