When we talk about one of the best make-up products, the lipstick comes to mind.
An item is so small with a powerful impact.
Even the Covid-19 pandemic, which sees us wearing face masks, covering our mouths, can’t hold lipstick back.
With beauty trends forever evolving, lipstick is no longer for the lips only. It can be used as a blush and sometimes, eyeshadow.
Wet n Wild has helped us put together ten interesting facts about lipsticks that you probably didn’t know.
*The first commercially available bullet lipstick was produced in 1870, and it wasn’t for women only. Men have also been applying colour to their lips since ancient times.
*In ancient Egypt, both men and women wore lipstick as a status symbol.
*On the contrary, in ancient Greece, lipstick was rejected by the upper classes and was reserved for sex workers. It became law that they had to wear it to be noticeable. Sex workers caught without lipstick would be prosecuted for “improperly posing as ladies”.
*Lipstick was popular among men and women in ancient Rome but contained toxic ingredients like lead, iron ore and focus (a type of algae), which harmed their health.
*When it was still newly introduced, people made lipsticks using animal fat, ox marrow, beeswax and crushed gemstones.
*A female chemist from America, Hazel Bishop was the first person to create the world’s long-lasting lipstick. She came up with the formula while working in a dermatologist’s lab after World War II.
*The first swivel-up lipstick in a tube appeared in 1923.
*Greta Garbo, a Swedish-American actress is considered the first celebrity to popularise lipstick.
*It is estimated that a woman spends an average of $1780 (about R25 252.50) on lipstick in her lifetime.
*Red lipstick is considered the most youthful shade because the stark contrast between red and skin tones is associated with youth.