Lipsticks - Potential Hazards In Disguise
Lipsticks - Potential Hazards In Disguise
God has given you one face and you make yourselves another,” said Shakespeare to women in Hamlet. Since time immemorial, women have used cosmetics to increase the loveliness of their faces and for achieving a glamorous look.
The practice of using make-up preparations for painting their faces was in vogue amongst the women of ancient Greece and Egypt. Cleopatra, the ancient Egyptian queen, placed great value upon it for enhancing her beauty. Its use by Jezebel, the Jewish woman, is mentioned in the Bible.
The ultra-fashionable ladies of the Roman court used focus, a sort of rouge for the cheeks and lips, to accentuate their looks. Cosmetics for coloring lips were very popular among women in Tudor England. They used a blend of dyes and ground alabaster or plaster of Paris that had been rolled into a crayon-shaped stick and subsequently dried in the sun.
Towards the end of the 19th century, carmine - a crimson-red/purple-red pigment obtained from cochineal - was used by English actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Ellen Terry for painting their lips. Women were becoming emancipated and make-up, more acceptable. Thousands of women of all classes copied them.
Lipsticks are made by grinding the
pigments and combining them with
melted waxes and oils. Other
ingredients are added and the
mixture is poured into moulds
At the beginning of this century, the twist-up lipstick was patented. Since then, “lipsticks” have become a key part of the fashion look of the modern woman. They are being increasingly used for instant glamour as more and more women are becoming conscious of their looks and are also stepping out of their homes to go to work, parties etc.
Lipsticks add to the natural color and improve the aesthetic contours of the lips.
Besides colouring the lips, they also contain lip-conditioning ingredients that moisturise and nourish the lips to impart a smooth finish to them.
Lipsticks are also used by male models, theatre artistes, film stars, dancers etc as part of make-up for their performances.