Marie Curie has launched a photography series, The Last Lipstick, exploring how familiar beauty rituals can help preserve identity and dignity at the end of life. The poignant collection features the final lipsticks worn by three women, highlighting the small acts of personal care that Marie Curie support as part of their end of life care.
The series was unveiled after new polling found that 80% of bereaved adults agree that beauty rituals and acts of self care can help people maintain a sense of dignity and identity in their final days. The pictures were captured by acclaimed photographer Alexandra Cameron, inspired by Stacy Greene's influential 1992 photography series Lipstick.
Polling Highlights Role of Self-Care
Four in five people (80%) agree that beauty or self-care rituals can help someone facing a terminal illness maintain a sense of dignity and identity, while 76% believe they help people keep a sense of independence in their final moments. Almost two in five (39%) have personally carried out a beauty ritual or act of self-care for a family member or friend nearing death, including styling their hair (27%), spraying perfume or aftershave (14%) or applying their makeup (12%).
The series was unveiled by Marie Curie and Superdrug after polling of UK adults who have been bereaved revealed the important role familiar self-care or beauty rituals can play at the end of life.
Personal Stories Behind the Lipsticks
Pavla Crowley's mum Dagmar loved makeup so much that she kept a bag especially for her at her home, so that she didn't need to bring her whole set on her visits. The 43-year-old said: "After my mum died, I couldn’t bear to get rid of the makeup bag she used to leave at my home when she visited from the Czech Republic, including her favourite lipstick.
"As a Marie Curie healthcare assistant, I see every day how small comforts like lip balm or a touch of colour can help women feel more like themselves at the end of life. For my mum, lipstick was part of who she was, and I see that same importance in so many of the people I care for. Sometimes these little rituals help us hold on to who we are, right until the end."
Anita, 66, pictured wearing her current favourite vibrant coral lipstick, lives with a rare type of lymphoma. She was told she would never be able to walk again but has proved the doctors wrong. Since leaving the hospital, reclaiming her identity and confidence through makeup has played a big part of her recovery. She has loved makeup and old-fashioned glamour since she was 12.
Photographer's Perspective
Sixty-seven-year-old Sarah, from Basingstoke, holds the lipstick of her mum Carol, who died from bowel cancer in June last year. Carol loved her lipstick and her favourite shade was a bold pink shade.
Photographer Alexandra Cameron said: "Photographing this series has been a powerful experience. Each lipstick represents a woman, but also a lifetime of memories, routines and moments of self-expression.
"These are not simply lipsticks; they are products that form part of people’s identities and how they choose to show up in the world – right up until the end."
