Are you addicted to your favorite lip stick color? Are you unable to walk out of the house without a tube of your shade in your pocket or purse? You are not alone. Lip stick is not just a beautiful color that women put on their lips. It has a history reaching back as far as the ancient times when civilizations such as the Indus Valley Civilization and Ancient Egyptians used lip stick to decorate the face and the lips. These lip sticks were made up of such things as seaweed and crushed beetles. The women then were even able to get the lip stick to shimmer and shine by using fish scales. The first lip stick formed in molds came about during the Islamic Golden Age by Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi.

Lip stick was not very popular in its early days and was not an expected part of a woman’s life as it is now. In fact, in the Medieval Europe the church did not allow women to wear lipstick because it was thought to be evil and was only to be worn by women who were up to no good. By the 16th century, England made lipstick popular again. The common stark white faces and super red lips became very much the norm.

Lip stick did not become a part of the American way of life until around 1912. It became even more popular by the time the Second World War began. This was in large part due to movie stars applying their make up for performances.

In the 1990s lip stick took on a whole new appearance and feel. A company called Lip-Ink International created a lip stick that was wax free and therefore more permanent resembling a stain. Lip stick has taken many turns along the way resulting in an infinite number of choices for women who wish to put on their lips. There are glosses, sticks and stains.

There are colors ranging from clear and shimmery to bright and bold. There are even colors unheard of on your lips such as glow in the dark green and black and purples. If you can imagine the color, there is likely a lipstick to match.

Along with it, there are a multitude of colors available and a number of consistencies such as gloss in a can and liquid lips in a bottle with a brush. Lip stick is one of the few things that is accepted in all walks of life.

So the next time you are selecting your next shade of lip stick, think about the history behind it and how many women through the centuries have used it.