BEB: Why Do We Wear Lipstick?

By Natalie Chaudhuri, with photography by Jenny Xu

From mascara to foundation, eyeshadow to highlighter, and everything in between, there are countless makeup products we simply cannot live without. But there is one type of makeup that can really complete a look: lipstick. Last spring, I asked different people on my floor for their thoughts on lipstick—why they wore it, and why it was so important to them. Read more to see what they said, and enjoy their beautiful smiles.

“I wear lipstick because I have full lips and I feel like they are a canvas I can paint on.”

-Alana Hendy, SFS ‘21

“I wear lipstick because I like it, and I like the way I look. It’s like…”bon apetit.”

-Nile Blass, COL ‘22

“I wear lipstick because Molly Ringwald from The Breakfast Club is an icon.”

-Macky Grimm, COL ‘21

“I wear lipstick to look older.”

-Jenny Xu, COL ‘21

“I wear lipstick because it makes my lips look bigger.”

-René Cruz, NHS ‘22

“I wear lipstick because I look sexy as fuck.”

-TJ Mukundan, COL ‘21

“I wear lipstick because it can transform a look in a second. And because a friend told me my lipstick made me look put-together, so maybe I can fake it until I make it.”

-Natalie Chaudhuri, SFS ‘22

“I wear lipstick because it really expresses the different sides of beauty; it’s like trying on different personalities and different conceptions of yourself.

-Varsha Menon, SFS ‘21

“I wear lipstick because I just love the colors I wear on me.

-Elle Onadja, COL ‘21

I wear lipstick because when I was in the eighth grade someone told me I had the skin tone to pull off fun lipstick colors, and since I was self-conscious about my skin tone and about my identity as a mixed-race person, lipstick was the solution. I still enjoy exploring and enjoying different colors today.

-Chloe Kekedjian, COL ‘22