Winter 2024

o cosmetic has quite the power, the history or the desirability of red lipstick. Throughout history, red lips have been linked to sensuality, sexuality, dishonesty, danger and the persever- ance of women in their fight for women’s rights. The story began over 5,000 years ago.The first known red lip color was made by crushing gemstones in Mesopotamia. Other early recipes included red algae and fish scales. To color her lips, Cleopatra used carmine, a bright-red pigment made by crushing female Cochineal bee- tles, mixed into beeswax. In Egypt, stained lips were a sign of aristocracy, while in other countries around the world they were viewed as the sign of the prostitute. By 1770, all cosmetics were banned in England. It was claimed that women wore cosmetics to seduce men into marriage and, for wearing them, they could be tried for witchcraft.Witches were known to wear red lipstick as a symbol of decep- tion. Of the “decent” women, only theatrical actresses had cosmetic bags in their wardrobe. As early as the 1820s, women in the U.S. were fighting for their freedom and their right of expression in the women’s suffrage movement. For decades they fought against discrimination in the political, labor, economic and social fields and in 1912, Elizabeth Arden handed out red lipstick to women’s suffragettes as they marched for women’s rights in New York City. Suffragettes wore bright red lipstick as a sign of solidarity, to bring attention to their cause, and to intimidate and shock men. In 1941, red lipstick became man- datory for women who joined the U.S. Army. Beauty brands jumped on the trend, with Elizabeth Arden pre- senting “Victory Red” and Helena Rubenstein releasing “Regimental Red.” With war, more and more women went to work in factories, where their attire consisted of overalls, spe- cial eyeglasses and hair hidden under scarves and hats. Lipstick remained the only thing that expressed their femininity. Some management dis- tributed tubes of red lipstick to their employees to raise morale. Hitler hated lipstick. He was a veg- etarian and, in those days, lipsticks were made from animal fat. Mean- while the British government pushed the use of lipstick and cosmetics, asserting that by keeping up their appearances, women would boost soldier morale in their fight against Hitler. Officials launched a propaganda campaign using the slogans “Beauty is your duty,” and “Lipstick is your weapon and you are soldiers of the war.” Although it seems sexist, it worked so successfully that red lipstick became a symbol of disobedience even in the Nazi-occu- pied European territories, becoming one of the brightest symbols of the struggle to overcome Nazism. 94 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 COLLECTING T E XT AND PHOTOGRA PHY B Y MAR J OR I E S OW Read My Lips N These are all fab 1980s red lip collectibles: A Hierro pop art lithograph, lips purse and fabric pincushion.