Liptember – Sep. 1, 2026

Expected Liptember Deals

As a cause-driven initiative, Liptember focuses on fundraising and awareness rather than commercial deals. The official Liptember organization partners with various brands and individuals to encourage donations and participation. In previous years, beauty retailers and makeup brands have often offered special promotions on lip products, donating a portion of sales to the cause. We anticipate similar support in 2027, with brands like MECCA, Sephora, and Priceline Pharmacy potentially running campaigns or offering exclusive Liptember-themed products. Individuals can register on the Liptember website to receive support from friends and family, with all funds directly supporting women’s mental health research and services. We will update this page with confirmed live initiatives as September approaches.

History of Liptember

The early history of women’s mental health was characterized by some rampant sexism and essentially no knowledge of how the mind and body function in emotional responses. From the ancient Egyptians to the ancient Greeks, most cultures blamed female emotions on some condition of the uterus. It was in 1900 BC that Egyptians decided women with poor mental health were suffering from “spontaneous uterus movement.” This was thought to be cured by wafting scents towards the vagina and uterus!

Ancient Greek doctors weren’t much better. One prominent physician believed emotional conditions in women were due to “uterine melancholy,” which essentially means the uterus feeling sad it didn’t have a baby. This strange line of thinking was even corroborated by Hippocrates, who suggested the hysterical women should simply get married and have more babies to rid themselves of negative emotions.

If a woman was lucky enough to be born after this pseudo-science had largely made its exit, females were still at great risk if they had emotional or mental health problems. For example, many women with mental health issues were declared witches, and burned at the stake or otherwise executed. While this does feel far away from the mental healthcare we have today, it’s still shocking to think of thousands of women being executed, simply for having mental illness that wasn’t understood at the time. 

Modern science has obviously achieved leaps and bounds since these ancient and misguided times. However, the word “hysteria” was not removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) until 1980! The DSM is consistently updated, and is the designated guidebook for psychiatrists and psychologists to define and diagnose mental illnesses. 

Today, women’s mental health care is largely equal to mens, though sexist strains remain in society. Gender stereotypes are pervasive in mental health, and can often be a subtle implication that women with mental health issues are “crazy” or “making it up.” Racism is still prevalent, as black women in America are 20% more likely to deal with mental health issues than the general population, and often encounter both racism and sexism in the healthcare industry.

How Businesses Can Celebrate Liptember