All in the name

I'm still working at clearing out a backlog of magazines and since I can't just toss them in the bin (I have visions of Hoarders who have to touch everything themselves when their homes are being cleared and cleaned) I need to do a quick scan. 

 

As I was scanning through the Edition VI 2012 of Longevity, I ran across their article 10 of the best.  Number 5 was headlined as per my post title and said the following, "Have you noticed how beauty houses tend to give lipsticks tasty names?  Just think of Revlon's new range of Colour Burst Lip Butters in Pink Truffle, Candy Apple and Red Velvet.  According to Professor Debra Merskin, in her paper Truly Toffee and Raisin Hell : A Textual Analysis of Lipstick Names, women are more attracted to the name of the shade than the colour itself ", which I found interesting.  It goes on to say "The reasoning is that our lipstick choices are linked to our feelings of self-worth, luxury and indulgence, as well as a women's relationship with food in general". 

 

A breakdown of the categories by the most popular reveals that the top choices are influenced by the following:

 

Food: 24%


Color: 20%


Sex and Romance: 10%

Elements and Minerals: 9%


Emotions and Characteristics: 8%


Other: 8%


People and Names: 5%

Flowers: 5%


Places: 4%


Objects: 3%


Darkside: 2%


Arts and Media: 1%


Birds and Animals: 1%


Times and Seasons: <1%

 

Although not included the above article, but found elsewhere on the web upon doing a search to try and read the entire paper, yielded the following,"Merskin concluded that "When women ‘put on a face,' or ‘put on war paint,' they are not only acting in line with social prescriptions of feminine beauty, but are also involved in a system of meaning that helps them to navigate the sea of changing conditions that are a part of postmodern social experience."

 

On a more superficial level: women are more likely to buy lipsticks called "Triple Chocolate Parfait" "Ginger Goodie" or "Hot Mama".

 

So I went and had a look at the names of my lipsticks and I think I may be a little odd - firstly, the shades are so similar and some time back I posted about it. secondly, the names of mine are Cherry Blossom, Fleshtone (how boring?), Chocolate Truffle, Wine and Dine and Starlight.  So I'm possible wishing and dreaming of Cherries and blossoms which could mean I'm tired of winter and want Spring to get her and possibly fantasising about a naked man with chocolate truffles who'll take me out to wine and dine under the stars?

Check out the name of your favourite lipstick to see if Merskin's theory is correct.