From Cleopatra to the Modern Day Woman: Lip Products Have Played a Large Role in Womanhood. Find out Why:

In the past year or so, lip products have become somewhat of an obsession among women, especially in teenage girls. Brands like Summer Fridays and Laneige have exploded, and can now be found in the hands of almost every girl. 

Where does this need for various different products for one feature on your face come from? As a professional teenage girl, who also happens to have fallen victim to the lip product trap, I thought I’d weigh in.

Believe it or not, chapped lips are not just a modern day problem; the cure for cracked and dry lips has been sought after since the era of the Ancient Egyptians. It’s nice to know that we are just like the humans from almost 5000 years ago. Their solution was a lot simpler than ours, though, using natural ingredients such as beeswax, olive oil, and animal fats, and excluding the thousands of different scents and flavors we offer today. Cleopatra was a prominent user, linking these lip products to femininity from the start. 

Starting at young ages a lot of girls, especially from Gen Z, are familiar with a specific evolution in lip products: those princess lip glosses, to eos lip balms, to Glossier, Summer Fridays, Laniege, etc. So, even though we are seeing huge brands blow up, women have been fascinated by different lip products for years. 

Today, at least, I find that lip balms, butters, oils and glosses all bring women together. As a woman, how many times have you asked or been asked, “What are you wearing on your lips?”, or “Where did you find that lip color?” Chances are it’s more than once. I’ll be sitting in class and I’ll pull out my cherry Summer Fridays and it feels like my friends' heads snap in my direction, as if they hear me twist the lid off. 

Myself, my friends, and I’m sure other women alike, also find joy in going to Sephora to sift through and try out new lip products. That experience is something so unique to women and young girls alike. It’s another way lipsticks and lip balms bring us together. 

Girlhood and womanhood are so distinct and made up of so many different things, and lip products happen to be a part of them. From the ancient Egyptian era to now: the things women use on our lips have been bringing us together for generations.