The beauty industry has been adding gemstones into skincare products (see my past post: Gemstones in Skincare). It was only a matter of time before gemstones appeared in makeup. Now we have ground up gemstones in lipstick for extra pouty lips!

Guerlain, one of the world's oldest perfume houses recently launched their new Le Rouge G lipsticks made from finely milled rubies. It is being marketed as exceptionally radiant. That's because they are taking advantage of the fact that many gemstones and minerals are fluorescent - they glow under ultraviolet light. Rubies show red fluorescence under shortwave UV light. UV light is part of sunlight. I'm not sure whether there are enough rubies in the lipstick. If so, your Le Rouge G lips would likely glow red under the UV lights in discos too! Hotlips on the dance floor!

Indeed the term fluorescence comes from fluorite, one of my favorite gemstones. Way back in 1852, an English physicist named the phenomenon while working with fluorite. Gemologists now use UV light as a tool to help identify gemstones. Physicists use a ruby fluorescence method for their optical experiments. The picture below by Hannes Grobe shows fluorescent minerals under UV light. Pretty aren't they?



The packaging of the Rouge G lipstick is really cool. A renowned French jeweller, Lorenz Baumer designed the casing. He was inspired by ingots and developed the rounded casing from that idea. The lipstick case relies on a special magnetic mechanism which on the first click pops open the mirror.

How much is this going to cost you? You can purchase it from Neiman Marcus for $45. Can't afford the real McCoy? Then party on with UV reactive lipstick from UVGear (~$9).

References
Gem test by Emporia University
Ultraviolet light and its uses with fluorescent minerals
How are gemstones classified?
Notes on gemstone fluorescence

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