There were so many great artist collaborations this holiday season – some of which I'm still hoping to write about before January 1st – but ultimately, magpie that I am, the sparkly stuff won out as this year's holiday/winter exhibition theme. I'm lured by glittery, blingy makeup packaging year-round but the holidays seem to intensify my weakness for shiny things. And 2017's offerings did not disappoint! There were so many to choose from, but ultimately I went with the ones I thought were prettiest (and easiest to obtain, truthfully – there were many international releases that were too difficult/expensive to get a hold of). There was also an emphasis on light. Whether from twinkly holiday strands, reflections off of fresh snow, or fireworks and bright stars illuminating a night sky, makeup companies seemed to gravitate towards the play of light in many different forms as the concept for their holiday items. Even the names (Striking Night Lights, Symphony of Light, Dazzling Lights) demonstrate the fascination with light this season.
A note about the labels: I couldn't print them on glittery rose gold paper as I would have liked, so I felt they needed a little extra something. Fortunately I was feeling crafty and added a little sparkle to them with nail polish. 🙂
I hope the exhibition leaves you feeling festive for the holidays and brightens the dark dreary days of winter for you. Let's get to it!
Top row, left to right.
For such a popular design, there was a lot of conflicting information on these Evans "sunburst" compacts. The ad I included for the exhibition is from 1949, but according to one of my collector's guides the sunburst design had been introduced in 1948.
Meanwhile, in the Evans collector guide I purchased in hopes of finding more information, there are ads that refer to the design both as sunburst and as the "Adonna". Unfortunately there were no dates listed for either ad so once again, I'm not sure of the date range for this design.
I would have included this ad in the exhibition but it was literally so small there was no point – this is not an entire page of the book, just a tiny ad on one page full of other ads. I figured it wouldn't scan well either.
While I don't have concrete information on this particular design, there's always the trusty Collecting Vintage Compacts for a complete history of the Evans company if you're interested. 🙂
Givenchy's holiday collection was so sparkly!
Chanel Signe du Lion highlighters:
Maquillage Snow Beauty compact is once again stunning. I just wish I had the 2014 version.
Second row, left to right.
MAC's Snowball collection was seriously gorgeous inside and out.
Shiseido Symphony of Light:
These kind of presents are my favorite. 😉
I originally thought these Germaine Monteil pieces were from the '50s, but they're actually later – from the '70s according to several newspaper ads I found. I didn't include them in the exhibition since I thought the magazine ad was visually more impactful, but here are the clippings if you're so inclined.
Third row, left to right.
Love the glitter gradient effect on Lancôme's holiday collection. The cushion compact, of course, was not available in the U.S. so I had to get it from Ebay. I don't know why they do that but it drives me nuts. Americans like cushions! I don't know why Lancôme thinks there's not a market in the States, especially since they sell other cushion products here.
How adorable are these vintage Revlon mini lipstick sets?! One of the trios is missing a lipstick, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. And while I couldn't locate a magazine ad, I was happy to find newspaper clippings so I could at least get dates for them (1954 and 1953).
Someone went a little crazy for all the shiny cushion cases that Korean beauty brands offered this season. I know they don't look great crammed on the shelf, but I was overwhelmed with the sparkly goodness and felt the need to include them all.
The lovely Bellyhead at Wondegondigo called my attention to this subtly shimmering Suqqu case. And I was so pleased to add another sequined beauty to the Museum's collection, courtesy of Chantecaille.
Bottom row, left to right.
Happy 10 years to the Armani Black Gem palette!
Dior Precious Rocks are precious indeed. Dior was late in releasing the beautiful lipstick case so it arrived a day after I photographed the exhibition…I'll be adding it to the shelf shortly.
And that concludes the holiday/winter exhibition! Which items were your favorites?