Lipstick Tribes

Every girl needs a good lipstick. It is a fact of life, there is no escaping the fact that somewhere out there is the perfect lipstick for you my friend. I would highly recommend going out there to find it. I personally don't think i have found 'the one' yet but i know its going to fall into the nude category as looking through my makeup bag it seems that 60% of my lipsticks are variations of nude. Not that this is a problem.  The problem lies in the fact that I am not at all buying into the lipstick tribe that nude lipsticks tend to be marketed as. This is something that I have only just realised when I started researching lipsticks for my course and I have to say that although it interested me it frustrated me greatly (as you will find many things do) as well.

There are three main tribes that the cosmetic industry promote lipsticks in: The Meta Feminine, The Sex Kitten and the Unconstrained Rebel. So these three tribes as fascinating and desirable as they may sound don't particularly relate to my day to day life and they are not things that I really desire to be in all honesty. Ten points if you guess which category nudes tend to fall into.... Yep you guessed it! The Meta Feminine, The most terrifying and unachievable idea that is shoved at women day in and day out. Yay. This frustrated me and lead me to take a deeper look at all three tribes and why the industry is so intent on using them. 

The Unconstrained Rebel. This is the tribe which allows marketers to let their creative juices flow without worrying about scaring off customers. These tend to be sed to sell the vampy dark colours and the strange greens and blues that nobody in their right might would actually wear on a Tuesday afternoon down to the shops.  I am probably missing the point and it is definitely a certain sort of person who can pull off this look. This look is usually advertised and seen as being a very feminist stance and very anti-beauty look at cosmetics. I really love this tribe I love the adverts they are the most eye-catching and they are the ones that in a perfect world I would emulate because they are so darn cool! but I don't simply because I am not half as brave as the girls with the attitude to be part of this tribe. 

The Sex Kitten. The Tribe which caters to our animal inside, allegedly. This is a go to tribe for the marketers as everybody wants to be sexy, I am not denying that. I mean I have looked at so many of these adverts and women and I am so so SO jealous of how self assured they are and of course I want to be them they are modern day goddesses! The reds and berry tones tend to be sold to this tribe emulating the Marylin's and Kylie Jenners of the world. I don't agree with the overt sexualisation used in this type of marketing that always seems to verge on voyeristic and obsessive objectification of women. However There are some killer femme Fatales out there that this tribe looks out for and you girls ROCK! 

Finally there is The Meta Feminine. The tribe that is supposed to encapsulate all that it is to be a woman. Long flowing hair, Pastel colours, Flowers, Petals, sultry looks. It is sickening to be frank it is also scary that still in 2015/16 this is still something that women are buying into. The meek and mild stereotype that has helped the patriarchy to control us for so long. I don't have a problem with femininity at all I think it is something that we as women should embrace but I think we should be able to be feminine and powerful and Unique at the same time. This tribe does not leave space for women to do this and that is what frustrates me about it so much. As you can tell I am slightly bitter that the lipsticks that bit my face fall into this category as I think that nudes should be sold in just as interesting ways as the luminous orange lipsticks and not in the cop out way that they always are. 

Rant over. Promise. 

Have you found your perfect lip colour yet? 

Much love K x