There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to eye makeup.
Take the history of Maybelline. The global makeup brand is in the midst of its centennial celebration, complete with multiple star-studded parties. But before all the blushes and BB creams, it was about a family company creating cosmetics for the eyes.
Sharrie Williams, an heiress of the family that started the brand, detailed Maybelline’s rise to popularity and prosperity in her 2010 book “The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It” (Bettie Young Books, $18.95; www.maybellinebook.com). She’s working on a second book to mark the brand’s centennial.
How well do you know Maybelline? Here are some fun facts:
• How it started: In 1915, Mabel Williams was melting sugar in a pan on a stove when a flame shot up and singed her eyebrows and lashes. Unsure how long they would take to grow back, she burned a piece of cork, mixed the ashes with petroleum jelly and applied them. The jelly soothed the burn and the ash gave her brows and lashes definition. Her brother, Tom Lyle Williams, noticed how darkening them made her eyes pop, and it gave him an idea for a new kind of makeup.
• Creating a category: At the turn of the 20th century, eye makeup was mainly worn by silent film stars to highlight their eyes on camera. For most women, options were limited to lipsticks, rouges, creams and powders. With a $500 loan, Tom Williams launched a product called Lash-Brow-Ine for “beautifying lashes.” In those early days, it was a cake of black material in a little red box that women applied with a tiny brush. It sold for 25 cents.