The Unintended Consequences of Lipstick

The further along we go in life, the more we realize that everything has unintended consequences, the current Covid-19 situation not being exempt from such. Let’s think about lipstick. 

I haven’t worn lipstick since mid-March when Texas shut down. There wasn’t a reason to put it on for church because we weren’t going. The social outings I was used to were postponed until June and some of them haven’t started again yet. And then just as things relaxed, masks were required and if there are two things diametrically opposed to each other, it’s a face mask and lipstick. 

Now, I’ve read that isn’t necessarily so. Congrats to those women who’ve managed to pull it off, both the wearing of un-smeared lipstick and the mask which hid it. Nonetheless, I’ve also read that the cosmetics industry has taken it on the chin, so to speak, since buying, and therefore using, cosmetics has dwindled. 

But I want to think about restaurants. At first, they were take-out only. As they’ve gradually opened up–at least here–are patrons wearing lipstick? Has there been a decline in the incidences of lipstick stained water glasses? Are coffee cups now pristine? (Assuming the establishment isn’t using paper and the one I was in was not.) I’ll forgo thinking about cloth napkins. Those white napkin restaurants may not even be open yet and who wouldn’t forgive them for using high quality paper? 

So does less lipstick use translate to easier cleaning? An unintended–and in this case happier–consequence.