LIP SERVICE
The story of the lipstick holds rich historical values which lives on forever. By Tania Zainudin.
“Any attempt to make femininity trivial or unimportant, like talking about me wearing my red lipstick, is an attempt to take away my power,” said Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Evidently, a single aspect of beauty—the lipstick—possesses exceptional power in human beings that transcends genders, age, and cultures. It carries a symbol of both femininity and feminism, and the tool to be both desirable and unconventional. The story of lipsticks is steeped in history, but its legacy and ripple effect live on forever.
MAKING HISTORY
As women started picking up the jobs traditionally earmarked for men as air-raid wardens to tram drivers during World War II, televised advertisements with “Beauty on Duty Has a Duty to Beauty” headlines warned the female community to not get carried away with their temporary hall pass into a man’s world and to upkeep their duty as women of desire. In a twist of events, an attempt to maintain societal order actually allowed women to negotiate a shifting terrain for their role in the public sphere. From being the boss of the kitchen to being the boss, the female community wore make-up bought from their own cheque books as a way to cope with the turbulent and uncertain times while being away from their partners and family. Today, a tool that was used to define a patriarchal ideal has become one of the leading forms of self-expression in the modern age.
THE LIPSTICK EFFECT
We’ve come a long way since the era of female beautification as societal signifiers of gender. In 1955, Dior opened the Grande Boutique on the corner between Avenue Montaigne and Rue François 1er in Paris that marked the luxury house’s very first official lipstick launch, the Rouge Dior, that revolutionised the new woman. The trend made it onto runways and quickly became hot commodity for women everywhere. Now, new lipstick launches take over the headlines every other month and are, in many ways, the forefronts of the industry. Recently, a surge of an exclusive luxury category has made its way to beauty fans all around the world with Gucci, Hermès, and Prada Beauty announcing their grand arrival this year. Anecdotally, putting on a powerful red lipstick is an immediate mood booster for many, but researches from Harvard and Boston have proven scientifically that the simple act of applying colour to your lips will make you look more competent and reliable. British make-up artist-turned-entrepreneur Charlotte Tilbury puts it simply: “When you look good, you feel good, you do good.”