Bonne Bicentennial

 

Over 50 years ago, Bonne Bell began celebrating America's Bicentennial in July 1975, a year before the big 200th Birthday blowout, with the launch of four star-spangled lipstick shades for the Spirit of '76. To commemorate yet another big Birthday for America this year, I wanted to take a look back at this beautiful collection.

Bonne Bell was always big on celebrating America over the decades so the collection was very on par for the beloved brand born and raised in Lakewood, Ohio. I actually used a very Americana Bonne Bell marketing binder to stage the lipsticks in the photos. It made the perfect backdrop for this series. 

June 1975 store ad featuring the four fabulous Centennial colors in their original countertop display

🇺🇸Centennial Lipsticks:

☆ '76 Orange

☆ Patriotic Pink

☆ Centennial Peach

☆ American Rose

 Here's one of the actual lipsticks in all her glory, in the shade '76 Orange. 

The patriotic packaging was embossed in a star studded design against navy and red accents. The tube is metal and had that classic old-school, resilient, luxury feel many lipsticks had until brands moved toward plastic cases in the 1980's. This feels very vanity display worthy. 

The lipstick shade itself has significantly faded over the years but was originally a striking orange with a pretty pearl/frost finish. 

The lipstick was also fragranced and has a floral musk-like smell that's surprisingly comforting and on par with lipsticks of the era. 

Another store ad featuring the Star Spangled lipsticks + the Dr Pepper Lip Smacker (with lots of spelling errors lol)

The Spirit of '76 Centennial lipsticks launched in June of 1975 and were repromoted for America's big Birthday in the summer of 1976. An incredible capsule collection that perfectly highlights the history of the brand and that 70’s free-spirited American beauty. 

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