In the early 1900s, red lipstick was for bold women only.īernhardt's bold statement came at a good time. Marilyn monroe lip quiver movie#In fact, it had become so taboo that when French movie star Sarah Bernhardt made a habit of applying her red lipstick in public, people freaked the fuck out. Over there, wearing red lipstick was encouraged for upper-class women, as women who didn't wear makeup were seen as peasants and prostitutes.Īs the 1700s turned into the 1800s, though, distaste for red lipstick only grew in British Parliament and royalty, with Queen Victoria proclaiming that wearing red lipstick was impolite, and so it became entirely unfashionable in the little ol' United Kingdom. However, as is always the case, rich people in France were too busy having sex in the 1700s to really care about witchcraft. Heavier cosmetics, such as red lipstick, were really only for women of the night. In the years following her death, wearing very bright red lipstick was viewed with disgust in England and Ireland, and applying it in public was even worse.Īccording to the Toast, by 1770, British Parliament officially declared that women who wore bright lipstick and seduced men by flaunting it would have their marriages annulled and also be accused of witchcraft. In the 1700s and 1800s, red lipstick meant you were a witch and an unworthy whore, basically.Īfter that whole saga with Queen Elizabeth I, red lipstick waned in favor due to Europeans associating it with questionable morals. When she died, she reportedly had multiple layers of the stuff on her lips. The lipstick that Elizabeth wore every single day is widely rumored to be what ended up killing her, because it contained white lead. Then, probably due to her perennially youthful appearance (save for when she wiped off all the makeup, probably), medieval Europeans started to believe that red lipstick could ward off death. So popular, in fact, that Queen Elizabeth I, who was already known for her love of cosmetics, added rouged lips to her signature look, in addition to caking her face with white powder. Thankfully, by the 16th century, the process of making (and wearing) red lipstick had gotten safer, with regions across England finally realizing that, hey, maybe we can make this stuff out of natural shit instead of toxic chemicals? Once they did just that, by creating red lipstick made with herbal and plant-based dyes, red lipstick started to become more popular. Sexy, right? By the 1500s, people started to believe that red lipstick could ward off death - and boy, were they wrong. Oh, and to get a shinier texture, Egyptian people ground up fish scales. In fact, the term "Kiss of Death," according to Elle, was coined during this era because of the highly toxic mixture of fucus-algin, iodine and bromine mannite that was commonly used to make red lipstick. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, both women and men would crush semi-precious stones, with Cleopatra famously crushing up beetles and ants in order to get just the right shade of blood red. In fact, many of the earliest red lipsticks were made of things that could eventually kill you. As the Toast noted, "This was not the last time people were like, 'Check out all this sweet lead! Hey, what if we put it on our mouths oh god I'm dying.'"Īnd this is very true. The first documented lip tint was a red one, and it was made from pulverized red rocks and white lead. thanks to the Sumerian ruler Puabi of Ur, who was frequently depicted with stained lips in the ancient era, according to the Toast. Lipstick as we know it was created thousands and thousands of years ago, and popularized around 2500 B.C. In ancient civilizations, red lipstick could basically kill you. But despite its weird past, it lives on on the lips of some of our beloved icons like Rihanna, for instance, and that alone means it should be celebrated. The history of red lipstick is, to say the least, highly disturbing, involving tales of both poison and witchcraft. Think Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth, or Beyoncé and Janelle Monáe.Īlthough it is considered an undoubtedly glamorous look, it certainly wasn't always that way. It's true that it's a daring look, embraced by people with a certain level of self-assurance, and with the confidence to leave their mark on every coffee cup they sip from. I didn't want to wear red lipstick," Patti Smith told the New York Times. "Even as a child, I knew what I didn't want. There are the fans, like burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese, who, according to the New York Times, praised the bold lip with the following: "Heels and red lipstick will put the fear of God into people." And then, there are the wary. People have a lot of feelings when it comes to red lipstick.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |