My Lipstick and Me
May 19, 2010, by Carine Fabius
Popular Science Monthly, May 1939
From deadly poison to feminist statement, Carine Fabius unearths lipstick’s curious history
And now for something really important amidst all the issues in our world… My artist friend David Gibson and I were hanging out the other day when the subject of lipstick came up. He’d noticed several small, colorful bottles on my desk—a new line of herbal lip dyes that I sell through my temporary body art business. Anyone who knows me is aware that I never go a day without lipstick.
Our fearless leader, Cathy Fischer (who started Fifty is the New), likes to tell people about the time she asked a bunch of women gathered at my house to count the lipsticks in their purses. The one with the most lipsticks wins… I clocked in at 17 tubes. (That was then! I only carry one at a time now). I even wrote a recent blog for Huffington Post called Lipstick, I Can’t Live Without You. What can I say? I’m serious about Lipstick. But, back to David.
“I don’t really like that stuff,” he said to me. I nodded understanding; he continued. “I hate it when a woman gives me a big hug and I’m left with lipstick on my collar for the rest of the night.” I nodded some more; he kept going. “And what about when a woman with lipstick takes a bite out of an apple and then hands it to you.” Want a bite?
“Ewww,” I said, “Gross!” You don’t have to tell me the hassles of wearing lipstick. I’m constantly wiping lipstick stains off my coffee cup, wine glass, any glass, even when there’s no one around to notice. And what about lipstick on teeth, napkins and on the chin after said bite of apple? I once had a boyfriend who preferred me sans lipstick. I ignored him, of course, but he still remains an indelible spot on my heart for that stance. He and my father. I’m sorry but I just look better with it on, okay?
If people knew lipstick’s history and what women had to endure to wear it, even bare lip aficionados might start a political movement to honor the waxy stick. Hello National Lipstick Day! For instance, did you know that the desperate need to vivify the lips started circa 3500 B.C. when a Sumerian queen donned a white lead base with crushed red rocks to achieve some kinda, any kinda hue? How about such mind-numbing ingredients as the deadly poisonous vermilion, sheep sweat, and crocodile excrement? Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. And then there were the vile accusations suffered by women who dared to wear lipstick—prostitute being the kindest. In fact, the Greeks punished prostitutes for not wearing it, lest people confuse them with ladies. By the middle ages, the ever-reliable religious nuts decreed women wearing lipstick to be incarnations of Satan (why else would anyone mess with the God-given? Come to think of it, it’s downright bizarre that cosmetic surgery has not been declared a sin punishable by stoning).
Eventually, things took a positive turn for the reviled lipstick when, in the 1300s, the English came to believe that it carried magical powers and could even keep death at bay! But, you guessed it, this really pissed off the church again. Magical powers?? Using lipstick was declared a mortal sin (to be divulged during confession), unless it was by horribly disfigured women—for the purpose of relieving their unfortunate husbands. Around then pictures of devils applying lipstick on women were rampant. You can imagine how much worse it got during the Victorian age.
Because you are busy and we endeavor to keep these blogs short, I have to stop here; but the lipstick’s fascinating history goes on, even becoming a tool for the feminist movement in the 1900s when the suffragettes endorsed it as a sign of emancipation.
As my grandmother always said, Il faut soufrir pour être belle (one must suffer to be beautiful). So, all I can say to my friend David is, if I have to suffer, so must you.
May 19th, 2010 at 7:47 am
As my face sags, lipstick gives the appearance of lift
which gives me a lift too!
May 19th, 2010 at 8:14 am
I wonder how much $$$ I’ve spent trying to find” just the right shade?” I once schlepped through Macy’s for a half an hour with our Cathy, to find just the right red. No, too brown, too orange, too dark, too much! She ended up with the most expensive one from Chanel, of course. I also wonder how much petro-chemical I’ve ingested over the years. That can’t be good. On the other hand, I have ten tubes of the stuff in my purse right now, and you can usually find me cruising the cosmetics isle of my local Rite Aid looking for “just the right shade.” Lipstick reminds me of my mother.
May 19th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Ah, women and their lips…
Do you remember when you, Cathy and me lined up and had Debbie Whatshername, our receptionist, choose which one of us had the biggest lips? And she said, “I’ll have to give this one to Cathy”?!
Thank heavens for our full, luscious lips! Lipstick is our way of throwing our lips a birthday party every day!
May 19th, 2010 at 9:44 am
I find lipstick and all the variations of gloss somehow magical as well. they appear and disappear from various bags, sometimes pockets.. and currently there is a deep wine shade from Chanel on my desk. even when I am having a desk day with no visitors in sight I might be compelled to apply that Chanel rouge allure 27A . The silky feel of rubbing the lips together and somehow I assert my femininity….and feel more glamourous. And don’t you think the name has something powerful to it too. This is ‘excentric’ and on occasion when I have forgotten and run to the door to sign for mail or something…I am sure I give that impression.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:02 am
i’ll never forget the first tastes of it after kissing girlfriends as a teenager. kind of waxy, kind of fruity, with a hint of oak and the promise some day of actual real sex. never stop wearing it, gorgeous fifty-somethings.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:11 am
Nothing lifts my look or my mood more than a nice red lipstick.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Thanks for the enlightening info on lipstick, who knew? Fascinating stuff. There is so much to say about the subject. Like how lipstick sales go up during times of financial stress; just one tube, can certainly change your mood. And how certain colors and brands are toxic — never mind sheep sweat, at least that was organic. Check out Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews if you dare: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/
Who knew that my lips were the subject of so many of my pal’s memories?
I remember when big lips were not in fashion, and my having to grow into them. Carine, when I came up with the “count the lipsticks in your purse contest”, it was the late 1980′s, when makeup was at its most frightening. I believe I came in second to you with 6 tubes in various colors. These days I usually keep one tinted gloss and perhaps one color in tow. With midlife lip lines cropping up, and the danger of the waxy stuff running into crevices and up my face, I stick to lighter colors and emphasize my eyes more. But, still I love the stuff. I’m naked without it!
May 19th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
I love you women with your lipsticks.
May 20th, 2010 at 7:32 am
It’s amazing I EVEN own a tube of lipstick…which I do just for the sake of it. At age 12, I bought a tube of frosty white, but I was marched right back into the store by my mother who demanded I return it. Although it was the latest color fad, I was not allowed to wear it. At age 43, while meeting with the woman who I hired to apply my make-up for my up coming wedding, I was told she would supply the make-up but I had to purchase by own lipstick…which meant I also had to choose the shade. That was a hilarious errand the store! (“I need a lipstick color that looks natural”) These days, if by some strange chance I find myself in a department store, I totally AVOID the make-up counter and the women waiting to apply some concoction to my face! Earrings however, I always wear them…even if I am backpacking or rafting.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
All of this is making me reconsider lipstick. I wear every other kind of makeup, just not lipstick. The color always seems too bold. Yet I wear big earrings. Maybe I need some color too.
Nancy
May 21st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
To Nancy: At the risk of being accused of shamelessly promoting my company, I highly recommend you check out the Mehru Lip Dyes I refer to in the blog. They are natural, last a long, long time, and depending on how many layers you put on, look like a berry stain on the lips. It’s all about finding the right color for you, of course–which is one of the hassles of lipstick! But from a confirmed lipstick fiend, who has searched far and wide for just the right thing, I am officially hooked on them.
May 21st, 2010 at 2:48 pm
My lips are the gift on my face. Luscious, big, and I must
confess, ignored way too much. I think I have around 10
tubes that somehow disappear..But Chanel, WELCOME back
to my world!!!
May 27th, 2010 at 6:54 am
Crikey! I just counted the lipsticks in my bag. 4 plus three glosses. As my friend Norma always says in times of personal crisis, “Just slap on some lipstick, you’ll be fine.”