Eight surprising things you didn’t know about lipstick

This little handbag essential comes in every colour imaginable – dark hues and light shades to complement whatever mood you’re in.

But do you even know what goes into making your favourite make-up product or how much cash you’re bound to splash on it in your lifetime?

Here are eight surprising things you didn’t know about lipstick:

1.       You’ll blow about R20 000 on lipstick in your lifetime

As bizarre and unbelievable as it sounds, it’s true. According to Cosmopolitan, the average woman spends about R20 340 on lipstick in her lifetime. That’s more than the average South African’s salary!

We guess beauty really doesn’t come cheap.

2.       Red lipstick = prostitute

In Ancient Greece, prostitutes were required to wear red lipstick so it would be easier to identify them, writes Blush Magazine. Fortunately, that practice is ancient history.

These days celebs such as Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift and Scarlett Johansson don the striking shade.

3.       The world’s most expensive lipstick costs the same as a small house

It’s called Guerlain’s KissKiss Gold and Diamonds Lipstick, and it will set you back a jaw-dropping R708 660.

Cosmopolitan writes that the value lies in the tube, which is made from 110g of 18k gold and covered in 199 diamonds. With such a hefty price tag, it’s a lipstick that had better do the talking when you don’t feel like speaking.

4.       Women are crazy about red

Red is the colour of choice for lipstick wearers. Make-up giant Mac’s cherry red Ruby Woo was the best-selling lipstick in the United States in 2013.

International beauty company Avon reported their Cherry Jubilee and Red Supreme as their best-selling colours in multiples states in the US.

5.       Royal red for the queen!

To match her coronation robes at the ceremony in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II had a special lipstick made. She called it The Balmoral Lipstick.

6.       Shoplifting in style

Cosmopolitan writes that lipstick is recorded as the most shoplifted item across the globe.

7.       Lipstick has been here since before the Dark Ages

According to Avon’s Insider Blog, it was around 69 to 30 BC that Cleopatra began tinting her lips with a mix of carmine and henna.

8.       A girl’s best friend

A survey done in the United States showed that 80% of women regularly wear lipstick and 25% said they never leave the house without it.

Sources: Avon, Blush Magazine, Cosmopolitan