What is the amount of lip balm sold each year?

Answer 1

Coloring lips is hardly a modern fashion. The use of lipstick was documented on ancient Egyptian scrolls found in a five-thousand-year-old Sumerian tomb. In the fourth century B.C., Greek women used seaweed and mulberry to paint their lips. During the dark and middle ages, lip coloring was banned by the Christian church and typically only worn by prostitutes. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth popularized the look of bright red lips and a stark white face. By the 18th century, lipstick became popular with middle and lower classes as well. In 1880, Guerlain, a French cosmetic company, was the first to produce a commercial lipstick product. The rise of Photography in the 1920s made lipstick more acceptable and popular. The first swivel tube was invented in 1923. During the 1940s lipstick became scarce because the castor oil and petroleum used to produce it were in high demand for the war effort. In the 1970s black lipstick became the signature look of Punk and Goth subcultures. [1] Chubby sticks are perhaps the newest invention on the lipstick scene but the use of lipstick remains strong with 800-900 million lipsticks being sold every year worldwide.

[1]Ragas, M., & Kozlowski, K. (1998). The BIrth of a Great Invention. Read my lips: a cultural history of lipstick(). San Francisco: Chronicle Books [u.a.].