Q: Women’s Health reports the average woman “eats” 4 to 9 pounds of this in her lifetime?
A: lipstick
Women’s Health reports the average woman “eats” 4 to 9 pounds of lipstick in ther lifetime. That’s somewhere between 481 and 1,083 tubes. Here’s a quick history of lip stick:
- 3000 B.C. – Lip painting appeared as early as 5000 years ago, in Mesopotamian, where semi-precious jewels were crushed and applied to lips.
- 2500 B.C. – Makeup was a status symbol in ancient Egypt. Many wealthy women took at least 2 pots to their tombs.
- 1770 – British Parliament passed a law stating that women flaunting painted lips could be tried for practicing witchcraft.
- 1820 – Rumor has it that former first lady Dolley Madison wore rouged lips while doing household tasks such as churning ice cream.
- 1880 – Guerlain created the first lip color in stick form.
- 1930s – Before stricter laws were passed later this decade, many lipsticks were made with crushed insects, butter, and lard.
- 1938 – A survey of Depression era households found that 58% owned at least one tube of lipstick. 59% owned a jar of mustard.
- 1959 – In Connie Francis’ song “Lipstick on Your Collar,” the stain on her boyfriend’s collar was red… She wore baby pink. Busted.
- 2004 – Wearing lipstick can get you arrested. Research found that marks left by long-wearing formulas contain DNA, and the FBI has obtained DNA from a used tube of lipstick.
