Re: lipstick

Joel and Lynn GAzis-SAx (gazissax@best.com)
Mon, 20 Nov 95 10:04:47 GMT

In article <48plm4$3m8@bump.traffic.is>,
lennart@bump.traffic.is (Lennart Regebro) wrote:
>In article <48m3et$8e8@utopia.hacktic.nl>, nobody@REPLAY.COM says...
>
>Hmm. Your news reader setup seems pretty incorrect...
>
>>can anyone lead me to a source that deals with the cutural history of the
>>use of lipstck
>
>I have no sources, but lip coloring has been done for a long time.
>'Modern' use of it, i.e. women coloring their lips red, was done during
>pharaoic times in Egypt, at the latest. Anybody have any earlier dates?
>

My sources say that lipstick originated in the Near East. Check out pages 224
and 225 of Panatti's EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS for a starting
article on the origins of rouge, facial powder and lipstick. (Panatti also
includes a detailed discussion of his source material in the back of the book
which makes this a good starting point for research on the subject.)

Among the interesting historical highlights:

* Many early cosmetics were downright dangerous. People employed lead,
arsenic, and cinnabar to color their faces.

* Early Christian theologians tried to pass laws against using cosmetics to
deceive a prospective husband.

* Legislation was introduced into Parliament (1770) to outlaw the use of
cosmetics and treat it as a form of witchcraft! (It was defeated.)

* During the 19th century, facial cosmetics were deemed suitable only for
those in the acting profession. Most cosmetics were homemade.

* The good news for cosmetic users was the rise of the modern cosmetics
industry which ended the reign of the home brew and brought in chemists and
biologists to produce safe cosmetics.

Hope this helps as a start.

Joel GAzis-SAx

************************************************************************
Joel and Lynn GAzis-SAx Main email: gazissax@best.com
lynn@elan.com Visit Alsirat, the horror magazine
gazissax@netcom.com http://www.best.com/~gazissax/alsirat.html
jsax@igc.apc.org http://www.best.com/~gazissax/gazissax.html
The Marx Brothers@Darkweb (Joel) Whoopi@Darkweb (Lynn)
************************************************************************