10 Times Lipstick Was More Than Just Makeup

If you relate lipstick to modern history, you may be missing several thousands of years. The first instance of lipstick in recorded history is during the reign of Queen Puabi of Ancient Ur, circa 2450 BCE when she used a lip stain made of white lead and crushed red rocks. It wasn’t very healthy but, then again, fashion rarely is. Such is the power of a good lip shade that causes sales of premium lipsticks to remain high, even during times of recession. It’s called the Lipstick Effect.

Bright Side dove into history to look for more such examples of when lipstick was more than just a fashion tool. Its journey from then to now makes for a fascinating insight into the past.

1. Cleopatra’s red lips came from crushed beetles.

Cleopatra was not just the epitome of feminity and fashion, she was a powerful, educated Egyptian queen in her own right. Lover to Julius Caesar, she looked her royal part and had lipstick and other cosmetics specially crafted for her.

Unlike the beeswax and color pigments of today, Cleopatra had to rely on earthier elements. Her lipsticks included crushed carmine bugs and ants to get a deeply pigmented hue — enough for historians and artists alike to still talk eloquently about her beauty.

2. Women of ill-repute in Greece had to wear lipstick to set them apart from respectable women.

In Ancient Greece, women from good and respectable families were discouraged from wearing lip paint. But the “fallen women” were actively encouraged to wear red lipstick to announce their availability to men, even if the lipsticks of that time were made of red dye, sheep sweat, and crocodile feces.

It was about this time that the first law related to lipsticks came about. Fallen women were decreed by law to wear lipstick in order to set themselves apart from the respectable women of society. If they were caught not wearing lip paint, they were punished for posing as ladies in public.

3. Queen Elizabeth felt lipstick could heal, so she caked on half an inch of the stuff.

Queen Elizabeth I reportedly went on her death bed with her lips caked with lip paint. The Virgin Queen believed that lipstick was magic and had healing powers. Frankly, her makeup could have hastened her end considering it contained ingredients like lead.

She wore white powder to cover scars from a previous disease and is even credited with the invention of making the lip pencil. At the time, it was a sun-dried blend of alabaster and dye.

4. Later, Queen Victoria felt lipstick was impolite.

Unlike Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria called makeup “impolite” and Victorians followed their queen by donning a bare-lipped face. At this point in time, lipstick was considered a bane because it let women “inflate their value” by making them appear more beautiful. Cosmetics were eschewed in the reign of Queen Victoria — only actresses and fallen women wore lipstick.

Of course, lips were still reddened on the sly. In fact, biting lips or using lip balm with some color would sneak in.

5. During WWII, female marines wore red lipstick as uniform.

WWII was not a pleasant time for anyone. But when news broke that good German women eschewed any artifice, the allies went into overdrive.

Elizabeth Arden created a makeup kit for the female marines to boost morale, and the red in the lipstick went so far as to match the red on the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve uniforms. The women employed in armor and weaponry factories were inspired by advertising and propaganda that used the famous Rosie the Riveter. So they too wore red lipstick.

6. Red lipstick became a symbol for the suffragettes.

Women who started a revolution for women’s rights, including the right to vote, were dubbed the suffragettes. The suffrage movement was a 100-year struggle, beginning in the 1840s but gathering steam later. For many, it was never truly over and is still continued in different forms in many countries.

The one enduring symbol of the movement was red lipstick. For many, it stood for women’s power and the goal of emancipation.

7. King Edward IV had custom shades made for himself and nobility.

It’s not just women who fell prey to lipstick’s allure. King Edward IV himself wore lipstick and had custom shades made, including one he called “Raw Flesh” The nobles in his court emulated him, no matter their gender.

At the same time, in medieval England, peddlers were selling lip rouge pots, claiming all sorts of magic and sorcery.

8. Actress Sarah Bernhardt shocked all by applying lipstick in public.

Theatre maven Sarah Bernhardt was a big draw for the public. And yet even she shocked the French and created a scandal by applying lipstick in public. Around that time, applying lipstick may have been trendy, but it was still considered a private, feminine affair.

Historians feel her bold move repopularized lipstick. And not just that, it set a precedent for tons of femme fatales on-screen who could titillate by simply applying lipstick and draw attention to themselves.

9. Martha Washington used pig fat to make lipstick.

At the time when England had Victorian sensibilities, the colonies, as in America, continued applying lipstick with abandon. Martha Washington, the First Lady of America and wife of President George Washington, made her own lip color.

Admittedly, it sounds stomach-turning. Her lipstick recipe used hogs’ lard, spermaceti, alkanet root, almond oil, balsam, raisins, and sugar. While the colonies largely ignored England’s reticence for makeup, not all states stood as one.

In the 1700s, in Pennsylvania, a marriage could be annulled if the husband discovered that his wife had used lipstick or other cosmetics to appear more beautiful during their courtship.

10. Audrey Hepburn said, “There’s a shade of red for every woman.”

Audrey Hepburn was one of the most influential fashion icons of her time. And over the years, her fame and beauty have only grown in the eyes of the beholder.

A fan of red lipstick, she famously said, “There’s a shade of red for every woman.” And while it can be used to justify anything from a red dress to accessories, one has to admit that there’s something about a woman who confidently wears red lips.

Have you come across any such interesting tidbits about lipstick? What does your favorite shade of lipstick mean to you? Share all your lip color stories with us.

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