The red dye carmine, used in everything from lipsticks to Coca-Cola, can only be obtained by crushing huge quantities of the insect Dactylopius coccus, or cochineal.* That's right--those lovely red lips you see in fashion magazines? Covered in dried, smeared bugs. Yum.
This is a very old dye as it was used in the middle ages to dye clothing. It produced a very bright, true red that was much longer lasting than a darker, oranger red produced by the madder plant (which faded quickly). It was also much more expensive, which is why it was very popular among the clergy (thus all of those bright red cardinal's garments and the like). I guess today we just raise and harvest the little bugs in mass quantities rather than go out and hunt them in the wild.
You are such a wealth of info lately... hmm, some maybe I don't want to know about LOL. And I always end up eating my lipstick off YUCK!!! I can't believe this is legal.
Take care!