The Origin of Applying Lip Color

Did you know it was Mother Nature who provided the pivotal (and provocative) phenomenon that inspired the origin of applying lip color?

Mother Nature deemed that part of the biology of mating for many creatures (including humans) included the “enhancement” of lip color to signal arousal. Who could have guessed that a multi-billion dollar global industry would be based on this mating signal?

The earliest evidence of intentional (man-made) coloring dates to Ancient Mesopotamia where crushed semi-precious stones were applied to simulate a flush or reddening of the lips. Ancient Egyptians created purple red lip stains from iodine, bromine mannite, and focus-algin, which were, unfortunately, toxic when ingested in quantity and led to serious (sometimes deadly) diseases. It’s said that this is where the term “the-kiss-of death” originated.

Cleopatra had a deep red stain for her lips made from pulverized beetles (which we now call Carmine). The Egyptians also used henna as a lip coloring.  Shimmering effects originated when ground fish scales were added to the pigments.

Fast-forward to the 16th century, where Queen Elizabeth I caused a fashion rage among the socially elite with her whitened (powdered) skin accented with blood red lips (sounds very “Twilight” to me).  At this time in history, lip stains were extracted from plants and flowers and mixed with beeswax. Over the next few centuries’ lip coloring would continue its evolution and in the early 19th  century was at the mercy of yet another English Queen, Victoria, who demonized it and had it banished from England.  She stated that only  “women of questionable morals” (i.e., prostitutes) wore lip color or makeup.  Not all women were willing to give up their lip color and it became associated with a “back alley” culture.

It was the French who renewed lip coloring’s respectability and brought it to a commercial retail level. In the late 19th century a cosmetic company named Guerlain introduced the first manufactured lipsticks made of pigments, beeswax, tallow and castor oil.  Before this, lip colors were usually homemade concoctions.  The coloring of choice at this time was carmine dye (thanks for the idea Cleopatra), which was created using carminic acid extracted from Cochineal insects and mixed with calcium salts or aluminum to produce the rich red color.  The stain was very intense and bright, so it was diluted with oils or waxes to look less jarring and more natural.  It was marketed as lip and cheek “rouge” in the US by the Sears and Roebuck catalog in the late 1890’s.

The solid lipstick form showed up in the early 20th century in a tube with an external lever to push the product up.  This concept was quickly followed by the invention of the swivel-up tube in the 1920’s.  Lipstick finally found it’s permanent place in modern society thanks to the emergence of the emancipated women better known as the Flappers of the Roaring 20’s.  In the 1930’s the actresses of the black & white films wore lipstick on and off screen, so the movie industry was creating an even broader demand for lipstick.

Until this time, only shades of red lipstick were available.  It was the cosmetic visionaries Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein who began developing alternate color choices (Pinks, corals, etc) in lipstick.  In the early 1940’s cosmetic innovator Hazel Bishop introduced the first kiss-proof lipstick, which she called “No-Smear Lipstick”.

Lip Gloss was created especially for film by legendary makeup genius Max Factor.  It’s original intent was to give lips a shiny, polished appearance on camera. The first commercially available lip gloss, “X-Rated”, was launched in 1932 by Max Factor.  It remained in production until 2003, when Max Factor’s parent company, Proctor and Gamble, finally discontinued it.

Modern lipstick contains a variety of wax and oils. Wax gives lipstick it’s solid form. The most popular waxes used in lipstick production are beeswax, carnauba and candelilla wax. Oils such as olive, mineral or castor along with emollients like cocoa and shea butters, lanolin, and petrolatum are added to give lipstick a smooth feeling and add a shiny appearance.   Lipsticks get their colors from a variety of natural and man-made dyes and mineral pigments.

Breakdown of modern lip coloring categories:

• Matte Lipstick (stick form) contains mostly pigment, waxes and sometimes a little clay (kaolin) with very little oil content.
• Creme Lipsticks (stick form) contain a balance of slightly more waxes than oils with varying levels of pigment/dye.
• Long Lasting Lipstick (liquid) contains a volatile silicone oil (isododecane). The isododecane evaporates, leaving behind a layer of color (pigment and dyes) and film forming ingredients that seal everything in.
• Sheer Lipstick (stick form) contains mostly wax and oil, with just enough pigment/dye to give a transparent shiny finish.
• Lip Stains (liquid) contain mostly dye and very little pigment in a hybrid gel/oil fluid and are applied like a gloss.
• Lip Gloss (liquid) is made primarily of oils or liquefied waxes to achieve it’s glass-like sheen. Varying amounts of pigment/dye are added to achieve the desired color and opacity.
• Shimmering, Frosted or Iridescent lipstick and gloss may contain mica, calcium borosilicate, fish scales or pearl particles (natural or synthetic) to give them their reflective finish.