Lipstick Theory

I have read that with the economy being as tight as it is…people are spending less on big-ticket items. They are indulging in the little pleasures of life...so sales are increasing for “vice” items such as beer, candy, ice cream, lipstick and other beauty products. I’m not exactly sure why these are called vice items. I don’t see them as a serious moral failing.

What better way to get out of the slump brought on by high food and gas prices...than a little beer, candy, and ice cream added to the hips…and a little lipstick added to the lips. There’s nothing like a new shade of lipstick for an instant pick-me-upper...although I’m sure PaulA would stick with the beer.

A little tube of lipstick is a woman’s way to splurge to make herself feel better….the names of the lipsticks even add to the decadence. Most lipsticks are named after food, beverages, sex and romance. You never see a tube of lipstick called red. They call it Cherry Desirable or Cherry Tart. Not pink or peach….but Pretty in Pink and Life’s a Peach. Then there’s always…Hot Mama, Triple Chocolate Parfait, Pinch me, Rapture, Promiscuous, Spice It Up.

Interestingly enough lipsticks have always had weird names. Did you know that the most popular lipstick shades in Renaissance England were named Rat, Horseflesh, Turkey, Blood, and Puke? And some names for lipstick colors from 1580 to 1620 were Ape’s Laugh, Smoked Ox, Chimney-Sweep, and Dying Monkey. (Honest…I can’t make this stuff up.) Any marketing guy for Loreal suggesting Puke for a new lipstick today would be out of a job…likity split. (Possible new name for lipstick or ice cream??!)

Whenever I decide to splurge for a new lipstck....I always seem to buy the wrong shade. When I get home and put it on...my new shade looks more like Smoked Ox instead of Spice it Up…so I end up going back to the store and buying more…thus stimulating the economy.

Women unite. We can stimulate this economy…one tube of lipstick at a time. Grab your Hot Voodoo, Dolce Vita, Raisin Hell, and Quartz Kiss....and…

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