Catching Criminals With Lipstick Stains

It’s a common TV crime show trope: no suspects, little evidence, until an investigator finds a lipstick mark. 

The sample is sent away to the lab and then BOOM, the suspect is in handcuffs. In reality, forensic analysis is not that fast or straightforward. But scientists are making progress. 

Brian Bellott and his team at Western Illinois University have developed a way to lift lipstick samples, and found the best way to analyze them.