Tangee Lipstick Review

Tangee Lipstick Review

When's the last time you treated yourself to a new tube of lipstick? Many economists and social scientists have noticed a trend dating back to the Great Depression that during tough economic times, cosmetic sales tend to increase. The explanations for this noteworthy phenomenon range from insightful to outright fanciful, but generally it is believed women strapped for cash will splurge on a new shade for their lips rather than more expensive items like a new dress.

At almost $15 a tube, I wouldn't say Tangee is the cheapest lipstick around, but given the brand has been around for almost a century, its formula virtually unchanged during that time, I thought a vintage-loving gal like me should pick up a tube, regardless of the state of the economy.

Tangee's fame lies in its unusual color-changing characteristic, hence the motto "The Lipstick That Changes Color to Become Uniquely Your Own". In short, this vibrant orange gloss-like lipstick turns an elegant shade of red with a hint of purple within seconds of applying it to your lips.

How does this happen?
Well, the website Cosmetics and Skin explains how the synthetic dye eosindiscovered in the late nineteenth century was added to Tangee and other lipsticks of the early twentieth century to create a new type of "indelible" color, that is, color that cannot be rubbed of the lips easily.

The mechanism responsible for this attribute was fundamentally different from how other lipsticks colored the lips. Traditional lipsticks contained pigments are already present and active even before the product touches the skin. In the case of Tangee and other "indelible" lipsticks, the eosin dye reacts with your skin's proteins to create a vibrant reddish color with the slightest hint of purple.

Thus Tangee technically falls under the category of lip stain as opposed to true lipstick. (Incidentally eosin is still used for staining tissue samples in laboratories....)

A smear of Tangee lipstick on my hand produces this pleasant reddish shade

So how does it become "Uniquely Your Own"? I'm not sure it does. Some say it reacts to the temperature or pH of your skin, but I've yet to see a scientific explanation for either of those claims. I'm not sure given the nature of eosin how this reaction could produce a different color on different people, unless you take into account the different underlying skin tones.

The Review

Tangee Lipstick comes in a black tube with a thick gold band, containing 0.13 oz. (3.7 grams) of the product. The logo with its unmistakeable 1920s/1930s font is emblazoned in gold on one side of the tube. The tube itself is nestled in an attractive black box decorated with the telltale logo flanked on either side with orange blossoms and golden tendrils.

When you remove the lid, you instantly notice its sweet perfume smell, reminiscent of roses and fragrances of bygone days. This is one of my favorite aspects of Tangee lipstick, although I understand our preference for scents can be an intensely personal thing.

The light but vibrant, almost neon tangerine color of the unused product provided the inspiration for its name.

Tangee resembles a gloss or balm. A smooth translucent coat is created by the wax, oil, and lanolin, with the color itself resulting from a dye that stains the proteins on the surface of your skin.

It goes on clear and remains this way for a second or two. Suddenly its shade will transform.

On me it creates to a reddish-pinkish color. My camera refused to capture the shade accurately, but the picture above is a fairly good approximation.

Unlike those old color-changing rings and hypercolor shirts, Tangee is not a "mood" lipstick. It does not alter its hue based on how hot or cold I'm feeling, or whether I'm enjoying acidic or basic foods for a meal. From one day to the next its color has remained consistent.

Right now Tangee is my go-to lipstick because the color stays even when the gloss itself wears off, this being a wonderful feature of lip stains. Even rubbing my lips won't remove the color. For that I need a decent cold cream or a good exfoliation.

Source: A Brief History of Lipstick at Enjoy Your Style

You'll have to decide for yourself whether the price ($14.95) is reasonable. Browsing some old advertisements for Tangee, I discovered on page 51 of Volume 84 from the Druggist's Circular, (printed in 1940) that a tube of the original formula, called "natural Tangee lipstick", used to cost $0.89!

Tangee is among the earliest lipstick brand out there, dating back to the 1920s or 1930s. Although it disappeared from the market in the 60s, TheVermont Country Store acquired the rights to its name and unique formula, and currently they are the exclusive producers and distributors of the brand.

Want a tube of your own? Here's the link to buy Tangee lipstick at the Vermont Country Store. (And if you're wondering, I haven't been paid or compensated by the good folks at the Vermont Country Store for writing this review!)