National Lipstick Day

Photo c/o milled.com

Today, I'm reminded of a song from my youthful years---nag-lipstick ka ng nag-lipstick, di ka naman nag-brush your teeth, ay ay salidumay... (with apologies to my friends from the Cordillera).  July 29 is National Lipstick Day.  It seems to have a very interesting history dating back to 5,000 years ago. Ancient societies used crushed gemstones to decorate their faces, lips and eyes. Others would use plant or animal extracts, which is still used at present.  I can still recall my girl playmates gathering flowers and herbs, crushing them into pulp and applying it on their lips and faces, while we boys would use them as sort of warpaint. Ah, the simple joys of yesteryear's.

In the course of writing this blog post, I came upon a story about Kumander Liwayway (Commander Dawn).  She was Remedios Gomez-Paraiso aka "The Joan of Arc of the Philippines," who was also a beauty queen during her youth. She fought against the Japanese during World War Two and became one of the highest ranking female commanders of the anti-Japanese army Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap).  After the war she continued her armed struggle against the Philippine government.  Her life-story is just so amazing.  Legend has it that before each battle, she would manicure her nails, get her hair done, and put on lipstick.  She believed that her appearance inspired her troops.  I've been trying to find if there's a film about her and so far I only found this short film.  A woman ahead of her time believing in the right to fight to be herself, she died in 2014 at age 95.