Lipstick’s Composition and Production Technologies, “Lipstick Index” as economic indicator

The purpose of this work is to provide a deeper knowledge about production technologies, chemical composition and the production process of an extremely simple object. Lipstick is a symbol of charm and an instrument of seduction, red lipstick has gone through the centuries until the early twentieth century, when the newlyborn feminist movement made it the symbol of women's power, since then women understood it is able to make them all the same, beyond the social class, the economic position and the profession.
The main motivation that has pushed me to address this topic is a deep interest I have had since I was a child for cosmetics, I also want to show that behind a simple accessory there is an extremly complex production process in many steps, the formula requires precise percentages of components.
The thesis is composed of four chapters.
The first chapter deals with topics such as the birth and evolution of this cosmetic over the course of time; for Egyptians, Greeks and Romans it was related with religious functions and to demarcate social status, in the 17 th century the church denounced lip painting as altering a God's gift, it was not considered socially acceptable in the 19 th century, and towards the 1850s women were warned of the dangers of using coloured tints on lips. By the end of the 19 th century, Guerlain, a French cosmetic company, began to manufacture lipstick. In the 20 th century the first long lasting lipstick was created by Hazel Bishop. The 21 th Century has seen major technological advances in lipstick formulation and in flexible wearable electronics, designed to collect and transmit data from the body.
The second chapter is about primary ingredients lipstick are composed of, that are wax, waxy pastes, oil and pigments, but there here are also preservatives and active ingredients in low percentages. There are also quotations of formulas and percentages to have different textures and colours.
In the third chapter it is described the production line of the lipstick. The first steps are the laboratory research and the laboratory analysis, then the quality control and the storage of raw materials, which sometimes require additional work. Other important activities for lipstick production are the bulk production, a coloured mass of waxy consistency with no definite shape, the casting, the assembly with the packaging and the quality control, at the end finished products are stored in warehouses that are generally thermostated and in a controlled environment, to avoid that thermal changes may compromise the characteristics of lipsticks.
The last chapter exposes the Lipstick Index, a term coined by Leonard Lauder, who though sales of this cosmetic could be an economic indicator and that women substitute lipstick for more expensive purchases in times of economic distress.
The last part of this thesis is about the effective relation discovered by Leonard Lauder between Italian history of the last century and economic crisis.