Welcome to the second and final lesson of our course on the history of lipstick.
In our first lesson, we explored how lip coloring in the ancient world—from Mesopotamia and Egypt to Rome—was a powerful symbol of status, divinity, and authority. The fall of the Roman Empire, however, marked a turning point. This lesson will address the second learning outcome: to summarize the shifting attitudes towards cosmetics from their general condemnation in Medieval Europe to their selective revival in the Elizabethan era. We will investigate how lipstick became associated with sin and witchcraft, and how one powerful queen single-handedly began to change its reputation.
The Devil's Paint: Condemnation in Medieval Europe
With the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity as the dominant force in Europe, attitudes toward the body and adornment changed dramatically. Where Romans had celebrated artifice as a sign of status, early Christian doctrine championed humility and natural beauty as part of God's design.
To understand the religious reasoning behind this shift, please watch this short video segment.
6 Disturbing Health & Beauty Fads of the Middle Ages...
This clip from the MedievalMadness channel explains the theological arguments against makeup in the Middle Ages, framing it as a challenge to God's creation.
Watch from the beginning until 00:58. Focus on why the church condemned cosmetics and the nuanced view later offered by theologian Thomas Aquinas.
As the video explains, the condemnation was rooted in theology:
- An Insult to God: Applying makeup was seen as an attempt to alter or "improve" upon God's creation, an act of vanity and pride.
- Association with Sin: Cosmetics were heavily associated with brothels and prostitution, and women who wore them were sometimes viewed as incarnations of Satan.
- A Subtle Shift: Theologian Thomas Aquinas later introduced a more moderate view, arguing that a woman could wear makeup to appear attractive to her husband to prevent him from committing adultery. However, it was a fine line; she was not to be so attractive as to tempt other men.
This religious disapproval fueled social suspicion. When the Crusades reintroduced cosmetics from the Middle East to Western Europe, lip coloring and other makeup were seen as a foreign, "wicked allure." This suspicion soon morphed into a more dangerous accusation: witchcraft.
This next clip details the severe social and legal consequences of wearing lipstick during this period.
Red lipstick has a FASCINATING history!! 💄 #history #lipstick #facts #makeup #redlipstick
In this segment, Dr. Esme Louise James details how lipstick became linked to sorcery and deception, with tangible legal consequences.
Please watch from 00:50 to 01:11. Note the connection made between lipstick, witchcraft, and the legal rights of men.
In Medieval Europe, wearing red lipstick was not merely a fashion faux pas; it could be interpreted as a sign of demonic influence. It was believed that witches used cosmetics to trick people, hiding their supposedly hideous, evil nature behind a beautiful facade. In some regions, a man could even have his marriage annulled if he could prove his wife had used cosmetics to "seduce" or trick him into the union. For centuries, lipstick remained in the shadows, a symbol of deception and sin.
A Royal Revival: Queen Elizabeth I
The perception of lipstick began to change in the 16th century, thanks almost entirely to one of history's most powerful female monarchs: Queen Elizabeth I of England. A formidable ruler known for her intelligence and political acumen, Elizabeth I also cultivated a highly distinct and influential image.
For a detailed account of her role in lipstick's revival, please read the following excerpt from an article in National Geographic.
The surprising evolution of red lipstick and its ancient origins
This reading from 'The surprising evolution of red lipstick and its ancient origins' explains how Queen Elizabeth I's personal use of lip color transformed its reputation among the English aristocracy.
Please read the section titled 'From royalty to witchcraft'. Focus on Queen Elizabeth's reasons for wearing lipstick and the impact it had.
Queen Elizabeth I did not wear red lipstick simply for vanity. As you've read, she believed it had apotropaic qualities—the power to ward off illness and evil spirits. She famously wore a heavy layer of it on her deathbed.
Her custom-made lip color was created from expensive ingredients like cochineal (the same insect-based dye used by Cleopatra), gum arabic, and egg whites. This created a stark, dramatic look when combined with the fashionable pale complexion of the era, which was achieved with a toxic lead-based paint called Venetian ceruse.
The Queen's endorsement made this look the pinnacle of fashion for the aristocracy. For the first time in centuries, red lips were once again associated with power, wealth, and royalty, not just sin.
This revival was, however, highly selective. It was a trend confined to the court and the upper echelons of society. For the general populace, the association with witchcraft and deception remained strong. As the National Geographic article notes, this fear resurfaced after Elizabeth's death. A law passed in 1770 stated that a woman could be tried for witchcraft if she was deemed to have used cosmetics to trick a man into marriage, showing just how tenuous lipstick's new-found acceptance was.
Test your understanding!
Queen Elizabeth I's use of red lipstick is often cited as a major turning point. How did her influence represent a "selective revival" rather than a complete reversal of medieval attitudes toward cosmetics?
Show answer
The revival was "selective" in two key ways. First, it was socially selective: the trend was largely confined to the queen and her court—the aristocracy. It did not trickle down to the general population, where suspicion and religious condemnation of makeup largely persisted. Second, the acceptance was thematically selective. While Elizabeth I linked red lips to health and royal power, the deep-seated fears connecting cosmetics to deception and witchcraft did not disappear. These anxieties resurfaced after her reign, demonstrating that the revival was fragile and dependent on her specific influence, rather than a fundamental cultural shift.
Conclusion
This lesson has traced lipstick's journey through a period of extreme cultural shift, from being an object of sin to a symbol of royal power.
Key Takeaways:
- Medieval Condemnation: In Medieval Europe, Christian doctrine cast cosmetics as an act of vanity that challenged God's creation. Lip color became associated with sin, deception, and witchcraft, with severe social and legal consequences.
- Elizabethan Revival: Queen Elizabeth I single-handedly sparked a revival of lipstick in the 16th century. Believing it could ward off evil, she made bold red lips and a pale face the signature look of her court, re-associating lipstick with wealth and power, but only among the elite.
This completes our short course on the history of lipstick. We began in the ancient world, where lip color was a clear marker of status and power. We then saw it condemned for a thousand years before being cautiously revived by a queen.
The story, of course, does not end there. The precarious acceptance of the Elizabethan era would eventually give way to another dramatic transformation. In the early 20th century, forces like the suffrage movement adopted red lipstick as a symbol of rebellion and female emancipation. The rise of cinema turned actresses into makeup trendsetters for the masses, and innovations in manufacturing, such as the invention of the twist-up tube in 1915, finally made lipstick an affordable, accessible, and essential item for women around the world. From a queen's exclusive cosmetic, it became a global phenomenon.