Candy lipsticks

Candy lipsticks are novelty sweets sold as lipsticks. Swizzels, the Derbyshire firm behind Love Hearts, sells them as Love Hearts Candy Lipsticks, and the UK retailer Sweets and Candy sells them in packs of 3.

What is in them

Love Hearts Candy Lipsticks, as listed by Swizzels. Sugar, the anti caking agents stearic acid and magnesium stearate, modified starch, malic acid as an acidity regulator, cornflour, flavouring, and anthocyanin as the colour.

What the less familiar ingredients do

• Magnesium stearate is a salt of magnesium and stearic acid. In food it is used as an anti caking agent and to stop ingredients sticking. It is also the most widely used additive in medicines, where its lubricating properties stop powders sticking to the machinery as they are pressed into tablets. For how Swizzels presses its tablet sweets, see Love Hearts
• Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid, found in many animal and vegetable fats. The maker's nutrition panel gives 3.0 g of fat per 100 g, of which 2.9 g is saturated.
• Malic acid is listed as an acidity regulator: see what is malic acid in sweets?
• Anthocyanin, E163, is a plant pigment that can look red, pink, purple, blue or black, depending on acidity. Food plants rich in it include blueberries, raspberries and black carrots: see natural colours in sweets
• Modified starch and cornflour are both starches: see what is modified starch in sweets?

Diet points

Swizzels says its Love Hearts Candy Lipsticks are suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs, and halal suitable. Per 100 g, its panel gives 403.7 kcal and 93.6 g of carbohydrate, of which 90.1 g is sugars, with no protein or salt. For more sweets without animal ingredients, see a guide to vegan sweets

The maker

Swizzels began in the early 1920s with a market stall in Hackney, London, where Maurice and Alfred Matlow sold jellied sweets. They built a small factory in east London in 1928, and in 1933 merged with David Dee, a rival factory owner who specialised in fizzy compressed tablet sweets. In 1940 the Blitz forced the business north, to a disused wick factory in New Mills, Derbyshire, where it remains.

Parma Violets followed in 1946, Love Hearts in 1954 and Drumstick lollies in 1957: see Parma Violets and Drumstick lollies. The company phased out hydrogenated fats in 2004 and stopped using artificial flavourings in 2009.

Sweets named after grown up things

For other sweets named after things grown ups wear or use, see candy necklaces and sweet cigarettes. For more of the old names still on sale, see what are retro sweets?

In our pick and mix

We do not sell candy lipsticks, but we do sell Flying Saucers and Fizzy Dummies. Each card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the sweets we actually stock.

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