REVLON SUPER LUSTROUS LIPSTICK by Kathleen Whitehead

Revlon's super lustrous lipstick is lipstick that comes in 72 shades of pinks, plums, browns, reds/corals and roses. The lipstick contains mega moisturizers with vitamin C & E so your lips will stay "smooth, sexy and stay in kissable condition while the color stays true." The add says this lipstick is as essential as the little black dress and the picture that comes with the add is Halle Berry's beautiful face in a shade of the lipstick, smiling in a coy way. Wearing this lipstick one is supposed to feel glamorous and sexy. It is a way to find your perfect lip look.

The implication of the Revlon adds are that women are there to be a sex toy, always looking ready to be kissed and nothing more. The adds in the 60's started using models in their adds in order to sell the "American Look" to the rest of the globe. In the add when it says it is as essential as the little black dress implies that all a woman needs to be happy in life is a little black dress and one of the shades of the "super lustrous lipstick" and wait to be kissed and all in the world will be right. It is a fantasy that is projected by a mostly male board of directors. They may want that to be the reality but reality is far from that. Out of the eleven board of directors only four of them are women.

Revlon is a company that was founded in 1932 by Charles Revson, his brother Joseph, and chemist Charles Lachman. Their vision is to "provide glamour, excitement and innovation through quality products at affordable prices." The company sells cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care products. They products are sold in 175 countries and they are a multi-million dollar organization. Revlon has changed through the years, trying to give the public what it desires, and being aware of the social dynamics of the day. In the 70's they marketed a fragrance "Charlie" for young working women, which became the #1 fragrance sold. It also made Revlon pass the $1 billion mark in 1977. The company has given back to the women it sell to in supporting the NBCC, National Breast Cancer Coalition and puts on the Revlon Run/Walk for women to raise money to fight breast cancer.

Make-up is a good thing, I use it to look better for work where I am in front of the public and if I look more tired or like I don't care how I look my tips at the restaurant I work at might go down. When one looks better they typically feel better about themselves and have more confidence which is always a good thing. In these ads I never see the lipstick or nail polish as something to help a woman close the deal in a board room because she looks as capable as she is as a professional, it is always as the sex symbol. It perpetuates the feedback loop in "Merchants of Cool" of flaunt yourself, your sexuality even if you don't understand it. It spreads the message that one must look good or else you will have nothing.