Your Lipstick Has a 5,000-Year-Old Story

pradeep
3 days ago
2 min read

Lipstick may be a modern beauty essential, but its origins can be traced back more than 5,000 years.

Long before cosmetic brands and beauty counters existed, ancient civilisations created lip colours using materials ranging from crushed gemstones and natural pigments to insects, waxes and even toxic metals.

Over the centuries, lipstick evolved from a symbol of wealth and power into an expression of beauty, rebellion and personal identity. (IndulgExpress)

Ancient Sumerians Used Crushed Gemstones

Some of the earliest known lipstick users were the Sumerians, who reportedly ground gemstones into powder and applied the colour to their lips and around their eyes.

People living in the Indus Valley Civilisation are believed to have coloured their lips using ochre or red lac mixed with beeswax. (IndulgExpress)

Egyptians Used Insects for Red Pigment

Ancient Egyptians produced red lip colour using carmine, a pigment derived from crushed insects.

Queen Puabi of Mesopotamia was also believed to have worn a mixture made from crushed jewels and white lead. While visually striking, several ancient cosmetic preparations contained substances now known to be unsafe.

Some Roman lip products were reportedly made using mercury, highlighting how beauty practices once came with serious health risks. (IndulgExpress)

Lip Products Were Also Used for Protection

Around a thousand years ago in China, beeswax-based lip products were used mainly to prevent the lips from becoming dry and chapped rather than simply to add colour.

This shows that early lip cosmetics served both decorative and protective purposes. (IndulgExpress)

Lipstick Faced Centuries of Opposition

During medieval Europe, the use of lipstick and other cosmetics was discouraged because it was considered inconsistent with prevailing ideas of modesty.

Lip colour later returned to popularity during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, before becoming controversial once again.

The Victorian era also disapproved of visible cosmetics, although some women continued to use commercial lip pomades or homemade preparations discreetly. (IndulgExpress)

The Birth of Modern Lipstick

The modern commercial lipstick era began in 1884, when Guerlain introduced an early commercially available version in France.

Lipstick became increasingly popular across Europe and the United States during the 1920s, while the familiar rotating lipstick tube appeared in 1923.

By the 1950s, non-smearing formulas had entered the market. During the 1970s, unconventional colours including blue, green, violet and navy became associated with counterculture and bold self-expression. (IndulgExpress)