Red Lips

Women (even men) have been wearing lipstick for centuries. Not all, but some have probably have tried wearing the bold red lip color at least once. Red lipstick can be viewed in many different ways. One can see red lipstick as a classy/bold statement while others see it as a not so dashing look.

Over the centuries, there has been a love/hate relationship with the lip color. HazelBishop created a formula for lipstick that would not smudge after. The advertisement for this new creation stated, “It stays on you… not him”. This advertisement only adds to the fact that red lips can be viewed as a trashy look. In Greek times, women would wear red lipstick to signal they were prostitutes. With this knowledge on prostitutes open to the public and the fact that anyone can interpret the advertisement basically saying that wearing lipstick can help anyone hide the fact that they are harlots is most likely the reason why some of current society find it a displeasing color to wear.

Though there are negative connotations to the red lip style, many people see this color as bold and empowering and women today wear it for a classy look. Today, one can see women of all ages wear red lipstick to add class to their look. In early Egypt, women would wear lipstick to announce their high social class. Men would even wear red lip paint to show their rank. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and other feminists wore red lipstick to symbolize emancipation when they marched the 1912 NYC Suffragette rally. Red lipstick is a bold look to pull off, but when it is put on, anyone can feel unstoppable.

Like Elizabeth, one can feel powerful. Once it is on, one can feel a change in their personality. It’s a feeling of power, mystery, and grace. For centuries, wearing red gave anyone a stamp of immortality and that’s how the wearer may feel, immortal.

Works Cited

12, December. "Hazel Bishop; Invented Smudge-Proof

Lipstick." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 1998. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

 Flinn, Allie. "12 Weird But True Facts About Lipstick."

Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

 Kitchens, Simone. "9 Things You Should Know For National

Lipstick Day." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

 Schaffer, Sara. "Reading Our Lips: The History of Lipstick

Regulation in Western Seats of Power." 16 May 2006. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

 "The Power of Red Lipstick." Psychologies. Web. 2 Nov.

2015.