Lipsticks are a makeup product that have a rich history about them. From being banned to being a part of our daily routine, this innocent make-up product has travelled a long and hard path to make it to our lifestyle today. Here’s a look at a brief history of time with a rose tinted lip color.
1920s
The 20s were all about women making lipstick a staple of their makeup needs. Stars like Clara Bow have been an inspiration to an entire generation of women in promoting shades of plums and deep berry tones, which were used in black and white movies to ensure the lip color looks brighter.
The evolution of bow lips called “Cupid’s Bow” was a rage. Women started using makeup as a way of expression, which was in tune with the times where feminist movements were picking up wind.
To recreate this look, apply foundation along the edge of your lips and re-outline the shape of your lips using a dark berry shade lip pencil. The idea is to create the look of a small cherub lip look, so keep in mind to shorten the width of lips and also to emphasize the cupid’s bow on the upper lip. Apply a deep wine shade of lipstick and blot using tissue paper to give a matte finish to this look.
1930s
The decade of great depression might have bought subtle changes in the psyche of everyone including a desire for structure and rules in society. This has indeed given rise to an obsession with symmetry, which spilled over to fashion as well.
While this decade still played on the shape of the lips. However, the cupid bow softened to give way to a more flattened top of upper lip. The slightly overdrawn top was to make the lips look like the shape of a rosebud. Reds, maroons have obviously become the choice to recreate this lip shape.
1940s
Perils of WWII have bought with them opportunities to women to work in menial jobs in step with men. Scarcity of supply had effected lipstick production as well and the metal tubes were replaced with plastic and paper. Women used petroleum jelly to their lip color to make them shinier and glossier. To beat the gloom of the WWII, women were encouraged to wear brightest of lip shades, and naturally bright red was the clear winner of this decade. While red was a popular choice, saturated red orange was equally popular.
1950s
The era of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn was also essentially the era with heightened decadence with respect to fashion. While commercials depicted happy women as housewives who took care of themselves and had a lipstick shade to match every season and every shade of their dress, wearing a lipstick has become so commonplace that a survey recorded 60% of teenagers using it. After Hazel Bishop’s revolutionary Kiss-proof lipsticks, which came up with the concept of smudge proof lipsticks, competition opened up creating brand wars. Lip color still remained on the hues of red thanks to Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe.
1960s
This decade was one of the firsts that had seen massive working teenager population. This era had British musicians leaving a lasting impact on teens. The Supremes, Jean Shrimpton et al were the beauty muses of this era. The youthfulness of this decade has given rise to a demand for shades of pastel, pinks and peaches, moving away from decades of red ruling the beauty industry.
1970s
Due to the severe subculture of hippie, beach babe, punk and glam rock, the 70s were an era of bold statements. While disco is the first thing one remembers at the mention of 70s, which had given rise to glitter, gloss in lipsticks. However, this decade has also seen feminist movements, creating an entirely different branch of makeup, offering women soft and natural makeup.
1980s
The era of Madonna and Christie Brinkley has bought back a pop of color with it. 80s were the decade of excess and for reason. While the subcultures of rock and punk rock were still around, emergence of MTV has really impacted the bold style of the 80s, which reflected in fashion as well, with the huge hair, shoulder pads that remained constant. This bold choices extended to lip colors as well, with women preferring magentas and blue based pinks.
1990s
Perhaps the decade that has gone in a different dimension from the 80s with its choice to muted colors and sleek looks. Lip liners were heavily in fashion, which were a couple of shades deeper than the lip color chosen. Browns and deep mauves were the colors of this decade. Due to the rising environmental consciousness, products with natural ingredients were growing in popularity.
2000s
The ‘00s moved away from 90s grungy looks and embraced a youthful bubblegum pink and glossy lips. The turn of the millennium has put a twist on the fashion scene, making everyone turn towards gloss and shiny pink lips. While the soft look was encouraged, it was also worn in contrast with smokey eye or cat eye look that have become a fashion statement.
Present
Thanks to Kylie Jenner and Youtube makeup tutorials in general, there is a wave towards experimenting and using mix and match to create their own shade of dusty rose lip. While matte lipsticks are making a comeback, liquid lipsticks are still preferred for their longer stay. As the era of individualism, mixing up shades to create a personalized color is still heavily in fashion.
This is such an interesting read. Was not aware of how changing economy also had an effect on lipsticks. This made me want to re-stock my red lipstick collection, ngl.