https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stila-at-25 daily 0.75 2019-12-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576267009553-5VJVZBIO8GL4IJ9LYQ1J/stila+ad+catch+the+perfect+pout+12-13-2019.jpg Stila at 25 Magazine Advertisement November 1997 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576267009553-5VJVZBIO8GL4IJ9LYQ1J/stila+ad+catch+the+perfect+pout+12-13-2019.jpg Stila at 25 Magazine Advertisement November 1997 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846786953-TR461836GGUN5GTFU1MX/Stila-cardboard-4-pans.jpg Stila at 25 Four-Pan Palettes ca. 1998-2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846797824-OZ1IKMEAC6UFZLTYSS6H/Stila-look-of-the-month+2004.jpg Stila at 25 Look of the Month Palettes 2004 In early 2004 Stila released the first of twelve 3-pan palettes sold exclusively at Nordstrom. They sold for $8 each empty, and for every month Stila recommended specific eye shadows and blush pans from their line to go in the palettes along with other products that would complement the palette items. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576944132282-WXIMRHVKUVGJMYNWJY7U/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Notebook Page and Palette ca. 2000-2004 Stila’s Angel Light Powder Foundation and Palette were exclusive to Asia and highly coveted among Stila fans outside of the region. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846779662-L3894NGJPBMMZX5UDKIU/Stila-Asia-paint-cans.jpg Stila at 25 Paint Cans ca. 2005-2007 As Stila continued to expand internationally, the line proved particularly popular in Asia. These paint cans commemorate the opening of their counters at top department stores including Eslite and Idee (Taiwan), and Mitsukoshi and Sogo (Japan). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846782647-CJQCJY81Z7DHPPQ0BRAR/stila-cruise-to-cairo-passage-to-paris.jpg Stila at 25 Eyeshadow Trios and Postcards Fall 2001 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846803574-DLRJ91JELSOEKVWX6QDP/stila-road-to-rio-touchdown-in-tokyo.jpg Stila at 25 Eyeshadow Trios and Postcards Fall 2001 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846791691-GOMDJ09F1NK34KOEYNPD/Stila-look-books-2007.jpg Stila at 25 Look Books 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846799423-U91XXA84ZE3H0I8NFVY7/Stila-memorabilia.jpg Stila at 25 Makeup Bags and Washcloth ca. 2001-2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846801550-J44MISOIT31ADQ9SB8ZR/Stila-poster-2006.jpg Stila at 25 Store Poster Fall 2006 With a change in ownership in 2006, Stila was gradually pulled from previous outlets including Nordstrom and Saks and sold exclusively at Sephora. This poster adorned the Sephora at its Columbia Mall location in Maryland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703264445-KPH8V76X8W7KISFGH96P/Stila-travel-palettes-2010.JPG Stila at 25 Travel Palette Series 2010 In the summer of 2010 Stila rekindled its fondness for travel-themed packaging and color stories. These palettes, along with the ones released in 2011 and 2012, represent a re-interpretation of the Color Voyage series from fall 2001. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576951846767-6ISH1V1DMTRNSJ34ROFQ/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Travel Palette Diaries 2010 Stila’s 2010 travel palettes marked one of the few instances that the company made the girls appear more like real people by creating individual profiles at their website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846803944-PNISMSJOF4CP07VW5TKN/Stila-revolution.jpg Stila at 25 Postcards and Paint Can ca. 2003 The campaign for Stila’s Lip Polish was one of founder Jeanine Lobell’s favorites. “I liked the lip ad that had the girls saluting ‘start a lip revolution'. The direction was updated Andrews Sisters and the revolution was also the turning of the clicky pen.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576340676282-5FGF7ZTECHPO4KRDJ2M3/Stila-collabs-2000s.jpg Stila at 25 Palettes 2003 (Legally Blonde) and 2005 (Pussycat Dolls) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576340678617-XMZ5UBT151H6J4ZWVRY1/Stila-mod-trios-can.jpg Stila at 25 Mod Palettes and Paint Can Fall 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576340676153-22PYH7J4QBUB8Q9NYEVV/Stila-japan-ana.jpg Stila at 25 Lip Glaze and Eyeshadow Palettes Japan Paint Can ca. 1999-2002 Stila collaborated with ANA airlines to create two products that were sold exclusively in duty-free shops in Asia. The paint can commemorates Stila’s expansion in the Japanese market. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703046559-IYYV1BMWEFYL1LIHPPOC/Stila-travel-palettes-2011.JPG Stila at 25 Travel Palette Series 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576340677386-UTX9QUMNO9NAKEXTNKY2/Stila-red-carpet-palettes.jpg Stila at 25 E! Live from the Red Carpet Palettes Holiday 2010 In addition to travel, Stila regularly took inspiration from the notion of celebrity. These palettes, much like the long-running E! TV show, celebrated the glamour associated with Hollywood and red carpet appearances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576702571512-6X1VHOKOP7ZLV7QMHNQ9/stila+dept.+store+cans.JPG Stila at 25 Department Store Paint Cans ca. 1999-2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576267072467-FI2YC2JN9MF45ZM253WT/stila+ad+perfect+skin+12-13-2019.jpg Stila at 25 Magazine Advertisement November 1997 “I think they are extremely relatable and fun. They are a joy to draw!” - Jeffrey Fulvimari on creating the Stila girls, interview with the Makeup Museum, October 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576702779550-K0EHENMGM5JB047EDTAQ/Stila-sleeping-princess.JPG Stila at 25 Palette and Pillowcase 2005 Created in honor of the English National Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, 10% of the Stila Sleeping Princess palette’s sale proceeds were donated to the organization. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703074887-Y3DDD40FB66VU1NC050X/Stila-travel-palettes-2012.JPG Stila at 25 Travel Palette Series 2012 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703599487-V10MKODWS5E839IBJYIO/Stila-travel-palettes-interior-quotes.JPG Stila at 25 Travel Palette Series 2012 As a nod to the quotes that appeared on the inside of the brand’s original brown cardboard packaging, Stila included some proverbs associated with each location in their 2012 series of travel-inspired palettes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576702900403-150FHHLQJKYXSJNSRYJ8/Stila-summer-1999.JPG Stila at 25 Paint Can and Eyeshadows Summer 1999 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703528154-YYTEEWKLZIFF0ABU83GG/Stila-fashion-collabs.JPG Stila at 25 Roxy, L-Space and Bebe Palettes 2011 (Roxy), 2013 (L-Space) 2008 (Bebe) Starting around 2008, Stila began partnering with affordable clothing and accessory lines in addition to movie tie-ins. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703671195-EFHJ9TOM1DXDVC3M1ZE9/stila-cans.jpg Stila at 25 Paint Cans ca. 1997-2008 The Makeup Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Stila paint cans - 54 in all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703167012-FMA34OLRY76L1GTEQGH1/Stila-early-paint-cans.JPG Stila at 25 Paint Cans ca. 1997-1998 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576703364584-T9YV0CX6OIJ9I4N5JK6G/stila-holiday-2012.JPG Stila at 25 Holiday Palettes 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576946872987-XRV5OOXXRWUNRQ4CB30J/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Eyeshadow Trios ca. 2002 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576706933493-1K0CWXUZO6YVS6GSHQ9S/Stila-japan-exclusives.JPG Stila at 25 Eyeshadow Palettes ca. 2006 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781640951-LS5GWTA4VY2HSWBNGU1X/stila-millennium.jpg Stila at 25 Paint Can and Postcard ca. 1999-2000 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781488097-XUAAR171DUULKARG7DWC/stila-shirt.JPG Stila at 25 T-shirt ca. 2003-2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781577470-SMSJ0JXEGD5ZHLVF11JF/stila-calendar-2003.JPG Stila at 25 Calendar 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1575846786641-YUXP528RAH3YU9W8XXCN/Stila-fulvimari-postcard.jpg Stila at 25 Postcard ca. 1997 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781437505-5UTCY66T2X0ISX641P2O/stila-mermaid.JPG Stila at 25 Calendar 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576861477242-LY8IWN0AH4CULBVZWQTM/stila-calendar-months.jpg Stila at 25 Calendar 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781617908-1ZS6B0X9H4FWTAJOU8G7/stila-bohemian-beauty.jpg Stila at 25 Paint Can and Post Card Fall 2002 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781722493-GH28H2WONT3CINT8AEYL/Stila-tea-2002.jpg Stila at 25 Brochure and Eyeshadow Quads Spring 2002 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576786960573-VENR8BS8G8AZTJXPHYL2/STla-eye-glaze.jpg Stila at 25 Eye Glaze Ad ca. 2002 Image from robertdkarns.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576861569291-F7QA5VZ8TXVSEWXDT114/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Palettes 2012 (top row), 2014 (bottom row) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576944835714-KA088P25WFW5B6MNQIQ9/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 “Selfie” Campaign 2017 Stila enlisted their original illustrator, Jeffrey Fulvimari, for their “Love Your Selfie” Instagram campaign, which introduced new products intended to function as a real-life Instagram filter and provide a flawless complexion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781959705-4OWKAZLTWMTQ5HJIVXII/Stila-spring-2005.JPG Stila at 25 Pamphlet Spring 2005 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576861730527-55N527RV9V3BO7K2HU9J/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Notebook and Palette Holiday 2003 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576947539897-DWIDGYE2FXISAT23XQM2/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Palettes 2006 The June Bride collection eyeshadow palettes were a Japan-exclusive release in the summer of 2006. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781993653-1FBMYE98IDBUPT9GMCF5/Stila-pamphlet-1999.JPG Stila at 25 Pamphlet 1999 Stila founder Jeanine Lobell reflects on the transition between original illustrator Jeffrey Fulvimari and his replacement, Caitlin Dinkins. “Caitlin was friends with someone at stila and she sort of ‘auditioned’ by drawing some characters that weren't to close to Jeffrey’s style but not totally out of left field. we slowly got rid of the ‘broke line’ which we felt was very Jeffrey although he took his influence from Andy Warhol.” This pamphlet shows the beginnings of Dinkins’ more streamlined style, which would be fully established by 2001. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576944395567-P9HQ3Z1QL9A09S3B4YYJ/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Eyeshadow Trios, Blush and Palette Holiday 2007 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576954465005-2MZ990F819BKBWD7CMSJ/image-asset.jpeg Stila at 25 Pamphlet 2004 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576781934227-US8U6T12I2BVM5LZTDWN/stila-holiday-2013.JPG Stila at 25 Blush and Lip Palettes Holiday 2013 Stila’s holiday 2013 collection focused on the idea of makeup as literal art and would be the last time the girls were used on the packaging until 2019. The girl on the Portrait of a Perfect Blush palette (left) appeared previously in a 2004 pamphlet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1576705372404-TWYVRDL9U02CDUZYYUXP/stila+HOLIDAY_25_anniversary_set_OPEN_PACKAGE.jpg Stila at 25 25 Years of Kitten Set Holiday 2019 Stila released a set containing cream eyeshadow, powder highlighter and lip gloss in the brand’s famous Kitten shade. Three girls are embossed on the inside of the cover, paying homage to Stila’s roots. Image via stilacosmetics.com https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/merfolk daily 0.75 2025-04-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124991601-V8QU12I86B4GRRUGZ3ZN/anna-sui-mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Mermaid Highlighter, Blush, Compact, Eyeshadow and Fragrance Anna Sui Summer 2019 The playful pastel mermaid designs featured in Anna Sui’s summer 2019 cosmetics collection borrowed the mermaid theme from the designer’s spring fashion line. A whimsical mermaid print appeared on bathing suits, skirts and a kimono in both red and black and teal and blue color schemes. The collection marks Sui’s third foray into the mermaid makeup realm: in 2010 the company released blotting sheets featuring illustrated mermaids on the covers, and 2011’s Glittering Mermaid Beach collection consisted of eye makeup sets and pedicure kits in tin containers adorned with pink-tailed mermaids. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124991601-V8QU12I86B4GRRUGZ3ZN/anna-sui-mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Mermaid Highlighter, Blush, Compact, Eyeshadow and Fragrance Anna Sui Summer 2019 The playful pastel mermaid designs featured in Anna Sui’s summer 2019 cosmetics collection borrowed the mermaid theme from the designer’s spring fashion line. A whimsical mermaid print appeared on bathing suits, skirts and a kimono in both red and black and teal and blue color schemes. The collection marks Sui’s third foray into the mermaid makeup realm: in 2010 the company released blotting sheets featuring illustrated mermaids on the covers, and 2011’s Glittering Mermaid Beach collection consisted of eye makeup sets and pedicure kits in tin containers adorned with pink-tailed mermaids. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/60ce2de7ff2943704dc7b3db/1744304566187/ A Splash of Color https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124992069-IK26BSTQ3IJNQYRVSXGL/Coets-mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Cotton Pads Coets and Helena Rubinstein 1955 The glamourous mermaid on a box of Coets’ cotton pads and an advertorial in Vogue was most likely the creation of fashion illustrator Betty Brader (1923-1986). Brader was best known for her advertising work for San Francisco department store Joseph Magnin. Her modern, stylish depictions helped establish the store's reputation as the premiere destination for the latest fashions. While there’s no definitive proof that Brader is responsible for the illustration on this particular box, the Annual of Advertising, Editorial, Television Art and Design noted her illustration for a Coets ad she completed the previous year. Coets was a "premium" cotton pad made by the Personal Products Corporation headquartered in Milltown, NJ. The Coets line appears to have been introduced around the late 1930s and faded away by the early 1980s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124992529-4M22HEBBLMYN2NTZO5HK/El-mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Lady of the Sea Compact Estée Lauder Holiday 2017 Estée Lauder teamed up with jewelry designer Monica Rich Kosann for a second time in 2017 to create another line of keepsake compacts for the holiday season. As part of the ocean-inspired collection, Kosann’s Lady of the Sea compact features a pattern of concentric aqua-colored tiles and a mermaid figure performing a graceful dive on the top. Her rhinestone tail not only adds a touch of sparkle, but also serves a practical function: the compact is opened by pressing on the fin. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/60eb2e99f229ba2ea84ba444/1744304664728/ A Splash of Color Versace Spring 2021 Model: Precious Lee Donatella Versace spoke of her Atlantis-themed spring 2021 collection as “an example of inclusion, of mutual support, and acceptance of what is different from us.” This powerful message was expressed by the bold neon lipstick painted on some of the models by makeup artist Lucia Pieroni. Paired with wet-looking, artfully disheveled hair and the models themselves – some of whom are plus-size or identify as non-binary - the makeup helped define a new mermaid aesthetic that resists traditional beauty standards. Image from fashionista.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624134154059-YD6FU89P03O5QYVV7R2E/Unicorn-cosmetics.jpg A Splash of Color Mermaid Brush Set Unicorn Cosmetics Fall 2017 UK-based indie company Unicorn Cosmetics spent over a year designing intricate and colorful mermaid tail brushes. The artwork was done by American artist Kurtis Rykovich, who created four mermaids to correspond to each brush: Bubbles represents the pink fan brush; Korali, the all-over powder brush; Delphie, the purple blush brush, and LiLu, who represents the bright orange-red and aqua foundation brush. The clamshell-shaped brush stand is a clever way to store and display the set. For more information and photos, see the Museum’s feature on this collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124992944-Z674IQX2O0VG3ZQ6IC9S/essence-mermaid-highlighter.jpg A Splash of Color Glow Like A Mermaid Highlighter Essence 2017 Generously donated by Victoire Wolke https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124993758-S1SLEYU2Z4OV0VGUHSC1/le-rage-detail.JPG A Splash of Color Clamshell Compact Le Rage Ca. 1940s https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/611053c26397ce460359df2e/1744305063926/DuWop-Pirates.jpg A Splash of Color Isla Serena Collection DuWop Summer 2011 In a collaboration with Disney, DuWop introduced the Isla Sirena collection in 2011 to coincide with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The movie’s premise involved the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow sailing off to a mermaids’ lair, hence DuWop’s seashell packaging and shimmering, mermaid-inspired colors. The vibrant shades were a sharp contrast to the natural look worn in the film by the lead mermaid Syrena. Images from pirates.fandom.com, duwopcosmetics.com, and beautyofasite.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124998549-AN2MU0ECXW538DME5EP1/winky-lux-mer-kitten.jpg A Splash of Color Mermaid Kitten Palette Winky Lux Fall 2018 Winky Lux expands the merfolk universe to include felines by incorporating the brand’s signature kittens. The ad copy highlights the fantastical combination of cats and fish and the transformative ability of both mermaids and makeup. “Introducing Mermaid Kitten palette – a perfect blend of two perfect creatures. Nine new under-the-sea shades in shimmer, pearlescent, and matte finishes will transform you into a truly magical creature with one swipe of the brush.” A free “prrr-maid” pin was included for the first several hundred orders of the palette. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1626022568847-1Y1CQU46M1L7DFRXGSVP/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color Sea Pearls Nail Polish Ad Cutex 1986 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/610f108e4828f94c0f4bb680/1744305081534/natural-look.jpg A Splash of Color Splash (1984) Siren (2016) Killer Mermaid (2014) Madison and Ryn, the mermaids in the film Splash and Freeform TV’s Siren are for the most part shown bare-faced, with just a hint of eye definition. Their lack of noticeable face makeup when on land points to a more realistic presentation of mermaids in that makeup isn’t used to convey their magical or transformational abilities, but to show them as true creatures of the ocean for whom makeup, at most, is just another human curiosity. Unlike Madison and Ryn, Killer Mermaid’s Scylla switches between classically beautiful mermaid and hideous monster rather than mermaid/human. In mermaid form Scylla displays a mimimal look; however, it is used as a weapon, hiding her true self in order to lure men to their gruesome deaths. All three portrayals uphold conventional beauty standards, especially the notion of “natural” beauty whereby women (and mermaids, by extension) are expected to have clear skin, long flowing hair, sparkling eyes, and a glowing, youthful complexion yet not appear to be wearing much makeup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124996639-JZTRG8SD7ARFRNFOQ7DG/rodin-mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Highlighting Powder, Lip Oil, Face and Body Oil and Liquid Highlighter Rodin Olio Lusso Summer 2018 Rodin Olio Lusso teamed up with fashion illustrator Donald Robertson to create a whimsical, mermaid-laden underwater fantasy for the packaging of their summer 2018 collection. Robertson, who reigns as the “Warhol of Instagram”, is known for his painterly and colorful style featuring elongated, fashion warrior-esque figures. Previously he worked as Creative Director for Estée Lauder and completed a line of lipsticks for Smashbox in 2015. As a friend of Olio Lusso founder Linda Rodin, Robertson was fascinated by her belief that she had been a mermaid in a previous life. From there the collection was born. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1626020559600-NY4UDY1JTBNFTW1RM6IU/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color Mermaid Eyes Ad Max Factor 1962 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624130144664-OEB8L6PEP9IKE9GMC981/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color Mermaid Lipsticks New Fashion ca. 1980s https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/61045ab37f91bf58a6685be0/1744305117180/bronze-2000s.jpg A Splash of Color Left to right, top to bottom: Lure Collection Postcard, MAC, summer 2006; Mariah Carey at a Halloween party, 2003; Fantasea Catalog, Sephora, summer 2009; Ad for Siren fragrance by Paris Hilton, 2009; Sara Paxton as mermaid Aquamarine, 2006. Whether sultry and seductive as in the promotional images for Paris Hilton’s Siren fragrance and MAC’s Lure collection or a more innocent sunkissed glow as in Aquamarine, mermaids in the early 2000s embraced the bronzed aesthetic that became emblematic of the time. Image of Mariah Carey from popsugar.com Image of Aquamarine from pinterest.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124994088-IZUL8FENIYYRG1YV7UQA/mermaid-lipstick-holder-norcrest.jpg A Splash of Color Lipstick Holder Norcrest Ca. 1950s-60s Norcrest Fine China was founded in 1958 in Portland, Oregon by Japanese-American businessman Bill Naito, whose father Hide, established a gift shop there in 1921 that sold porcelain wares and other trinkets. Like fellow ceramic company Napco, Norcrest opted to represent mermaids as little girls rather than adult women. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627668865531-31L42F676CXBLM1RUZVD/bei-badgirl-sugarpill-packaging.jpg A Splash of Color Liquid Lip Color in Trinket Sugarpill Cosmetics Winter 2016 Like fellow indie brands KG Beauty, Saucebox and Bitter Lace Beauty, Sugarpill stayed ahead of the mermaid makeup curve by releasing a liquid lip color in limited-edition packaging featuring a mermaid illustration by Australia-based artist Bei Badgirl in early 2016. Both the shade, an opaque cool pink with gold sparkle and the name, Trinket, perfectly aligned with the mermaid theme. Bei is a self-described “cartoon mer-dashian” who focuses on body positivity. Influenced by her Chinese upbringing and the Japanese superflat and kawaii movements, Bei creates ultra-feminine yet assertive women. Her overtly girly figures adhere somewhat to a traditional pin-up aesthetic, but their curvy silhouettes and pointy, weapon-like eyelashes are Bei’s declaration of female strength. The artist’s fascination with mermaids comes from their legendary powers of seduction. “I love mermaids – I could go on about this forever but in short I love that they are fantasies, representations of women, and total femme fatales. I also love their aesthetic – demure, flowing hair, and beautiful curves,” she says. More information on Bei’s work can be found in the Makeup Museum’s feature on the Sugarpill collab. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627234520439-ZOD13Z3O8QBY3KJ4795Y/benefit-bag.jpg A Splash of Color Makeup Bag Benefit Ca. 2012 Benefit’s makeup bag with one of their mannequin mascots dressed as a mermaid and shopping on her “shell phone” wittily shows the human side of the mythical beings. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/60eb34c2e370ac63229da844/1744304773450/badgley-mischka-2014.jpg A Splash of Color Badgley Mischka Spring 2014 The makeup at Badgley Mischka's spring 2014 show perfectly complemented the 1920s-inspired silhouettes. Said designer James Mischka, "We are imagining our woman on her yacht diving into the sea and emerging as a mermaid." To achieve the designer's vision, makeup artist Tom Pecheux kept the complexion bare and applied pale aqua shadow (a mix of MAC Chromacakes in Pure White and Cyan Blue) all over the lid and up to the brow. He then lined the lower waterline with white kohl to make the eyes appear brighter. A touch of black liner on the top lash line and mascara added definition without diminishing the ethereal mermaid effect. Pecheux finished the look with a light coral-pink lip, a blend of Pick Me up Pink and April Flowers from MAC's spring 2014 lip palette. Images from popsugar.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1626022021973-GJKSBAF2I32KQVG5GHQU/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color La Ligne Océane Ad Lancôme 1956 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1626206134477-09YG4R5OTX5HBQXF6CTV/tokyo+milk+mermaid.jpg A Splash of Color Hand Crème and Lip Balm Tokyo Milk Summer 2017 For her summer 2017 collection, entitled Neptune and the Mermaid, Tokyo Milk founder Margot Elena ventured into designing fabrics in addition to bath and body products. This new medium allowed her to create what may be her most detailed and inspired patterns. In an interview with Sew4Home, Elena states, “I would say that this collection for me was inspired by the magical possibility of what could happen in the vast world hidden below the surface. I loved the idea of the romance of the secret island and the underwater kingdom of protected mermaids. I see the fish as the guardians of this realm, a realm overseen by the Mermaid Queen…You spend a lot of time with these patterns as they come into being, so the worlds begin to tell quite detailed stories. For me, this collection was an opportunity to tell a more complete narrative, through illustration, than we sometimes get to tell on the small Tokyo Milk bottles. Like my packaging design, I wanted to really create a fantasy that wove in many details – the primary thread being inspired by things, patterns, and eras that feel familiar, yet are juxtaposed in a surreal way that is beautiful and immersive.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1628374451855-ATCQNZMWQEN26I24Z0MN/Stratton-mermaids.jpg A Splash of Color Compacts Stratton Ca. 1930s, 1940s and 1980s-90s Prior to the 1930s, British compact manufacturer Stratton was known by their original trade name of Stratnoid. They produced their first compacts in 1923, and many of them from this early period utilized butterfly wings or foil for an iridescent, glistening effect. One of the motifs included a blonde-haired mermaid playing a lyre among strands of seaweed (bottom left) - a magical creature and her marine habitat made even more enchanting by the use of shiny foil. Stratton returned to the mermaid theme after their Stratnoid era ended (top). The enamel compact features a delightful undersea tableau in which two mermaids, surrounded by seahorses, shells, and a school of fish, enthusiastically rifle through a sunken treasure chest and try on their newly acquired baubles. Later, the company released a third mermaid compact (bottom right) featuring the work of British printmaker Janet Milner, who used her woodcutting skills to create the original design. Milner’s simple lines and white-on-black composition of a crowned mermaid playing a guitar impart a rustic, homespun effect. Bottom images from American Compacts of the Art Deco Era by Howard W. Melton and Michael A. Mont (2020), p. and worthpoint.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624134626791-UIFLMZ5IBO3MUHMQ6VR7/wet-n-wild-mermaid-box.jpg A Splash of Color Wet ‘n’ Wild Mermaid Collection Box Fall 2017 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627679671991-T76CUBL4C2DWCLPG3P7I/Screen+Shot+2021-07-30+at+5.13.19+PM.png A Splash of Color Behind the scenes photo from Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid 1948 Makeup artist Bud Westmore (left) was charged with the creation of the tail for actress Ann Blyth in Universal’s production of Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. The task proved to be a laborious and challenging one that required 18 artists working over the course of 3 months, with reported costs ranging from $18,000 (according to Life magazine) to $22,000 (according to the Associated Press in 1954) – well over the original allotments of two weeks and $500. In the end, Westmore made two tails that could be used underwater and one for land. All three were modeled from plaster casts of Blyth and featured individually hand-carved, glittery scales. Westmore firmly established makeup artists’ role in bringing mermaids to cinematic life, overseeing everything from tail design to determining which face makeup would look visually appealing yet withstand hours of filming underwater. Image from vickielester.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627234543445-LOGEW0RYC4FJ31NKEHA3/mermaizing.jpg A Splash of Color So Mermaizing Eyeshadow Palette Klarity Kosmetics Spring 2021 Black-owned indie brand Klarity Kosmetics developed a mermaid-inspired mix of matte pastel and duochrome shades with all skin tones in mind. The palette sold out within days of its initial release, proving the demand for mermaid hues that are suited for a range of complexions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624133695772-ZPHRLJPFG62K1RICBNQP/Mikimoto+Brecht+Evens.jpg A Splash of Color Face and Eye Palettes, Makeup Pouches and Moisturizer Packets Mikimoto Holiday 2019 Purveyor of fine pearl jewelry Mikimoto enlisted the talent of Paris-based, Belgian-born artist Brecht Evens (b.1986) to illustrate the packaging for their holiday 2019 makeup collection. Entitled “The First Snow of Pearls,” the collection’s concept centers on a fantastical underwater realm inhabited by a group of merry mer-folk. The mishmash of characters and objects may initially seem haphazard and overwhelming, but Evens' messiness is actually entirely intentional. "You don't see the world around you like you see a postcard; it's not organized that way. We're moving, others are moving, and the eye makes constant choices, it decides what to interpret and what to identify. So at any given moment, there's a lot of mess in there and, for me, this kind of mess has to stay in. It's controlled; it's never like I'm creating randomness. It's just that incongruities seem to catch the eye better. They're more natural and they latch onto the eye more realistically. When I use a lot of detail, it's very calculated – I'm making sure it doesn't obstruct anything essential." The images are simultaneously bizarre and perfectly logical: for example, the notion of a sea-dwelling Santa is absurd, but if one exists, it makes sense that his sleigh team would be seahorses instead of reindeer and his bag of presents shaped like a seashell. While the watery world Evens created for Mikimoto is entirely imaginary, the usual rules still apply. As he puts it: "I do think I use visuals that might be dreamlike, or psychedelic, but I don’t think I use dream logic...you have to believe in the world you're creating." The addition of text is also representative of Evens' background in illustrated books and comics. For additional photos and artist information, see the Museum’s feature on this collection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627237106039-A8OFXUXZUOJL06Q6PMKY/bitter-lace-kg-saucebox.jpg A Splash of Color Mermaid Palette, Bitter Lace Beauty, fall 2016 Mermaid Life Palette, Saucebox Cosmetics, Spring 2017 Mermaid Palette, KG Beauty, Spring 2017 Indie beauty brands led the mermaid beauty craze in 2016 and 2017. KG Beauty, Saucebox and Bitter Lace Beauty all championed the trend by releasing eyeshadow palettes containing vibrant, shimmery shades inspired by the mythical beings. A portion of the KG palette’s sale proceeds was donated to the Marine Mammal Center in California. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629062428656-4L7NBN9XGTX3Z6LX9CUY/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color “Must Be Strong” video Munroe Bergdorf April 5, 2019 Make-up Artist: Michelle Webb 3D Makeup Artist: Ines Alpha Trans model and activist Munroe Bergdorf marked International Trans Day of Visibility in 2019 with a video portraying a human-to-mermaid transformation. The film was intended to emphasize the resilience and beauty of trans people in the face of hatred and discrimination. In human form, Bergdorf communicates her desire to transform into a mermaid through vibrant matte green eyeshadow. Crying at the burden of maintaining a façade and the inability to fully express her true form, glittery tears run down her face. After blossoming into a mermaid, Bergdorf sprouts fish-like electric tendrils (and perhaps gills). The eye makeup has shifted from green to pink, indicating that her days of pretending to be her true self are over, and the glitter is now fixed on her eyelids rather than streaks of tears. The makeup underscores the struggle in leaving one’s former self behind as well as the joy of emerging stronger from the transformation process. Bergdorf discusses the overall meaning of the video. “‘Must be Strong’ is a film to celebrate International Trans Day of Visibility but it is also about the ever-increasing social pressures on us all. From unattainable beauty standards, to the seemly never-ending onslaught of transphobia in the press. This film is about choosing yourself in a time of uncertainty and self-doubt to become the person you always wanted to be, something that I'm sure most people can relate to…Being our authentic selves takes work, strength and determination, especially in a society where gender, racial and sexual oppression still exists. We wanted to make a film that not only visualises the difficulties that trans people may face when it comes to body image such as gender dysphoria, but also to show that these are hurdles that we all face as humans, especially as women and marginalised communities. The mermaid, a mythical creature is a manifestation of fierce beauty and strength. In one way or another we are all mermaids navigating rough seas.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627235041010-IWG7973THR8R7CM4AHXP/beautyhabit-catalog+2011.jpg A Splash of Color Catalog Beautyhabit Summer 2011 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624124997903-GHKBD077RTFBIJ5HTIZI/Vogue-Vanities.jpg A Splash of Color Merfolk Compact Vogue Vanities Ca. 1950s British company Vogue Vanities presents an idyllic undersea habitat with this charming compact that depicts merpeople swimming among sand castles, treasure chests and a variety of sea creatures. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/610f00a41faeb13e9507858c/1744305168035/weeki-wachee-schwarz.png A Splash of Color Weeki Wachee Mermaid 2017 Photo: Charlie Engman For the professional mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida, waterproof makeup is a necessity. In a 2017 interview with Vogue, performer Fiona Schwarz (pictured) details her makeup regimen for her underwater routines. She begins with a lightweight CC cream, followed by layers of face powder, bronzer and blush. To create a fish scale effect, sometimes Schwarz uses a fishnet stocking and stencils clear lip balm on her cheekbones, then applies a dusting of iridescent eye shadow on top. Favorite longwearing products include Urban Decay’s Primer Potion and lipsticks by Cover Girl and Maybelline. Schwarz also notes the similarity of the makeup to that used for theatrical performances. “In the water, everything kind of washes you out,” she says. “Just like stage makeup, you want to put more on than you think.” Image from vogue.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627670229027-7ZUX2XZZIVT3GM30A2W5/Elmo+ad+1941.jpg A Splash of Color Deep Sea Magic Ad Elmo 1941 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1624133666590-3KJ9GNJVJ1QUHTFGFB5B/image-asset.jpeg A Splash of Color Be a Mermaid and Make Waves Eyeshadow Palette, Facial Mist and Eyelash Curler Tarte Spring 2018 Eager to jump on the mermaid bandwagon, in early 2018 Tarte released a rather uninspired mermaid collection consisting of a body mist, face and body jewels, waterproof mascara, brush set, eyelash curler, and seashell-shaped eyeshadow palette. On the heels of both the unveiling of a non-inclusive shade range for their Shape Tape concealer and an insipid unicorn-themed collection the year prior, the Be A Mermaid lineup, though prettily packaged, read little more than a cash grab. Additionally, as the author of The Anti-Haul Blog noted, the majority of the eyeshadow shades were not suitable for deep skin tones. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/611057caa9a76f3f59a4fa96/1744304882236/mermaid-lure.jpg A Splash of Color The Mermaid (2016) The Lure (2015) Several films include instances of mermaids wearing makeup to assimilate to life on land. Garish and poorly applied by lead character Shan in the Chinese film The Mermaid, makeup is used as a comedic plot point, one of her misguided attempts to “pass” as human. The more skillful application of makeup by mermaid sisters Golden and Silver in Poland’s The Lure, points to the ease with which they acclimated to their new jobs as nightclub performers; makeup is used not to disguise their mermaid form but to enhance their on-stage personas. Unlike Shan, the mermaid sisters are comfortable and proficient at adopting human norms, with stage makeup application serving as an example. Images from tarstarkas.net and imdb.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627682909334-EPPG538X5P0TZWGFFI9T/miss-fluff-2017.jpg A Splash of Color Dreamy Mermaid Makeup Set Trigger Happy Cosmetics Summer 2017 Fledgling California-based indie brand collaborated with artist Claudette Barjoud for a mermaid-themed eyeshadow palette, body mist and lipgloss set during the height of the mermaid beauty craze. Known professionally as Miss Fluff, Barjoud seamlessly combines a variety of influences in her work including American pinups and classic cartoons, mid-century modern design, rockabilly style, ‘60s mod and tiki genres, and Japanese kawaii culture. All of these can be seen in the imagery on the packaging, which shows a voluptuous mermaid with a glittering pink tail set against a ‘50s era starburst pattern. The aqua and coral color scheme is the same as the eyeshadows themselves, which are fitting shades for any would-be mermaid. Images from missfluff.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1628374174471-ME3V74OLAZVS9I1VD0YJ/napco-lipstick-holders.jpg A Splash of Color Lipstick Holders Napco Ca. late 1950s-1960s The Napco Company, or National Potteries Corporation, began production in 1938 in Bedford, Ohio. Their figurines, vases and other ceramic decorative housewares reached the height of their popularity in the late '50s and early '60s. Napco produced at least three different models of mermaid lipstick holders as well as full vanity and bathroom sets containing small shell-shaped pitchers, jewelry trays and soap holders. These particular versions include a “Princess Mermaid”, as evidenced by her golden crown adorned with a pink rhinestone in the center. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/60fd959e8e88c17552ef1d3a/1744304848300/dvf-spring-2016.jpg A Splash of Color Diane Von Furstenburg Spring 2016 Models: Jing Wen and Aya Jones Photos: Makeup artist Pat McGrath created an aquatic-inspired look with shimmery blue and green eyeshadow. Brightly colored flowers in the models’ wavy styled hair added a subtle nod to Furstenburg’s ‘70s roots. Pale peach or neutral lips and cheeks balance the vibrancy and ensured the look wasn’t harsh or overdone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627678769421-ET5PXJ3NPWZKU5OGNRAX/max-factor-1991.jpg A Splash of Color Splish Splash Mascara Ad Max Factor 1991 Image from the Vogue archive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1627234491329-ESDCSX0HPIFTBDANY016/gold-lipstick-holder.jpg A Splash of Color Lipstick holder Ca. 1950s-60s The gold finish and sinuous form of the mermaid present a more sophisticated display than the child-like mermaid figurines on the ceramic lipstick holders produced by Norcrest and Napco. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1628457108877-HCA68N5FRWGH60F32VHT/mermaid+trend-joeur.jpg A Splash of Color During the 2016-2017 frenzy for mermaid-themed beauty items, some companies eschewed literal mermaid designs in their packaging. The products themselves, however, delivered the defining characteristics of the trend: iridescence, aquatic hues and plenty of sparkle. 1. Milk Mermaid Parade Eye Pigment 2. Revolution Mermaids Forever Eyeshadow Palette 3. Stila Sea Siren Liquid Eyeshadow 4. NCLA I’m Really a Mermaid Nail Polish 5. Butter London Glazen Eye Gloss in Mermaid 6. Chantecaille Mermaid Eye Color in Lagoon 7. Ciate Mermaid Glow Highlighter 8. Jouer Mermaid Eyeshadows https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629049013697-GS4Z62YJLF5SYCQUQ9YT/thumbnail_5D129FC9-FE8E-412E-8B44-CFEBB6438F0E.jpg A Splash of Color She-Shells Compact Revlon 1965 The ad for Revlon’s “She-Shells” compacts portrays the three items – each with a cartoonish turtle, mermaid or octopus motif on the outer case – as highly collectible. It also represents the beginning of the cosmetics industry’s expansion into colorful plastic compacts in addition to metal. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/61180327a200e438fca12450/1744304923183/gaultier-spring-2008.jpg A Splash of Color Jean-Paul Gaultier Spring 2008 Couture Models: Coco Rocha, Bobbi Wiens, Chanel Iman and Maria Kashleva Makeup artist Stéphane Marais created a suite of appropriately ethereal styles for Gaultier’s spring 2008 mermaid-and sailor-themed couture show. Glossy lips in seashell pink or coral acted as a subtle counterpoint to the seafoam eyeshadow and greyish lip color on one of the models. Reminiscent of iridescent water droplets, a generous dusting of glitter confetti was reserved for the final ensemble, a showstopping combination of a seashell-adorned bodysuit and gold sequined skirt. Whether viewed as individual looks or taken in whole, the makeup radiated an otherworldly beauty. Images from livingly.com, mernetwork.com and vogue.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629050997578-1A66Y4OGSPM8A9OVT649/Annette-honeywell-vertical.jpg A Splash of Color Compact Lady Vanity/Warner Bros. Ca. 1940s Annette Honeywell (c. 1904-1959) was an extraordinarily accomplished American artist and designer across a multitude of mediums. Early in her career Honeywell worked in advertising for the likes of food companies such as Sunkist and Diamond Walnut, but by 1950 she was doing interior design for both major department stores and private homes as well as creating textile and china patterns. Honeywell also worked with Warner Brothers as a cartoon artist in the mid-1940s. According to the Face to Face Compacts blog, Honeywell produced a series of 12 compacts under the name “Lady Vanity” for Warner Brothers. The themes were based on song titles and showcased Honeywell’s skill at cartoon illustration, with one of the 12 depicting a girlish mermaid holding a shell to her ear and petting a long-lashed seahorse. It’s unclear what song the mermaid image refers to or why it was included in the 12 designs, but it did appear on a set of coasters, demonstrating Honeywell’s proficiency at creating attractive and versatile surface patterns. Compact image from Overview of American Compacts and Vanity Cases by Laura Mueller, 2008, p. 75 Coaster image from etsy.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629049306327-WP6N2Z7A5DSZNR6AAY1E/stila-mermaid.JPG A Splash of Color Calendar Stila 2003 Stila provided their employees with an illustrated calendar that featured one of their signature girls visiting a different city each month. For the month of June, Stila transformed one of the girls into a mermaid. It is believed that the mermaid illustration was created for the opening of Stila counters in Copenhagen, home of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/6119532486a20662fb40ee20/1744304643372/ A Splash of Color GHD Hair Dryer Ad 2012 Resorts World Las Vegas Ad Spring 2021 Pop singer Katy Perry donned a mermaid costume for a GHD hair tools ad in 2012, sporting a basic wash of aqua shadow over the entire lid paired with a bright pink lip. Nearly a decade later, makeup artist Michael Anthony elevated Perry’s mermaid game with a dazzling array of colorful eyeshadows. Their high-gloss, prismatic finish appears three-dimensional and complements the purple lipstick’s vinyl-like texture. Equal parts playful and sultry, the 2021 version of Perry’s mermaid makeup reinforces the multi-faceted nature of the mythical creatures. Images from hayleyhall.uk and @manthony783 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1641326757679-T4LXD3428XZA0K2XPMMU/Meera-beauty-co-melancholia.jpg A Splash of Color Meera Beauty Co. Melancholia Eyeshadow Palette and Abyss Pressed Glitter Palette Holiday 2021 Instead of embodying the usual festive spirit, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ owned indie brand Meera Beauty Co. opted to acknowledge the “holiday blues” with their Melancholia and Abyss palettes. “[The] overall theme is dedicated to the toll the holidays can take on the mental health of so many people. Melancholia was inspired by our owner, HP's, own struggles with anxiety and his years-long journey to prioritize his mental health. The truth is that many of us struggle with finding ‘Joy’ and ‘Cheer’ during the holidays, but we convince ourselves that we are the only ones suffering and that sharing our struggles would just put a damper on the festivities that everyone around us is so clearly enjoying. So, we conceal our pain and we sink further into our own psyches. We wanted the artwork for this palette to portray the vulnerability of this journey and show how what we are feeling on the inside is not always how we appear to be on the outside.” The images on the front and back covers of the eyeshadow palette show mermaids and sirens to symbolize both the allure and terror of the human psyche’s inner workings. The front side depicts a traditionally attractive and friendly mermaid offering help to a struggling man, who is lost and drowning under the ocean’s surface. From the brand’s website: “You see an individual floating deep under the ocean's surface, ’sinking’ into his own thoughts. It appears that he is alone as sirens observe him from the distance. You also see a single, beautiful mermaid has revealed herself in front of him and is seemingly reaching her arms out to help him. This scene is representative of the feeling of ‘comfort’ that our intrusive thoughts can often bring us in their unwavering attempts to penetrate our minds. We experience these incredible triggers so often and for so long that they eventually do become familiar and comfortable thoughts.” The back cover, however, reveals that the mermaid is actually a monstrous siren inhaling the man’s soul. Instead of a beautiful creature offering support, the siren shows her true form, illustrating the danger of succumbing to isolation instead of getting help. “Sometimes you feel like you are drowning and don’t have the energy to fight, because you are only human and cannot be strong all of the time. And that is often when our demons come to collect…[The siren] isn't actually helping the lost man, she is sucking his soul. The painful and scared look on his face says it all. Many of us who struggle with our mental health find ourselves preferring to be alone when we are triggered or overstimulated. We convince ourselves that no one around us can help us and we turn to our own dark thoughts for comfort. We think we are ‘processing,’ but if we are not careful, we just may end up spiraling further into our own MELANCHOLIA!” Nevertheless, the palette description concludes on a positive and encouraging note, assuring the customer that it is totally acceptable to grapple with one’s mental health and not have perfect coping mechanisms. “These truths aren't always easy to confront or share with those around us. We are often told to just be ‘strong’ and not let our demons WIN. However, the notion that we just have to be stronger in hard times completely dismisses that many of us are in fact trying our hardest and sometimes the intrusive thoughts are just stronger. And you know what? That is OKAY! So if you are reading this and you are also struggling, just know that we see you and as long as you are trying your best, that is all that matters!” By creating a unique collection both in its utilization of mermaids as stand-ins for one’s inner demons, as well as general concept – most holiday collections emphasize joy – Meera Beauty Co. exhibits a rare perspective that sets it apart from many other beauty brands, mainstream or indie. While the shades and glitter textures may be similar to other mermaid-themed palettes, the overall tone and artwork offer a remarkably different take from the usual mermaid makeup narrative. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629050222697-RMICS8ISESMGHRMD62QQ/image-asset.png A Splash of Color Scene from Hook 1991 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/60ce2ddba850a767f7bce197/611aa9b9de2f7d57f096fca2/1744305003921/mer.grid.08-16-2021.1pp.jpg A Splash of Color Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2015-2019 Perhaps there is no better demonstration of the spirit of freedom and creativity embodied by mermaid makeup than at New York’s annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Part art celebration, part cosplay, the parade is billed as an event where “artistic New Yorkers find self-expression in public,” with attendees sporting looks that range from natural to outrageous and everything in between. Photo credits: 1 - Robert Ullmann 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14 - Keith Perks 3 - Yana Paskova 4 - Glenn Belverio 8 - First Gen Fashion 13 - Eva Szombat https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/venus daily 0.75 2025-04-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660421595987-8PX0LYDHS9DM240ADDDE/Egyptian+powders.jpeg I'm Your Venus Egyptian Style Face Powder Marietta Stanley, ca. 1906-1925 Nyalis Face Powder Nyal Company, ca. 1919-1926 Velvetina Egypta Face Powder Goodrich Drug Company, ca. 1917-1930 Ancient Egypt’s appeal was harnessed by cosmetic companies well over a decade before the opening of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and the ensuing wave of Egyptomania, particularly in design. Nyal’s Nyalis powder box features a sphinx stonily gazing out of a triangle set in the center of the box, flanked by an ornate gold and blue lotus flower pattern. Like most face powders of the early 1900s, Velvetina’s Egypta was part of a larger toiletries line intended to accompany the brand’s Egypta fragrance. While the powder and other items were introduced in 1915, in 1917 the company released a new box for the face powder: a “beautiful new style Oriental design bronze green and straw colored boxes,” according to one ad. In the center a silhouette of a woman’s head shows a crown with an uraeus, the stylized, rearing cobra that symbolized divine authority and is associated with the goddess Wadjet. Marietta Stanley’s Egyptian face powder box features an illustration of a woman wearing an elaborate floral headdress with a faint outline of pyramids in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660421595987-8PX0LYDHS9DM240ADDDE/Egyptian+powders.jpeg I'm Your Venus Egyptian Style Face Powder Marietta Stanley, ca. 1906-1925 Nyalis Face Powder Nyal Company, ca. 1919-1926 Velvetina Egypta Face Powder Goodrich Drug Company, ca. 1917-1930 Ancient Egypt’s appeal was harnessed by cosmetic companies well over a decade before the opening of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and the ensuing wave of Egyptomania, particularly in design. Nyal’s Nyalis powder box features a sphinx stonily gazing out of a triangle set in the center of the box, flanked by an ornate gold and blue lotus flower pattern. Like most face powders of the early 1900s, Velvetina’s Egypta was part of a larger toiletries line intended to accompany the brand’s Egypta fragrance. While the powder and other items were introduced in 1915, in 1917 the company released a new box for the face powder: a “beautiful new style Oriental design bronze green and straw colored boxes,” according to one ad. In the center a silhouette of a woman’s head shows a crown with an uraeus, the stylized, rearing cobra that symbolized divine authority and is associated with the goddess Wadjet. Marietta Stanley’s Egyptian face powder box features an illustration of a woman wearing an elaborate floral headdress with a faint outline of pyramids in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1674146459029-BKDK872WZTXHJW40OV7C/Kanebo+Milano.jpg I'm Your Venus Milano Compact Kanebo, Holiday 1993 Beginning in 1991, each holiday season Japanese company Kanebo releases ornately designed compacts featuring goddess-like figures whose draping and poses referencing allegorical paintings of the Neoclassical era. With a seashell throne, flying putti, and the goddess's raised arm, the scene depicted in the 1993 compact appears to reference several 17th and early 18th century paintings, namely Simon Vouet's The Triumph of Amphitrite, Michele Rocca's The Triumph of Venus, and Paolo Matteis's The Triumph of Galatea. For more information, see the Makeup Museum’s article on Kanebo’s holiday compacts. Image via Wikimedia Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660421571630-W0EEFH7PFYF0GX4G79KX/Rex+compact.jpeg I'm Your Venus Compact Rex, ca. 1940s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1659986269155-TOAO4YHWAG666XZ98OAY/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Description Text bold Description Text not bold Text for label https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660939806756-L8ERMY0YXU0DCGR7MQZW/Woodbury.jpeg I'm Your Venus Matched Makeup Kit and Powder Box Woodbury, ca. 1941-1947 and 1948-1954 The Woodbury Company changed its packaging frequently throughout its 100-year history and began incorporating goddess imagery in the early 1930s. According to Modern Packaging, in 1948 Woodbury completed an in-depth marketing study, working with advertising agency Robert W. Orr and Associates and surveying over 2,000 people. The company determined the goddess logo was too generic, and the Greek key pattern especially was getting stale due to its ubiquity. “The key motif, through wide usage for decoration in other fields to suggest classic beauty, had also lost much of its distinctiveness and identity.” Three new designs were offered, including an illustration of Venus standing atop a shell and surrounded by delicate pink blooms, which directly referenced Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. This design was ultimately selected despite not being the first choice among survey participants, as the company felt the Venus and flower combination was both modern and timeless: “[The Venus design], it was decided, had the basic elements of style and good taste regardless of temporary fashion trends. Here could be a goddess of beauty as a flesh and blood symbol of all Woodbury beauty products – a great advance over the cold abstract figure used on the previous Woodbury powder box. With the striking, modernized Venus theme were incorporated delicate pastel flowers as an incidental part of the design, thus combining the long-known foolproof motif in cosmetic packaging with a new identifying symbol, but overcoming any objections to a purely floral design.” Venus’s status as the epitome of physical beauty and femininity became directly tied to Woodbury’s products, following a long tradition of this depiction in Western art. Modern Packaging, July 1948, p. 85-89. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660422192878-DYZEMU00M2ES5CFB1VDS/Florasis.jpg I'm Your Venus Floral Engraving Odey Makeup Palette Florasis, 2021 Florasis was founded in 2017 and incorporates traditional Chinese art and culture across their entire product line. This palette features scenes from the poem “The Nymph of the Luo River”. The poem was written by Cao Zhi (192-232 CE) and painted on a massive scroll originally by Gu Kaizhi (ca. 344-406 CE). Cao Zhi tells a tale of visiting the Luo river with his servants and his brief, ultimately unsuccessful love affair with a beautiful nymph/goddess. The palette’s concept connects ancient and modern beauty ideals, while the ad copy emphasizes the idea of transformation from human to divine being: “We’d like you to meet our most intricate palette yet, a truly seamless and multifunctional product to enhance the goddess in every woman.” For more on Florasis, see the Makeup Museum’s article. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660421549367-DCBI8PVZE1FBZMS8MPD3/Judydoll.jpeg I'm Your Venus Egyptian Adventures Blushes JudyDoll, 2020 Like fellow Chinese brand Zeesea, newcomer JudyDoll took advantage of the licensing available from the British Museum to use the institution’s name and motifs inspired by its Egyptian artifacts on a makeup collection. Unlike Zeesea, however, JudyDoll injected a more playful vibe by incorporating a Hello Kitty license as well. The result is a charming mishmash of references and styles that appeals to a wide audience, albeit far removed from ancient Egyptian history. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660421581041-5U4Z5APOY4GAA067QXBJ/EA-Nefertiti.jpeg I'm Your Venus Eyeshadow Quad Elizabeth Arden, Fall 2006 The Sueded Browns quad was part of a collection consisting of 3 eyeshadow palettes featuring a vignette from “A Pageant of Beauty”, a 70-ft-long, 14-panel mural commissioned by Elizabeth Arden in 1935. Painted by prominent American artist Clara Fargo Thomas, the mural “embodied the story of woman’s insistence on loveliness throughout the ages,” according to Ralph Flint, author of the mural’s guidebook. Here Nefertiti, surrounded by her beauty accoutrements and servants, gazes into a mirror to touch up her lip color. It should be noted that the “caricature found on a papyrus in the Turin Museum” on which the queen’s pose is based refers to a scroll depicting prostitutes preparing for their clients. Thomas may have been slyly commenting on the long-held notion that makeup was the domain of sex workers and not “respectable” women, which persisted in the 1930s despite the efforts of large companies such as Arden to make cosmetics socially acceptable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661194012002-2UC7NYUMBLBKG3ZTT00E/benefit+catalog.jpeg I'm Your Venus Catalog Benefit Cosmetics, 2007 The vintage mannequins used by Benefit as their unofficial mascots received a goddess makeover for the company’s summer 2007 catalog. Founders Jean and Jane Ford allude to their products’ transformational ability that turns the average woman into a divine being. By using Benefit, customers can shed the banality that comes with being mortal without also losing their humanity. “All we know is that from time to time it’s wonderful to feel like a goddess, to look like a goddess and be told, ‘You’re a goddess.’ We are the goddesses of makeup, always mixing up new magic for your face and body…goddesses aren’t real, but we are. We get zits, have jobs, do laundry, stroll our babies and blow kisses to our significant others. We like being human. If you’re created in stone, it’s really hard to crack a smile.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660939855666-VQM9S284SKO3TFESXJ4K/Artemis.jpeg I'm Your Venus Powder Compact L’Peggie, 1926-1933 Face Powder Artemis, 1925-1926 “Enchanted Forest” Compact Max Factor, ca. 1973-1976 Lipstick Tissues Kleenex, ca. 1937-1940 The goddess of the hunt, Artemis (or the Roman version Diana), appears to be the second most referenced goddess behind Aphrodite/Venus in makeup advertising. In contrast to the sensual beauty and vanity associated with the goddess of love, Artemis symbolizes bodily freedom and humanity’s bond with the natural world. Whether draped in flowing robes or tastefully nude, as a stylized warrior or enjoying the forest with her hunting dogs and arrow, the figure of Artemis offers an alternative to traditional beauty signifiers by linking classical ideals to strength and lack of artifice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662835401024-7W3NGOQEZLM8XY8N67YI/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Advertisements Germaine Monteil, 1944 Cutex, 1961 Ancient Greek and Aztec cultures are treated very differently in ads by Germaine Monteil and Cutex. Greece is held in the highest regard (one of the “civilizations most noted for their achievements”), while the Aztecs are referred to as “primitive”. Additionally, the Chac Mool sculpture which the models use as a mere prop to show off their manicures is from the ancient Mayan site of Chichen Izta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660939837483-JW5A5593L52JE1DHG420/tussy-hieroglyphics+3.jpg I'm Your Venus Real Girl Hieroglyphics Paint Kit and Advertisement Tussy, 1968 Wanting to capitalize on the body painting fad embraced by hippies, in the summer of 1968 Tussy released a makeup kit containing 5 colors, brush, stencils and a how-to guide. It’s unclear as to why a reference to ancient Egypt was used (besides garden variety exotification and cultural appropriation that was typical at the time), but Women’s Wear Daily offered this questionable explanation: “Women are a mystery anyway, so hieroglyphics are a natural for them. Tussy, which has a thing for Egyptians, has come through with a new version of the old hieroglyphics idea...the stencils come in interesting shapes like an anchor, a question mark, a butterfly and a violin - all of these must have some meaning that only the old Egyptians know about.” Other ads encouraged users to be creative and convey their personality or current mood through various designs (akin to beauty patches), emphasizing that the kit was intended for youthful, adventurous types. "The Cosmetics: The Beauty Part." Women’s Wear Daily, vol. 116, no. 127, Jun 28, 1968, pp. 14. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/cosmetics-beauty-part/docview/1565179787/se-2. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1660939875277-ENECCZ7AUW1MR59S1V6L/De+Fleury.jpeg I'm Your Venus https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661634347898-HTECJ07HLIOUV8YI0D4A/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Poudre Egyptienne Compact and Advertisement Ramses Paris, 1923 The Ramses brand was founded in 1919 in Paris and selected Le Blume Import Company to distribute the line in the U.S. in 1921. By 1923 ads for the powder boxes and compacts were appearing in Vogue magazine. The ad copy is pure nonsense: neither the perfumes nor the powders were produced in Egypt. However, the introduction of the brand in the U.S. at that time was fortuitous, as the opening of King Tut’s tomb a year later fueled a craze for any goods that referenced ancient Egypt. The Ramses compact was made by the Bristol, CT-based Zinn Corporation, a company that produced some of the earliest and most memorable compacts in the U.S. While the powder was scented with the “Secret du Sphinx” fragrance, the compact itself shows a woman rather than the mythical creature. The design shows a woman in profile, holding a perfume bottle in one hand and a flower in the other, which she brings to her nose to enjoy its scent. The pyramids of Giza are just barely visible in the background, while lotus flowers on each side towards the lower third of the compact bloom into an arc of leaves. Ad image from the Vogue archive https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661194027875-3HSY37MSF16XXM3MJ142/Guerlain.jpeg I'm Your Venus Terracotta Hestia Island and Thalia Island Bronzing and Blush Powders Guerlain, Summer 2019 For their summer 2019 Terracotta bronzer collection, Guerlain drew inspiration from two Greek goddesses: Hestia, the virgin goddess of the hearth, and Thalia, one of the Three Graces and the muse of poetry. The embossed pattern on the Hestia Island bronzer is reminiscent of those adorning ancient Greek vessels, while the golden laurel leaves of the Thalia Island bronzer resemble the wreaths worn by winners of athletic or poetry competitions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662230268322-A8DLGHN4R4IMEMX7K17Q/Nile+Queen+1920.jpg I'm Your Venus Nile Queen Beauty Preparations Advertisement Kashmir Chemical Company 1920 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662248460306-KHBFCTSV90L177T2AUJE/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Bindi Advertising Tin Gouri Puja Bindi, ca. 1990s Kajal Advertising Tin Murari Bros., ca. 1980s Gouri Puja Bindi was established in 1990 and still manufactures bindis today. The bindi is a small red dot traditionally worn by Hindu women in the middle of their foreheads to indicate they are married. Today the bindi is also worn for decorative/artistic purposes and a variety of designs and colors are available in sticker form. Per the illustration adorning the sides of the tin, it most likely held packets of multi-colored adhesive bindis. The tin shows a scene from the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, in which Lord Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana worship god of destruction Shiva. Shiva, one of the most powerful deities in the Hindu pantheon, and his consort the goddess Gauri (an incarnation of Parvati) are shown at the top right. The founding of the Murari Bros. company dates at least to the early 1960s. Kajal, also known as kohl, is the black powder used for eye liner used across much of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Considered a staple in most Indian households, kajal is primarily worn by women but was sometimes applied to babies as well as protection from evil. An image of Krishna, the blue-skinned 8th incarnation of the deity Vishnu, is displayed on the front of the tin. The art on both tins is most likely copied from or inspired by old lithographs. Additionally, the depiction of deities is not unique to beauty products; gods and goddesses frequently appeared on Indian advertising tins for confections, tobacco, and spices as well. Like the familiarity of Egyptian, Roman and Greek imagery to European/American audiences, references to divine beings such as Krishna and Shiva are easily recognizable to Indian consumers. While neither of the scenes on the bindi or kajal containers have anything to do with cosmetics, the familiarity of such imagery has wide appeal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662230396482-FSI4XSNKB0EWGTKVU9XG/Lime+Crime+venus.jpg I'm Your Venus Venus, Venus II and Venus XL Eyeshadow Palettes Lime Crime, 2015 and 2018 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662504572381-AR4NWU4MJE67OAIIZEMF/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Highlighter and Bronzer Dolce and Gabbana, Holiday 2014 Fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana re-used the ancient coin motif from their spring 2014 ready-to-wear collection for a highlighter and bronzer later that year. The coins refer to Sicily’s ancient Greek heritage and are a nod to the fashion duo’s Sicilian roots. Specifically, the ΚΑΤΑΝΑΙΩΝ inscription names the city of Catania, one of the Sicilian cities ruled by ancient Greece. Press releases for the makeup collection stated that the profile is of Athena, but the lack of symbols associated with the goddess and the inclusion of a laurel wreath indicate the figure may in fact be Apollo. Although the eight-pointed star is common in ancient coinage, in this context it might represent the sun, another symbol of Apollo. Image of D & G dress detail from vogue.com; image of ancient coin from arsclassicacoins.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661634774573-4EKIFQZUN08CM001DBLE/Pompeii%2Bpowder%2Bboxes.jpeg I'm Your Venus “Votive” Compact Pompeian Bloom, ca. 1924 Pompei Face Powder Box Lidel, ca. early 1900s Pompeia Powder Boxes L.T. Piver, ca. 1909-1935 The ancient city of Pompeii has been a source of intense fascination for centuries. While the well-preserved site is invaluable to archaeologists and historians, it also proved to be a marketing boon to modern businesses, who harnessed the widespread interest in the city to sell everything from olive oil to shoes. Pompeii’s temples and gardens made ideal themes for cosmetic product names and packaging design. Historic perfume house L.T. Piver introduced their Pompeia fragrance in 1907, with a line of toiletries released shortly after. Pompeia is a chypre floral scent that “symbolizes the luxurious refinements and voluptuous magnificence of ancient Pompeii,” according to a 1923 ad. The design consists of a woman dressed in flowing robes, bearing a bouquet of pink flowers and framed against a background resembling a fresco that possibly portrays Flora. A more Art Nouveau style is reflected in Lidel’s Pompei face powder and one of Pompeian Bloom’s early powder compacts, which feature a goddess-like woman standing in a garden and holding a lamp as a votive offering, respectively. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662466018694-K2Y8CBF4JO5NCP03H1K6/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Eyeshadow palette and lipstick Uoma Beauty, Summer 2022 When Uoma Beauty founder Sharon Chuter traveled to the Middle East in early 2020, she found herself unsure as to whether she would be able to return to the U.S. as borders began to close due to the pandemic. Feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin helped relieve some of her anxiety. “The sun can be such redemption or rescue in a time of uncertainty. This led me to start researching the sun and spirituality, and I learned more about the ancient Egyptians and their unique relationship to the sun,” she says. The result was the Salute to the Sun collection, which is “a homage to ancient Egypt, and the beauty rituals of its powerful female pharaohs,” according to the Uoma Beauty website. Outfitted in a blue, black and gold color scheme and adorned with a stylized Eye of Horus design, the packaging for the 3 lipsticks in the collection – aptly named Cleopatra, Nefertiti and Hatsheput – recalls a clear summer sky and the luxury of ancient Egyptian palaces. The shade names are also carefully chosen: Khenet, Wahdj, Khesbedj, Nebu and Desher are all colors used in ancient Egyptian art. The concept of channeling ancient Egyptian female rulers via modern makeup is particularly meaningful for a Black woman-owned company and its customers. Uoma Beauty challenges the historic appropriation of Egyptian culture and champions Blackness as beautiful and powerful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662248681006-4JKFG56W92UZZZVU3OW2/EL+bronze+goddess+compacts.jpg I'm Your Venus Bronzer Compacts Estée Lauder, 2011 and 2019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661616892718-XGZRO11FWUNI8XGFXRIQ/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Advertisement Neige des Cévennes , 1935 Her hairstyle and dress echoing those of the Venus de Milo silhouetted behind her, a woman draped in a sleek gown holds a powder puff and glances at a compact mirror. The stark whiteness of the figure hints at the long-standing Eurocentric glorification of ancient marbles. Combined with the copy, which assures the wearer that the powder will provide the “dazzling radiance of the virginal purity of snow,” the ad presents white skin as a pillar of ideal beauty and suggests that skin tone is indicative of moral virtue. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662570349354-MNCKWHPC2GXO5E86CNHY/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Splendours Bronzing Compact Clarins, Summer 2013 “Sunshine into gold. Travel to faraway lands, to the heart of an ancient people…and discover the splendours of a pre-Columbian civilization that worshiped the sun.” While the ad copy for Clarins’ Splendours bronzer does not specify any particular pre-Columbian culture, most likely the marketing team was looking at an ancient Aztec sun stone. The design similarities are multiple: The circle in the center surrounded by four square shapes is found in each, along with the concentric triangle at the top of the center circle and the four dots placed around the squares and one at the bottom of the inner circle. The tiny horseshoe-like pattern appears throughout both as well. The triangles with the scrolled edges in the stone find themselves in the outer case of the palette and are also present in the powder, albeit slightly deconstructed there (the triangle is broken up into its base shape with two scrolls on each side). Additionally, the stone is actually believed to be an altar or ceremonial container for the sun god Tonatiuh rather than a calendar, making Clarins’ choice of inspiration appropriate. While the compact presents an aesthetically pleasing design, the accompanying text unfortunately points to exotification and “othering” of an indigenous culture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1661634526448-UTD73U6ZAQ0LY7DEOTPX/Revlon+Cleopatra.jpg I'm Your Venus Sphinx Eyeshadows, Liner, Doll Lipstick Case and Advertisement Revlon, 1962 Nowhere in the cosmetics world is the seductive appeal conferred upon Cleopatra by the Western imagination more obvious than in Revlon’s Sphinx collection, intended as a tie-in to the 1963 film Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor. In this fantasy, Cleopatra’s bewitching nature is presented as dangerous, even deadly, while suggesting that such powerful allure can be within the grasp of the average woman via makeup. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662248493659-KK5H7TDO70GEXUS73KOB/Egyptian-earth.jpg I'm Your Venus Egyptian Earth Powder Colora Originally introduced in 1981 by Chicago company Classic Laboratories, Egyptian Earth is intended as a multi-use product made primarily from iron oxides. Much like its predecessor Indian Earth, marketing for Egyptian Earth relied on exotification and the notion of sharing beauty knowledge that was hidden up to now. The container was allegedly created by an Atlanta-based potter, who was commissioned to make several miniature clay pots with “an Egyptian look” per Classic Laboratories’ request. While an expert in Egyptian antiquities proposed that the container was a replica of a canopic jar, the firm’s vice president at the time, Dottie Smith, claimed that the resemblance to these ancient Egyptian funerary urns was pure coincidence: “We selected an urn with an Egyptian look that ties into our name, Egyptian Earth…we did not take a [canopic] jar knowing that and copy it. No one has ever said anything negative [about the packaging].”* The faux hieroglyphics on the container set Egyptian Earth apart from Indian Earth and several copycat products released by other companies; however, the packaging for all of them adheres to a standard design of a plainly-shaped clay-like pot and cork stopper. This was most likely due not just to apathy but to emphasize the natural mineral ingredients and foster a sense of awe, as if the wearer had unearthed a centuries-old relic. *The South Bend Tribune, July 20, 1982 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662230412526-J94Q5857TED744N0B2ZK/Juvias+Place+palettes.jpg I'm Your Venus Nubian I and Royal Eyeshadow Palettes Juvia’s Place, 2016 and 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662249156754-HZF6JC4VVE8LRA4PHRNZ/Stratton+wedgwood.jpg I'm Your Venus Wedgwood Compacts Stratton, late 1960s-early 1970s British compact manufacturer Stratton collaborated with the historic Wedgwood company for a series of compacts and other cosmetic accessories in the late 1960s. Using the original Neoclassical designs of Josiah Wedgwood, the compacts feature various mythological figures such as the Three Graces and Aurora driving a chariot. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662465969067-0EXDVEIDHSZ1EWOGJZAP/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Eyeshadow Palettes and Lipstick Set Zeesea, 2019 In 2016 the British Museum began a partnership with Chinese licensing agent Alfilo Brands to sell a variety of merchandise inspired by the museum’s collections. By 2018 Alfilo had developed over 500 British Museum branded products, making the museum’s licensing program the largest in the cultural institution sector in China with earnings of nearly $30 million that year and projected profits of $51 million in 2019. Makeup was just one of many product categories to take advantage of the licensing arrangement, and emerging Chinese brand Zeesea saw an opportunity to raise their visibility using both the British Museum name and designs inspired by its vast Egyptian collection. With eyeshadow palettes named for specific objects in the British Museum and lipsticks with hieroglyphics carved into them, Zeesea’s Enchanting Egypt collection put them on the radar of Chinese and international consumers alike. The palettes shown here are based on the Gayer Anderson cat sculpture representing the goddess Bastet and a figure from the Great Harris papyrus. These artifacts were acquired as an indirect result of colonialism, thereby adding a more insidious layer of appropriation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662467709227-7BPGNDC4BWY0D4VGB9FC/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus “Italian Touch” Advertisement and Store Display Max Factor, 1957 An ancient statue, based on the famous Augustus of Prima Porta, is transfixed by model Virna Lisi as the Colosseum looms in the background. The advertising for Max Factor’s Italian Touch collection combines the grandeur of the Roman empire with the city’s post-war status as a fashionable, cosmopolitan city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662250111126-DUTH3HKHEC9AZKVEKD0J/Thai+Niello.jpg I'm Your Venus Nielloware Compacts 1940s-1970s Nielloware is a metalwork craft made by carving a design into a silver background and adding niello, a black-colored metal alloy, to fill in the negative space around the design. Nielloware has been a part of Thailand’s cultural heritage since the 1400s, but became especially popular for tourists traveling in Thailand from the 1930s-1970s. Nielloware frequently depicts figures from ancient East Asian folklore and mythology. The most common ones include Garuda, a half-god, half-eagle creature who carries the Hindu god Vishnu; Airavata, a three-headed white elephant who carries god of rain Indra; and the goddess of lightning and god of thunder, Mekhala and Ramasoon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662249026886-8PTB9X3UMXJ1GL841JA0/dior-bastet+1.jpg I'm Your Venus Les Tablettes de Bastet Palette Dior, 2013 The house of Dior enlisted French painter and sculptor Vincent Beaurin to extend his previous work inspired by the Egyptian deity Bastet, as well as the artist’s “Spots” series, to design an eyeshadow palette. Bastet, sometimes depicted as a woman with the head of a cat, was the goddess of music, dance, and feasting. Beaurin wanted to create a palette that resembled Egyptian cosmetic containers, “like a very ancient stone object that bears the traces of myth and ancestral practice.” The palette consists of two magnetized stone slabs in Dior’s signature Trianon grey, whose neutral tone, Beaurin states, “helps to optimize the way we observe colours, their radiance, and their persistence when they disappear and their reactions when you put them together.” The artist’s choice of the word “tablet” was deliberate, as he believes the term “establishes a link between writing, memory and ancient objects, often made of schist, on which people crushed pigments to produce eye make-up.” The round shape for the colors was chosen so that they would be better suited to use of the palette. “Each colour is a fullness in itself. In a way, each colour is a world, a planet. Similarly, our eyes are round. The circle is a full shape. It recurs often in my work, perhaps precisely because it involves abstraction, going beyond form. Something round also seems better adapted to the touch than something angular.” The shade names and arrangement incorporate Beaurin’s interest in tying modern makeup to aspects he associates with ancient Egypt, as well as his desire to elevate makeup application to a spiritual practice. “The repetition of the S, the initial letter of the name of each colour, gives pace to the way the words are uttered, Saffron Sapphire Silex. This pace is part of the dynamics, of the relations occurring between the elements making up the landscape. I also like S for its design, two inverted spirals, an unfinished 8, and for its phonetics, the phonetics of silence...this object is also a vehicle, an instrument of sight and projection and--why not?—a sort of Egyptian prism. The Bastet tablets are a sort of arrangement, where three disks of monochrome colour are in a way in orbit with each other. They are as if in mid-air and their encounter is waiting for desire and the intervention of the person whose eyelids will be the ideal surface for mixing them.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662466135293-UU5GZTM1BWNE6RRRSYJN/image-asset.jpeg I'm Your Venus Eyeshadow Palette Beautaniq Beauty, Fall 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662553181510-TAFVXIJBPOLRI0NAO00J/Palmolive+powder+and+ad.jpg I'm Your Venus Powder box and advertisement Palmolive, 1920 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1662553334160-3A7F96W7HXOU4V2OBTKR/HR+Mykonos+1969+ad.jpg I'm Your Venus Advertisement Helena Rubinstein, 1969 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1706557680295-6ERNF15D2693D31YZSCC/Alo+cosmetics.jpg I'm Your Venus Brochures, Lipstick and Eyeshadow Alo Cosmetics Ca. 1960s While aloe vera was used in commercially available skincare since the 1950s, Alo was possibly the first brand to infuse color cosmetics with the ingredient. Aloe Crème Laboratories was founded in 1953 by Rodney Stockton, a businessman who stumbled across the aloe plant’s healing abilities while seeking relief for a sunburn he suffered on a vacation in Florida. Originally Stockton had Cleopatra in mind as Alo’s symbol, but ultimately chose Nefertiti following the release of the 1963 film Cleopatra, as he believed the “scandalous behavior” of the movie’s stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton would negatively impact the public’s perception of the brand.* *Carol Westlake, “Written in the Stars,” Palm Beach Life, December 1968, 40. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1706557774981-FFLHU92OFU7HTI5J059V/Egyptian+powder+jar.jpg I'm Your Venus Powder Box Ca. 1920s This German-made, porcelain powder box features a seated dark-haired woman holding a snake. The color of her skin is noticeably darker than in other examples of figural powder boxes of the era. The woman’s identity remains a mystery; while she may be interpreted as Cleopatra due to the inclusion of a snake (possibly an asp, based on the markings), her skin color points to non-royal status, suggesting that she may be a snake charmer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1706557739818-7YFIAWUUINADK83IDEHG/Minerva-Psyche.jpg I'm Your Venus Minerva Poudre de Riz F. Wolffe & Sohn 1920s-1930s Psyche Complexion Powder ca. 1894-1907 In addition to Artemis/Diana, ancient Greco-Roman figures other than Venus/Aphrodite sometimes appear on makeup packaging. F. Wolffe & Sohn’s face powder depicts the Roman goddess of wisdom Minerva triumphantly brandishing a spear and shield and accompanied by her symbol of the owl, perhaps suggesting that intelligence is a form of beauty. Psyche Complexion Powder shows the goddess, hair upswept in the Edwardian style named for her, wearing a sheer flowing gown perched on some rocks in a lush meadow. The myth of Psyche lends itself well to makeup packaging: Psyche’s beauty allegedly rivaled that of Aphrodite, and her symbol of the butterfly is an apt reference to the visual metamorphosis that makeup can offer. Using the figure of Psyche may also allude to the inner beauty of the soul. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1706557473962-VZ1IDJPBBRKDY49S9GWT/Greece+ad+roundup.jpg I'm Your Venus Advertisements: Dior, Spring 1983; Estée Lauder Spring 1983 and Spring 1992; OPI, Spring 2004; Women’s Wear Daily, March 2005 The geography of Greece serves as inspiration for a number of seasonal color stories focused on beige tones and shades of blue. Referencing its early civilizations, sandy beaches and the clear blue of both the sky and the Mediterranean Sea, these ads portray Greece as an idyllic paradise and associate the physical beauty of the land with that of ancient goddesses. https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/exhibitions daily 1.0 2022-09-05 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stilaartists daily 0.75 2026-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/5bcd9034-61f4-4501-8bd1-b35b9c88f5f4/Jeffrey+Fulvimari+72981630.jpg Stila at 25 Artists Photo by Bryan Bedder via Getty Images https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stilaintroduction daily 0.75 2019-12-22 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stilaacknowledgements daily 0.75 2019-12-21 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stilaabout daily 0.75 2021-07-21 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/stilareflections daily 0.75 2019-12-21 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/mermaid-reflections daily 0.75 2022-01-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629134051019-9VSKO85NLZG5DWXUA3F2/mutu1.jpg A Splash of Color Reflections In her 2017 work “Water Woman”, Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu rejects Western mermaid iconography, instead representing a traditional East African folkloric creature known as a nguva. Her hair style and facial features, when combined with the use of dark bronze, upend conventional notions of beauty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1628465355409-QENP48ES66USKCPKXEF0/lisa-eldridge.jpg A Splash of Color Reflections “Metallic Mermaid” tutorial by Lisa Eldridge, 2012 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/mermaid-introduction daily 0.75 2026-01-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/1629066295690-V7Z6UKHMNC1L49FV6UZE/dorothy+gray+ad.jpg Makeup for Merfolk: Introduction - Make it stand out Dorothy Gray Sea Coral Ad, 1951 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/mermaid-trend daily 0.75 2021-08-16 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/mermaid-about daily 0.75 2021-08-17 https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/venus-persist daily 0.75 2024-01-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/d7146a9b-5cb6-405c-87e5-047813321005/Volupte+and+HR.jpg I'm Your Venus: Why Does Antiquity Persist - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/6abaaba1-a050-41d0-8c1f-989a5cb47a5e/J34_lancome_1957.jpg I'm Your Venus: Why Does Antiquity Persist - Make it stand out Lancome ad, 1957. Purchased from hprints.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/c267c269-8d3f-4b42-b766-9787af338b77/Helena+rubinstein_1946.jpg I'm Your Venus: Why Does Antiquity Persist - Make it stand out Helena Rubinstein ad, 1946. Purchased from hprints.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/5965971e-ce89-4937-ba1b-95188965f603/Germain+Monteil.jpg I'm Your Venus: Why Does Antiquity Persist - Make it stand out Germaine Monteil ad, 1959. Purchased from hprints.com https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/venus-background daily 0.75 2022-09-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/9b48f07e-bd48-49cb-8547-d8e49d970e6b/Kohl.jpg I'm Your Venus: Background - Make it stand out Egyptian kohl pot and applicator, ca. 1492-1473 B.C.E. Image from metmuseum.org https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/venus-beauty-standards daily 0.75 2024-01-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/ad42b983-59e6-4c85-90e1-228c0cd02de2/Aziza+1967.jpeg I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/117070a7-4c7a-40da-b904-35b00aefba09/Lancome+1939+Dorin+1945.jpg I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Ads for Lancome (1939) and Dorin (1945). Purchased from hprints.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/7dbeadff-4cc8-4334-85de-9f0ab1208167/Nysis+palmolive.jpg I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Nysis and and Palmolive ads, 1920. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/ee08cb11-75fe-4b9e-a9e6-b83a0ed9c004/The_Pittsburgh_Courier_Sat__Jul_14__1928_.jpg I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Newspaper ad for Madam C.J. Walker’s Egyptian Brown face powder, The Pittsburgh Courier, July 14, 1928. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/70277e7c-4f0b-4e66-a3ff-6b580aaaf5e2/Egyptian+Tan+The_Miami_Herald_Sun__Jan_29__1939_.jpg I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Newspaper ad for Egyptian Tan cosmetics, The Miami Herald, January 29, 1939. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/4844e868-1010-4b9f-a7f1-4644569fc4bd/PMG.png I'm Your Venus: Beauty Standards - Make it stand out Pat McGrath eyeshadow palette packaging featuring an elaborate gold-lined almond shaped eye motif. The diamond “iris” and ornate gold and diamond statuary surrounding the eye heightens the sense of luxury. https://www.exhibitions-makeupmuseum.org/venus-about daily 0.75 2022-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/45a5500f-7f3e-4719-97ab-b813c8b1b2fc/thumbnail_mum.logo.with.words.172.04-06-2021.jpg I'm Your Venus: About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/3b7ad13e-ee7d-43ba-8fe1-999ab0ae6667/Laurence.jpg I'm Your Venus: About - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5de2a766f9af5e6088829961/dbc3abfd-92ab-4761-bcc9-f723071984ff/Jane.jpg I'm Your Venus: About - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.