The Fascinating History of Lipstick

Let’s take a quick time warp trip down lipstick memory lane…starting with the 1940s patriotic victory red, followed by the mid-50s/60s pink frosted lips modeled on twiggy, the subtle nude or deep fruit inspired coloring in the 70s danced everyone into a needed bold and bright electric pink switch up of the 80s, but later transformed to a 90s burgundy/brown, then seeing a possible 60s come back in the 2000s but was altered to the glossy lips worn by Paris Hilton, leading to a second decade comeback of 80s in 2010 with popstars Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj  rocking florescent purples and hot pinks which now takes us to the current day “clean girl aesthetic” trend of a powdery light pink and a fan favorite “Pillow talk” made by the famous Charlotte Tilbury…  

Whichever shade resonates with you, one thing is clear; lipstick has been around for quite a while with each decade having a new shade obsession.  

💄 Ancient Mesopotamia: around 3500 BC 

Despite us doing a quick recap of the past 80+ years, you may be surprised to learn that lipstick actually goes as far back as 3500 BC and then some. Queen Puabi/Shubad of Ancient Mesopotamia was making history for not only possibly being the first female ruler in all of human documentation, but the girl boss was also seen wearing the first known lipstick…talk about having quite the resume. The tint was a mixture consisting of white lead and red crushed rocks; its bright color symbolized power and hence was worn by both males and females of higher status. It was so popular that many wealthy individuals were buried surrounded by lip colorant stuffed cockleshells.  

💄 Ancient Greece: around 1200 BC –around 323BC(aka the death of Alexander the Great) 

It might have been a sign of higher status and dignity in ancient Mesopotamia but that was quite the opposite in ancient Greece. Lipstick was faced with backlash as it was looked upon as “artificial beauty” that had the potential to “deceive men”. It became such an issue that laws were made requiring prostitution workers to wear lipstick at all times. If they were caught out in public without their lip paint and other makeup, they were susceptible to punishment for improperly posing as ladies. Another change was the formula used. Instead of white lead and crushed red rocks, the Greeks turned to dyes and wines in addition to some less expected ingredients like sheep sweat, human saliva and crocodile excrement as mentioned in “Reading our Lips: The History of Lipstick Regulation in Western Seats of Power” by author  Sarah E. Schaffer.  

💄Ancient Rome: around 753 BC – around 476 CE          

If there’s two things we’ve learned in modern day is that one: the idea of beauty is always switching, and two: if you’re ever going through your closet and are thinking of throwing something out because its considered “dated” think again-trends tend to repeat themselves in altered ways and you’ll be wishing you never put those bell bottoms in the donation bin. Turns out that advice can be applied for ancient times as well. Might have been just a couple of thousand years later but taking a page from Ancient Mesopotamia’s book, lipstick was making a comeback with the romans…however maybe they should have stuck with the Mesopotamians’ original formula as well? In ancient Rome lipstick was considered chic and vibrant shades worn by both men and women indicated higher status. But as the saying goes beauty is pain, and those “expensive” ingredients (mercury-laden vermilion and ochre, iron ore etc.) that the wealthy spent extra on were actually just a tad poisonous…opps! The poorer romans who were forced to rely on wine sediments instead may have not felt very luxurious at the time, but in terms of a life spam seems like they were doing pretty alright.  

Europe: 

💄England-The Middle Ages, Elizabethan Era during the Tudor Period, the 18^th century and onto the Victorian Era  

England’s rulers during the Middle Ages, Elizabethan Era and continuing onto the Victorian Era seemed to be having an indecisive field day on what status lipstick would be considered on a ruler-to-ruler basis.  

During the Middle Ages (around 500 CE- 1400/1500 CE) the crusades Western Europe had been reintroduced to Middle Eastern cosmetic practices, but it didn’t exactly go over well from a religious standpoint.  Christians found makeup to go against religious teachings and women who wore make-up were thought of to have made a deal with the devil. Their reasoning was that any altercation to a women’s face (which included makeup of any sort) was an opposition to God’s creation.  

When Queen Elizabeth took the throne, aka the Elizabethan Era (around 1558-1603) lipstick status did another 180.  A few things played into this. One; being she was the Queen of England she “walked so the current gen Z influencers on social media could run”. Queen Elizabeth was the ultimate “influencer” of the time known for her pale complexation and firey red hair she was setting new beauty trends one day at a day. And two; England had recently broken off from the catholic church. Therefore Queen Elizabeth | might have not cared as much to follow the “traditional” viewpoints against makeup the church enforced for years prior. Its said that during her rein she believed lipstick had magical powers to repel malevolent spirits, heal people and prevent death. Her crimson shade was “made from cochineal, gum, arabic, egg whites and fig milk”.  

Just as you may be thinking we’re making progress, think again because between the Elizabethan and Victorian Era (around the 1700s) the fear of witchcraft and witches was on the rise leading Parliament to take strong control. Legislation was passed making anything that changed a woman’s appearance (including makeup, wigs, even high heeled shoes etc.) susceptible to having her marriage annulled or being tried for witchcraft. Seems unfair but believe it or not, it unknowingly might have ended up saving a lot of women. The formula used to create lipstick at this time often contained mercury-laden vermilion which is poisonous.  

Summing it up with England’s Victorian Era (around mid 1800-1900s), lipstick continued to be looked down upon after Queen Victoria’s public declaration that makeup was impolite but wasn’t nearly as strict as parliament’s codes. 

💄France-18^th century 

While English women were getting accused of possibly being a witch, the French ladies were living their best makeup filled lives during the Eighteenth century. There were no restrictions or regulations, and red lipstick was popular especially for upper class women. The all-natural look that was being mandated in England was what the French considered the face of prostitution workers…talk about cultural differences. Makeup was represented differently in the two countries. The French, who had similar views as the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, romans etc., saw it as a sign of high status. Those wealthy could afford makeup and made it a point to showcase their wealth by wearing obvious makeup looks.  

💄20^th century 

It was a little bit of a rough patch, but don’t fear, like the timeline of women’s emancipation, lipstick’s freedom started to come along in the late 19^th and early 20^th century as well. Starting with the women’s suffrage movement lipstick was used as a symbol of women’s emancipation. Beauty pioneer and salon owner, Elizabeth Arden was known for passing out red lipstick to marching suffragettes. Since then, the beauty product itself has generally been welcomed into society with different shades being popular according to different movements and trends in history. This brings us back to our 80-year sum up of decade-favorite lip shades mentioned in the beginning.

It was quite the roller coaster ride of events but as of now lipstick is here to stay, all shades invited!