If there is one thing that makes every woman feel like…well, a real
woman -- it is lipstick. But did you know – it’s been estimated that in her
lifetime a woman ingests as much as four pounds of lipstick?
The use of the lipstick is not new; in fact it has been in vogue for the
last 5000 years. The earliest known users in ancient Mesopotamia, used
the powder of semi precious stones to paint their lips. The ancient
Indus Valley civilization also records the use of lipsticks. The dye of
the ‘Henna’
plant was also used to redden lips in the ancient times. In Egypt,
women not only used henna, but also used a reddish purple mercuric
plant dye, which they called fucus. Some chemical compound called
bromine mannite was also used to redden the lips. However these
compounds contained ingredients that were known to be poisonous and
fatal. Yet this did not deter women from applying this crude form of
lipsticks. Cleopatra was rumoured to have used crushed beetles in a
base of crushed ants to paint her lips.

Did You Know?

• Stock-market traders use lipstick sales as indicators of
  economic trends. Rising lipstick sales, the theory goes, indicate a
  downturn in the market – a notion based on the idea that consumers turn
  to cheap and cheerful indulgences when they’re feeling uncertain. It
  has proved a relatively reliable indicator; for instance, in the months
  after the September 11 terrorist attacks, lipstick sales doubled.
  
• Social scientists say that changes in lip colour indicate
  attraction. When we desire one another our lips redden. Lipstick mimics
  that flush of attraction, which is why we find them so irresistable.