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3500 BCE
Ancient Sumer
Queen Shub-Ad used white lead and crushed red stones as lip color. This was highly poisonous. (Schaffer) -
3000 BCE
Mesopotamia
The people of Mesopotamia used things such as crushed jewels, iron oxide, red clay, and henna to alter their lip color. This was to show status. -
1750 BCE
The Minoans- Tyrian Purple
The minoan people, a neighbor of Greece, created a dye called Tyrian-Purple dye, it was made from the secretions of a gland in murex shellfish. (Schaffer) -
1000 BCE
Ancient Greece
In ancient Greece, just like the Mesopotamian people, the people experimented with Iron oxide, henna, and red clay. They also used tyrian purple -
45 BCE
Egypt
Cleopatra VII used things like red ochre, carmine, and other dyes to create colors. Women during this time also used something called bromine mannite mixed with iodine; it created a purple color, but it was also highly poisonous. -
Jun 1, 850
Crystal Cases
In the mid 800's, the people in Constantinople created crystal containers for lipstick. This inspired the look of more modern day-ish looking products, and the way we package most lipsticks still today. -
Jan 1, 1500
Queen Elizabeth's Lipstick
In the 1500's, lipstick became more of a formulaic mixture. The common recipe, used by the queen as well, mixed cochineal, gum Arabic, egg whites, and fig milk-- most likely a sticky substance found on fig trees. (Cochineal pictured) -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Queen Elizabeth Pt. II
Queen Elizabeth and another person she was well aquintanced with are actually considered to be the inventors of the lip pencil. They mixed ground alabaster or plaster of Paris into little crayon shaped tubes, and let that dry in the sun. (Schaffer) -
The 1700's
A popular lipstick recipe was wax, white pomatum (more commonly referred to as pomade), ox's marrow, and alkanet. Gold leaf also got added to mixtures as well. -
The 1700s
In the 1700s, a common mixture was wax, pomade, and alkanet. Golden leaf was also added to many different mixtures. (Schaffer) -
The Lipstick Turning Point
In this time period, the term 'lipstick' was coined. The common american mixture was beeswax, crushed insects and olive oil. (Schaffer) -
The 30's
Sun protective lip balm/stick emerged, liners became popular. Lipstick started to be manufactured because of the mass demand. (Schaffer) -
Improved formulas
In the 50's, Beeswax and carumba levels were decreased in lipsticks to make it more comfortable to wear. (Schaffer) -
Up to present day
The formulas have not changed very much since around the 50's. Although, many different forms of lipsticks have emerged, such as liquid lipsticks, chapstick, lip gloss etc. Long lasting lipsticks, lip stains, and matte lipsticks are also variations. (Schaffer) -
Bibliography
ara Schaffer. "An Instance of the More Things Change, the More Lipstick Remains the Same." An Instance of the More Things Change, the More Lipstick Remains the Same. Harvard University, 2006. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
