All About Lipstick

Find out everything about lipstick, from its history to the ingredients, and find the right one for yourself.

Women have coloured their lips for about 5,000 years. The first lipstick, which is to say, the blend women used as makeup, was discovered in a town about 320 km south of Babylon. 

Women gathered mountain plants with flowers of different colours, crushed them and rubbed the colour on their lips. 

Egyptians, on the other hand, had palettes, much like the ones painters use, with herbal mixtures for the entire body. They also used different flowers, especially purple and orange ones, and always had full makeup on. 

In ancient Greece, women with reddened lips were considered prostitutes because the prevailing opinion was that only women of loose morals coloured their lips.   

The slightly more daring ones made lipstick out of red berries and strong red wine. Emperor Nero’s wife Poppaea, even though she was naturally beautiful, hired 1,000 people to always be at her service and look after her appearance. Pharmacists took care of her makeup and made lipstick for her out of red wine and ficus, which later turned out to be poisonous.  

In later centuries, women used fabrics and coloured paper. Crepe paper became the most popular kind. Today, there are many lipsticks in many different colours available to us.  

What does lipstick contain? 

Lipsticks differ in texture and colour, but they all have basic ingredients that sustain them. Different kinds of oil and wax (jojoba, ricinus, avocado), colour pigment, perfume, preservative and protective ingredients (panthenol, vitamins, UV filter) are the elements that each lipstick contains. Different ratio results in different lipsticks. 

For instance, matte lipsticks contain the biggest amount of colour pigment, they are compact and cover the lips best, while glossy lipsticks have the biggest percentage of oil. 

To the delight of all women, cosmetic industries compete every day to have the prettier, more permanent and attractive lipstick. All that is left for us to do is choose the right one… 

Red – redder  

Red has always been the most attractive lip colour. Since ancient times, women have made mixtures of red colour or, if they had no better options, pinched their lips in order to attract the attention of the opposite sex and make other women envy them. In the moments of sexual arousal, the circulation of blood in the lips increases and they become redder. It is precisely this fact that is believed to be the reason why women started to colour their lips to begin with and why they do it with red of all colours.  

Which is the right one? 

Of course, depending on the complexion, hair colour and teeth, every woman must find the right nuance for herself. 

Blondes ought to choose lipsticks in the colour of the flesh, peach, light brick or coral red. Make sure that you apply red lipstick in a thin layer, so that it looks transparent and natural.    

Brunettes can choose all the nuances of pink, fuchsia and transparent red as well as melon and orange-pink. 

Redheads can enjoy all nuances of red. Copper, orange, all golden brown and orange yellow nuances will go well with red hair.