Last year I made a pilgrimage up to Manhattan to catch the exhibition of vintage lipsticks at the Makeup in New York show. This year I realized I had to go back for the 2014 show since it featured an exhibition of vintage compacts and powder boxes.
The banner was cool but I'm laughing at the date typo at the top. Those June dates were for the 2014 Makeup in Paris show. Whoops.
Inside there was a directory, which in hindsight I should have looked at before blindly wandering upstairs. I walked around the 2nd and 3rd floors before realizing the exhibition was on the 4th floor. I was just so eager and there weren't any maps being given out like last year.
I made it! I think there might have been an issue with this banner too, although this time I think it's a translation issue rather than a typo. In the directory banner and online the exhibition is referred to as "Praise of Complexion" while on the exhibition banner it says "An Ode to the Complexion". Oh well. I think perhaps they were just re-using the name of the 2012 Guerlain-sponsored exhibition, which featured many of the same items.
Exhibition view:
The tall handsome man on the far right holding a coffee cup and politely pretending to be interested is the husband. Isn't he sweet to come with me to the exhibition?
So let's get started. I didn't take pictures of every object but I did get a nice selection. These two ladies greeted me by the front door. They're papier maché powder boxes from 1920.
By the windows there was a great lineup, starting with some oddly surrealist powder boxes.
There were some lovely French 18th-century-inspired compacts and boxes from the 1920s. So even in the '20s companies were doing the retro packaging thing.
This display of Bourjois boxes was pretty cool.
I was thinking that if I ever did a bird-themed exhibition I'd definitely have to have a peacock display. Looks like Praise of Complexion beat me to it! The top box from Nylotis is from 1920 while the other box and compact are from 1930.
These two 1962 Heaven Sent compacts by Helena Rubinstein are so cute. The one on the left would be perfect for a holiday exhibition.
Here's the famous "Golden Gesture" compact by Volupté from 1945. (Why yes, that IS a Babo iPhone case. Come on, did you really expect me to have something else?)
Here's a bakelite bangle containing powder flanked by two lipsticks (1928).
As we know, celebrity collabs are nothing new. Check out these compacts featuring the A-list performers of their time.
There were also some quite fancy compacts on display that seem to be closer to the objects at the Ultra Vanities exhibition. On the left is a 1945 gold and silver compact encrusted with rubies by Boucheron and on the right is Hermès (1960).
I think what I enjoyed most though were the really old boxes, like these French ones from the 18th century.
The small one at the top has a picture of Marie Antoinette on the outer side of the case.
I was curious to know whether these selections were from a book, and indeed they were. This book is from 2012 but doesn't seem to be available for sale anywhere, which is a shame as it also was the impetus for the aforementioned Guerlain exhibition. 🙁
I didn't dare touch the book in the display, but I tried picking up the copy laying on the table to flip through it, only to find that the back cover was adhered to the table with putty. Respectful exhibition goer that I am, I took it as a sign that no one wanted it to be moved so I just perused it carefully while it was still laying flat. Not 10 minutes later I glanced back and it was gone. And NO, I didn't steal it! I'd be pissed if it were my exhibition and someone walked off with a copy of a book that was deliberately not supposed to be moved. I couldn't believe someone just snatched it. It's not like it could be mistaken for a free catalogue – there was only 1 besides the one standing upright in the display. Plus someone took the time to adhere it to the table with putty, indicating that you should only flip through it at the table.
Anyway, I thought display-wise it was a big improvement over last year. The labels were more informative and better designed, and there were pretty floral patterns on the backgrounds of the cases holding the compacts.
After I was done drooling over the exhibition we wandered around and a couple of other things caught my eye. Right behind the exhibition there was a booth from a company called Qualipac, which, apparently, was responsible for the spiky Louboutin nail polish bottle along with many other objects I recognized.
I asked the woman working there about the bottle and she said the Louboutin people were "very picky". I thought that was pretty funny. Then again, if they want people to shell out $50 for their nail polish they can't afford to put it in just any old packaging, right? Plus I imagine beauty companies would have the upper hand in terms of choosing a packaging vendor, given the sheer volume of them I witnessed at this show, so I bet they can be as picky as they want.
I can't remember which company this was but I loved the little lipstick tree they had set up.
This is a terrible picture but you can sort of make out the really cool floral print nail polish bottle caps in the lower right. I spied an array of wooden caps above too, so I'm speculating that this company (Pinkpac) may do the packaging for Sheswai.
I spotted something very interesting at this company's display. If you look towards the middle-left you'll see two Tom Ford lipsticks (one burgundy, the other ivory) covered in a croc-patterned leather case. I'm assuming this is just an example of what they would look like with leather casing and weren't actually put into production. Still, I wonder if we'll see them at a later time?
I couldn't resist picking up a t-shirt – something that wasn't available last year.
There was also a bag like last year with bits of swag. It had the same Pantone-esque collection of vendors and a pencil, but this year the pencil had glitter (ooh!) and there were also lipstick and nail polish samples.
So that's my tale from the 2014 Makeup in New York show. I hope there's an equally cool exhibition next year.
What are your thoughts?
Makeup Museum (MM) Musings is a series that examines a broad range of museum topics as they relate to the collecting of cosmetics, along with my vision for a "real", physical Makeup Museum. These posts help me think through how I'd run things if the Museum was an actual organization, as well as examine the ways it's currently functioning. I also hope that these posts make everyone see that the idea of a museum devoted to cosmetics isn't so crazy after all – it can be done!
Since my last MM Musings post on what a permanent collection display might look like in an actual beauty museum, I've been thinking about ideas for special exhibitions. But I kept getting overwhelmed with the details of a specific exhibition's themes. After a while I realized my usual musings style wasn't going to work for a post on special exhibitions, so I changed tactics to bring you something much more interesting and enlightening than my usual reflections: an interview with Ashley Boycher, Associate Exhibition Designer at the Walters Art Museum here in Baltimore. Yes, I got to chat (email) with a real-life exhibition designer at one of the top museums in the country! Enjoy.
MM: What is the basic process of exhibition design? Does the curator tell you which pieces they want and you go from there? Who else do you work with besides the curator?
AB: Although sometimes exhibition ideas come from the public, certain museum trends, conservators, and/or museum educators, the seed of an exhibition is almost always planted by the curator, and the curator is academically responsible for the exhibition throughout the process. Once the seed is planted, the curator writes an exhibition narrative and begins to make a list of objects that s/he believes will best illustrate that narrative. Then there are lost of talks with conservators about which of the objects are in good enough shape and/or can be made into good enough shape for the exhibition given the timeframe. Also, when applicable, there are talks with registrars, who are responsible for the handling and logistics of moving and storing objects, and other institutions' representatives about the feasibility of bringing objects to our institution for the exhibition from other places. This happens with almost all large scale exhibitions and the negotiations with the other institutions often includes logistics about traveling the exhibitions to those institutions as well. In fact, grant funding is often dependent on the ability to collaborate with other institutions and travel the show domestically and/or internationally. Once many of these things are worked out, the curator and I begin conversations. This is usually about 18 months out from the exhibition opening. We do some preliminary ideation about object groupings and the look and feel of the show. During that time, the curator is also talking in a preliminary way with a museum educator about different didactic and interactive elements that might enhance the exhibition experience. At about a year out, the three of us come together and begin to really hash out the meat of the show. We also bring in representatives from the other museum divisions: IT, marketing, development, security, etc, when we need to collaborate on things like how we will advertise the show and what technology, if any, will benefit the exhibition message, both outwardly and inside the exhibition itself. All of the details come together in about 8 months, and for the last 4 months of the development process we are in production mode – labels being edited, graphics being printed, cases being built, walls being painted, etc – along with any straggler details that we miss beforehand, which always happens.
MM: Do you do some kind of prototype before the exhibition opens?
AB: It depends. Sometimes we're not exactly sure how a paint color will look in the space, so we'll slap it up on the wall and look at it for a few days and adjust where necessary. That is, if we have time. Often art is coming out of a space only a week before other art is supposed to go in, which means we don't always have the opportunity to do this. Other prototyping sometimes happens when we are trying out a weird or new display type. And we almost always prototype interactives, both low tech and high tech.
MM: Do you have experience with designing decorative object-based exhibitions and if so, how does it differ from designing exhibitions for other types of art?
AB: I've never designed a show that was purely dec arts objects, but they have been a part of shows i've designed. The new installation that opens here in October has lots of dec arts in it. I would say that in my experience one of the main differences is that many dec arts objects are heartier than other art, in better shape, and often made of less than precious materials, which means that conservation does not always make us put them under a vitrine. In this way they can help to create the look and feel of a space rather than just being purely on display. I suppose that was their original function anyway. 🙂
MM: What are some of the latest, cutting-edge developments in exhibition design?
AB: Well, unfortunately the latest cutting-edge development design aren't really happening at many art museums. Science museums and natural history museums are the ones that are usually on the cutting edge when it comes to design and technology. This summer I visited the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and one of their exhibitions had this amazing custom theatre system. It was made using custom craft carpentry, crazy projectors, and bit mapping. You can see a cool video about the making of it.
MM: What was your favorite exhibition you designed and why?
AB: That's a really hard question! The reason I got into exhibition design was because I was interested in too many different things to pick one thing to continue studying (I'm also just not that much of an academic eve though I really loved school). Working on exhibitions awards me the opportunity to learn about another fascinating different thing with each new project. So I guess my favorite is always whatever the latest project is. I suppose I have shiny thing syndrome.
MM: If money wasn't a factor, what would your “dream” exhibition be?
AB: When I was in graduate school, one of my big solo projects was an exhibition about the art, science, and history of tattooing throughout time and across the globe. I am fascinated by tattoos because they have so many different facets: cultural heritage, technology, biology, taboo, straight up beautiful artistry, the list goes on and on. I think a well planned and designed exhibition about tattooing could be interesting to just about everyone for one or more of these reasons. I'd love to be on a project like that.
MM: Do you have any ideas or suggestions regarding exhibitions that would have lots of small objects, i.e. makeup? I promise I'm not asking you to work for free – I'm just looking for any sort of general advice or tips off the top of your head!
AB: The hard thing about showing a bunch of small things is that the displays always want to look like retail rather than museum quality. My biggest advice would be to make sure you single out your best pieces. Put them on their own pedestals, maybe give them a bigger brighter pop of color, or a few more inches in height. Just make sure they actually stand out in a way that tells your visitor, "hey, you want to make sure you look at me and only me for a sec." If you want to do a display of a bunch of things together for impact or to get a certain point across, especially if it's several examples of one type of thing, make sure you save your 2nd and 3rd tier objects for those displays.
Thank you so much, Ashley, both for the peek into the life of an exhibition designer and for the invaluable advice!! (And I think we both have "shiny thing syndrome" – more literally for me).
Today I invite you check out what goes on behind the scenes of the Makeup Museum's exhibition installation (see part 1 for the more general blogging aspects.) I provided a brief glimpse into exhibition setup with Sweet Tooth, but that was for a one-of-a-kind show. This post will cover the process of setting up the basic seasonal exhibitions using the summer 2014 exhibition as an example.
In terms of "curation" I generally start thinking about the seasonal exhibitions months in advance. I don't just go pulling objects out of museum storage willy-nilly the day I install and photograph the exhibition – it's planned over months. I draft a blog post and list newly released items I want to include. Based on those, I work in items from previous years, and if it seems like I need to add more (I need to have enough for 16 shelves, after all), I start poking around for vintage items that would make good additions. I usually have no idea what objects will go on which shelves, but I always know the items and any additional materials (ads, pictures, etc.) that need to get installed prior to the actual installation. I also have to get the label text ready in advance, which is trickier than it sounds since most of the time when I write a post about an object I don't use the formal name of the product, so I have to go hunting it down. And sometimes for older items for which I can't remember the release date I have to look that up too. I put everything in a Word document and the husband lays out the labels in InDesign with the Museum's logo – how sweet is that?
Now let's look at how I physically install the seasonal exhibitions. First things first: I need to remove the items from the previous exhibition that are still on the shelves, and for that I employ some good old white cotton gloves for handling the objects. This way they don't get all fingerprint-y. Down with spring 2014, up with summer!
I arrange the objects into various piles either on the shelves or on the floor according to where they're stored. For example, all brands from A through G get stored in the top drawer in the master closet so I group them together.
All other brands except for Paul & Joe and Stila go in the hall closet, so here's that pile.
Then I take the labels off the shelves. As you can see, years of using double-sided tape to secure the labels have left a ton of residue which I can't seem to remove. (Any suggestions that won't take off the finish?)
Then I start gathering the objects I plan to use in the upcoming exhibition.
I print out any collateral materials and the labels in color.
Any pictures that are included in the exhibition are printed out on regular paper and then spray mounted to a sturdier cardstock.
And this is where the husband comes in (again). He's amazingly crafty – I'm not sure whether it's because he's a designer and has a lot of experience or because he's just naturally skilled, but he's very good at assembling the collateral materials. Here's the spray booth (and our little labbits!) located beneath the cork board in the office:
He sprays the picture backs with glue and then affixes them to the cardstock. When I try to do this it's always crooked or lumpy, and it takes me forever. He can do it perfectly in a matter of seconds.
Going over it with the roller gets it nice and smooth.
He then cuts out the pictures very straight with an Exacto knife. Again, when I tried to do this myself it was a disaster. Not only did I cut everything crooked despite using the ruler, I nearly chopped off a finger or two.
The labels don't get spray mounted since they will be attached to the shelves, so they just get cut out.
Et voilà!
So once I have everything – items, labels and pictures – I start putting stuff on the shelves. Some of them I know will have to be on the highest shelves due to the height of the pictures or ads. There was no way I could cram that Max Factor ad on a lower shelf!
This is the hard part. I generally spend about a half hour to 45 minutes rearranging the objects so that the format is both visually appealing and not repetitive in shape, theme or brand. For this exhibition, I wouldn't want the Armani and Dior next to each other (too much couture), and I wouldn't want the DuWop shell compacts and the Benefit shell compacts next to each other because they're too similar. And I didn't want mermaids sitting next to each other, and I don't like two items from the same brand next to each other. I make an exception for Shu cleansing oils, however – I don't mind having two on one shelf and two on the shelf next to it if they're from the same collection, as you can see from the spring exhibition. Anyway, I play around and sometimes I don't even have a reason as to why I want the items arranged a certain way. I just know when it looks "right".
Once I get everything in place, I start setting it up to be photographed, i.e., taking everything out of their boxes and attaching additional pictures to the wall. Depending on the height of the objects I can lean the picture against the wall behind it, but if it's an open palette that will block it, I have to tape the picture above it.
Generally speaking I prefer to hang up the vintage ads with metal clips. However, for the vintage ads used in the summer 2014 exhibition, those were cut and spray mounted because they were included in much larger magazine pages, and they looked better by themselves than being surrounded by text.
I make any final tweaks and once I've decided I'm satisfied with the placement, only then do the labels go up. Then I open any palettes that need to be opened and start shooting. The top row is difficult to photograph since I have to get on a ladder.
Here's the finished product. If you'll notice I switched the Wet 'n' Wild palettes and the Laduree items…the shapes (open round compacts) of the Wet 'n' Wild ones were too similar to the Chantecaille palettes to have in the same row. At least, that's how it seemed to me.
After I photograph everything I don't put it away. I close any open palettes and put them back in their boxes so they don't get dusty, but I just leave all the items on the shelves instead of putting them back into storage. The labels stay up until the next exhibition as well.
And that's how it's done! Questions? Comments?
Thanks to PJ at A Touch of Blusher, I was alerted to these events at the Japan Foundation in London. "Beneath the Surface: A Culture of Cosmetics in Japan" will feature two talks by Noriyo Tsuda, Chief Curator of the POLA Research
Institute of Beauty and Culture (how do I get that job?!)
The first presentation is "Haniwa Beauty to Snow White – Japanese Cosmetic Culture from Ancient Times to Now" and will take place tomorrow at 6:30pm. The description: "From ancient customs to current trends, Tsuda will look at Japanese
cosmetic practices over the course of history and discuss how Japanese
cosmetics have developed through the centuries. Giving an overview of
the aesthetic ideals and reasons for the use of these cosmetics, this
talk will provide examples of how lifestyle and social circumstances
have influenced the culture of cosmetics in the past and affected
contemporary standards of beauty in Japan."
The second talk is "Beauty Icons – Primping and Preening in Edo and Meiji Japan," which will take place on November 8 at 6:30pm. "In this talk, Tsuda will compare and contrast two of the most
distinguishing periods of cosmetic culture in Japan, namely the Edo
(1603 – 1867) and Meiji (1868 – 1912) eras. Exploring the
characteristics of Japanese cosmetics in the Edo period, when
traditional cosmetics are thought to have matured, she will elaborate on
what cosmetics were used and who the trendsetters were. Moving on to
the Meiji period, Tsuda will discuss how grooming standards and notions
of 'beautiful women' were impacted by drastic social reform after the
opening of Japan to the West."
I did a little more digging and I found an event poster with these two pictures, the objects in which I'm assuming Tsuda will discuss.
I was greatly intrigued by this POLA Research Institute of Beauty and Culture so I gathered some basic information on it. The POLA Research
Institute of Beauty and Culture was founded in 1976 under the son of the founder of cosmetics company POLA Orbis Group, Suzuki Tsuneshi. It's now part of the POLA Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan, which displays Tsuneshi's personal art collection consisting of over 9,500 objects. While the museum boasts roughly 400 paintings by Western artists (Cezanne, Gauguin, Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Chagall), there is a section of the museum devoted to the beauty objects he collected as well. Some of these treasures include:
A silver dressing set with an iris pattern from the early 1900s:
I don't know about you, but I'm ready to hop on the next plane to London to catch both talks, then off to Japan to see the POLA collection! I really wish they had a museum catalogue for their beauty items available for purchase online…maybe Tsuda will spearhead the release of one eventually and/or a book based on the talks he's giving in London.
2013 truly was/is the year of punk revival, and since punk style and subculture are near and dear to the Curator, I decided to devote the fall exhibition to this glorious trend. It's a smaller exhibition than in years past, but I was committed to the theme and didn't want to do a bigger exhibition with non-punk-inspired pieces in it. This is basically a long way of saying I couldn't reconcile some of the fall pieces we've seen (Chantecaille Wild Horses palette, Dior Bonne Etoile) with the punk trend, and decided to sacrifice size in exchange for a more cohesive exhibition. Since it was on the small side I couldn't really go into the history of punk makeup, which would have been great to incorporate somehow, but I think overall it works.
So many magazine images inspired me. I was enthralled by the emphasis on plaid, tweed and houndstooth and the punk update most of the items in these fabrics received.
And as you can see in the exhibition, I added some magazine pages at the top – these were my favorite images.
Magazine images, left to right:
Top shelf, left to right.
Dior 5 Couleurs in Rose Ballerine and Les Tissages de Chanel in Amber:
Sephora Drop Dead Gorgeous makeup brush set:
Do you not love the skull pattern on the handles?!
MAC Rebel Rock postcard and Benefit Rockateur blush:
Sephora eyelash curler and Urban Decay nail polish in Vice:
Thoughts on the exhibition? Are what do you think about the punk trend this season? When it comes to badass details like studs and skulls and chains, I can't get enough!
I was so pleased I was able to trek up to NYC last Thursday to see Makeup in New York's show and vintage lipstick exhibition! It was fun to walk around and see all the packaging companies, but the main draw for me, of course, was seeing some highlights from Lips of Luxury up close and in person.
The show was held at Center 548 in Chelsea, which is an area of NYC I'm not too familiar with – we normally stick to Soho and Union Square, with occasional jaunts to where all the department stores are (uptown? downtown?):
Nice little brochures were provided when you checked in.
I eagerly searched to find where the lipstick exhibition was.
Fortunately it was on the 2nd floor so I didn't have to climb too many steps to get there!
Right up front were the Revlon Couturines!!
Behind those was that crazy Lenox lipstick holder:
Some other treasures:
Why yes, that IS a mermaid-shaped lipstick case!!
Huge dork that I am, I had brought my copy of Lips of Luxury with me in the hopes of getting either Jean-Marie Martin-Hattenberg (the author) or Anne Camilli (Editorial Director) to sign it, if they happened to be at the exhibition. And I thought maybe I could give them my card. I did in fact meet Anne, but ultimately I was too chicken to actually ask for an autograph or start plugging the Makeup Museum. My husband pointed out that it may not have been as weird as I thought to ask her to sign the book, as she was the one who, you know, helped write it. But I thought I might come off as annoying or worse, some kind of creepy stalker, so I just said I was a big fan of the book and left her alone.
Overall, I thought it was a well-curated exhibition. The selections were definitely what I would have chosen from the book. I did think, however, that the presentation could use a little work. The glass jars with the pink tops were cute, but the acrylic stands that some of the lipsticks were sitting on within them looked pretty cheap. And the jar wasn't the best choice of display vessel for the Alberto Guardiani lipstick shoe – it looked squashed in there! I also would have made the label text nicer and with thicker paper. Good typography and quality paper goes a long way. Of course, I have little room to talk since I tend to cram items onto the shelves I use for my exhibitions and the shelves themselves aren't tremendously well-made. Still, I think for a formal exhibition in a "real" public space I'd go the extra mile to make sure everything looks amazing.
After I was done drooling over the exhibition, we explored the other booths and saw what conference sessions were taking place.
On the way out I helped myself to a goodie bag.
I thought this was cool – it's all the packaging companies that attended the expo in Pantone swatchbook form.
A bag of samples of the latest and greatest in packaging:
Copy of Beauty Packaging magazine and a pencil.
Then after that we hit up Soho for some shopping. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for my credit card balance) I didn't see anything I wanted, but as we were walking to catch a cab back to Penn Station I caught a glimpse of something very exciting – the space where a new outpost of Ladurée will be!! It's supposed to open in mid-November and will be the biggest in the world!! It will definitely make staying in Soho all the sweeter once it opens, literally.
You can see more photos from the Makeup In New York show here. 🙂
If you're not too tired from viewing the exhibition, here are some behind-the-scenes shots I took as I was setting up. I still can't believe how expensive it was to put together…cake plates don't grow on trees! Still, I was determined to have some pretty things on which to put the objects.
I got the green cake plate from Sweet and Saucy, the white one from Williams-Sonoma, and all the silver pieces (cupcake stand, sugar bowl and candy dish) were from Etsy.
The husband gathered macarons from two bakeries: Bonjour Bakery and Patisserie Poupon. I swore I'd never go back to the latter after they messed up our wedding cake, but they do have the best macarons in town so I didn't have much of a choice.
In between figuring out what should go where I made the cupcakes. I got the liners and silver ball decorations from Fancy Flours.
They were pink champagne flavored and yes, I drank the champagne that was left after making them! There wasn't much though, I needed a lot for the recipe and the bottle I had was fairly small. It's a good thing…otherwise I would have been too tipsy to take pictures. 😉
Getting there…
As you can see, the truffles that appeared on the bottom tier of the cupcake stand and on the plate with Shu palettes in the exhibition were Godiva. I had bought them a week before and it was sooo hard to resist eating them before the exhibition went up.
I finished setting up everything and took pictures. Then the sun went down and that's when the exhibition opening started! Makeup Museum staff was very eager to start dismantling everything so they could eat some of the props.
Here's Cookie Chef Babo warning Seasick Babo not to puke on the cookies.
The party's in full swing…
…and petered out after Exhibition Designer Power Babo collapsed from exhaustion. Poor little guy. I guess I worked him too hard.
Still, I think a good time was had by all!
Whew! It was a lot of work, but I’m finally ready to share the Museum’s latest special exhibition!
“Sweet Tooth: Confections in Cosmetics and Beauty” examines makeup and other beauty products that are inspired by sweet edibles. From candy to chocolates to pastries, these objects convey the charm of beautifully made desserts as well as the sheer bliss a sugar rush can bring.
The idea of using sweets and dessert fare to sell cosmetics is nothing new, dating back to at least the mid-20th century. In 1940 Elizabeth Arden released a candy-cane decorated collection that was “as gay as the circus!”
Twenty years later, Revlon introduced Berry Bon Bon, a shade that “lifts red to a new boiling point [and] dips it in sugar.” In 1972 Yardley expanded on their line of flavored lipsticks, this time including dessert flavors like Snappy Cinnamon Stick and Pink Fluffy Marshmallow.
A year later, drugstore brand Bonne Bell rolled out their “Lip Smackers” lip balms in a variety of dessert-based flavors, which are still best-sellers today. More contemporary examples include Prada’s Candy fragrance, Estée Lauder’s 2008 Chocolate Decadence collection, MAC’s Sweetie Cake and Sugarsweet collections (from 2006 and 2009, respectively) and Bobbi Brown’s 2006 Chocolate collection, for which the company collaborated with gourmet chocolate brand Vosges to create a limited-edition chocolate bar. And let’s not forget high-end-turned-Walmart brand Hard Candy.
The trend doesn’t seem to be fading any time soon. Philosophy continues to produce sweet scents in their bath and body products, their latest concoctions being Pink Jelly Bean and Raspberry Passionfruit Dreamsicle. MAC will be releasing another sweets-themed collection, Baking Beauties, in April, and Catrice is coming out with a collection called Candy Shock this summer.
In addition to celebrating delectable packaging, the Sweet Tooth exhibition seeks to provide a cursory analysis of the popularity of dessert-like beauty products. Why are beauty items reminiscent of sweets, either in scent or packaging (or both) have such longevity in beauty culture?
There are several reasons. First, cosmetic companies acquiesce to basic gender stereotypes. Baking and decorating are traditionally women’s domains. In addition, there’s the common (but not necessarily factual) presumption that all women have a raging sweet tooth. It’s widely believed that women crave sweets much more than men; they have voracious appetites for all types of sugar-filled treats, especially chocolate. Cosmetic companies employ these stereotypes as marketing tactics, as women are the primary buyers of makeup.
Secondly, dessert-like makeup serves as a substitute for a real, edible dessert, but still retains the sense of indulgence and luxury that comes from nibbling on sweets. Encouraging consumers to give in to temptation is a key theme. Estée Lauder challenges one to “tempt your color palette”: “From Berry Chocolate Truffles and Caramel
Pralines to swirls of marbled fondant dusted with golden spun sugar,
Estée Lauder has captured the essence of a luxurious chocolate boutique
filled with rich chocolate works of art.” LORAC’s Eye Candy Full Face collection claims to “satisfy your beauty cravings” with their “deluxe
assortment of sweet, tempting treats contains a luxurious selection of
fresh colors for eyes, cheeks, and lips that you simply can’t resist”. (Sometimes the idea of indulging in makeup instead of sweets isn’t so innocuous, as some ads present the dessert-like items as weight loss aids – always a bad strategy. “Indulge your taste for sweets
with Berry Bon Bon…you won’t gain a thing but admirers!” says the commercial for Revlon’s Berry Bon Bon. The commercial aired in 1960, and while cosmetic marketing has greatly shifted since then, this line of thinking unfortunately persists today. A 2012 Marie Claire blog post on Mor Lip Macarons states that with these scented lip balms, one doesn’t “have to book a flight or consume a single
calorie to get the same aesthetic satisfaction” as downing real
macarons.)
At times, the advertising for sweets-based collections goes a step further, literally transforming desserts into makeup. “Ice the eyes in almond, top your nails with sprinkles,” says the copy for MAC’s Sweetie Cake collection. Korean brand Etude House’s recent Sweet Recipe collection depicts women turning the treats they’ve just made into blush and lipsticks.
The idea of luscious, freshly-made desserts as bases for an alchemical process that results in makeup further blurs the line between cosmetics and comestibles – they become interchangeable treats. This dual nature is alluring for consumers because they feel as though they’re receiving twice the gratification. Purchasing only regular makeup or sweets is enjoyable, but buying makeup that also resembles dessert creates the impression that you’re getting two for the price of one.
Finally, the last reason dessert-like makeup prevails is simple: color. As we saw with fruit-themed cosmetics, sweets are an excellent
source of color inspiration – seemingly all shades, from deep chocolate
hues to macaron pastels, can be expressed well in a sweets-themed makeup
collection.
Now for the exhibition! Grab your sweet of choice and enjoy. 🙂
I believe this is the first time in the Museum’s history that I have incorrectly labeled an object. The palette in the back that’s closed (fortunately) is actually the Raspberry Mocha palette, not Mint and Vanilla.
The
bottom tier contains Majolica Majorca Puff de Cheek blushes in
Raspberry Macaron and Apricot Macaron, along with Etude House Cupcake
Eyes and All Over Colors.
Etude House Ice Cream nail polishes:
The collage consists of the following ads: Jo Malone Sugar and Spice collection, Shiseido Candy Tone lipsticks, Jill Stuart Patisserie collection, Clinique Chubby Sticks (one for lips and one for eyes), Shu Chocolate Donna, MAC Sugarsweet, Bobbi Brown Chocolate, Bourjois Paris Sucré, and Estée Lauder Chocolate Decadence collections.
Exhibition Notes
1. Inspiration
As a huge dessert fan myself (I guess I fit the stereotype!), I’m immediately drawn to any makeup or beauty item that looks or smells like I could eat it. But while the objects themselves were definitely inspiring, a French influence was strong as well. As MAC’s Sugarsweet ad says, “Temptation is everywhere – luscious, whipped-cream decadent, deliciously decorative frosting colours and sugared almond combinations. Like peering through the window of a Parisian patisserie, you’ll want to become one of each!” It’s true – when I went to Paris a few years back I was dumbfounded at the abundance and quality of the desserts. There were patisseries on literally every street, and when I had my first Laduree macaron on that trip, I realized the French really knew what they were doing when it comes to sweets. Sure, I had heard of pain au chocolat and macarons before I visited, but didn’t know just how amazing they were until I got there. So I wanted the exhibition to have a slightly French mood as an homage to their desserts. Also, the “I Want Candy” scene from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette has stayed fresh in my mind all these years, and I wanted to highlight the luxury and extravagance of both gourmet desserts and high-end makeup. In terms of styling the actual table,well, I blame Pinterest. I never really paid too much attention to party planning and design until I started planning my wedding a few years ago, and I just fell in love with all of the little details. My aforementioned affinity for sweets, combined with my more recent interest in party planning, led to an obsession with dessert tables. And once I got on Pinterest there was no turning back. Given the theme, this exhibition was a great opportunity to depart from the Museum’s usual shelves and play with dessert table styling.
Marie Antoinette-era stylings also were the inspiration for the colors I wanted to emphasize (mint green and pale pink), but this time, it was Marie Antoinette by way of contemporary Chanel. While researching Chanel’s 2013 Cruise collection for the Mouche de Beaute Highlighting Powder, I was struck by the candy-colored wigs the models were sporting for the runway show.I also thought touches of silver (as seen in the cupcake stand, sugar bowl and candy dish) would give it a fancy, gourmet feel.
2. Time frame
I had the idea to do a dessert/makeup exhibition since last summer. Once I saw Shu’s Chocolate Donna collection and the LORAC Eye Candy and Too-Faced Love Sweet Love sets late last fall, I knew I had plenty of fodder to pull together a good exhibition. I did want to have it posted right before Valentine’s Day, but then I stumbled across the Etude House Sweet Recipe collection and decided to postpone it, as I considered those to be essential pieces for the exhibition and it would take a few weeks for them to arrive from Korea.
3. Things I would have done differently.
I’ll start with the details. First, it would have been great if I had access to really fancy cupcakes and pastries. But no bakeries around here do anything like that and I lack the necessary decorating skill, so homemade cupcakes it was. For the labels, I would have printed them out on white paper instead of pink so that it didn’t clash with the tablecloth. I forgot to specify to the designer (a.k.a. the husband) that I wanted white paper before he printed them out on pink. With not much time left to photograph everything before what little daylight we had faded away, there was no time to reprint them on white paper. And the tablecloth…I wasn’t expecting how wrinkled it was going to be when I unfolded it, so I didn’t unfold it until right before I started installing the exhibition. Only too late did I realize that it was totally rumpled and had no time to iron it.
On a bigger scale, space is always an issue. Not necessarily a lack of space, but since the exhibitions are taking place in my home I am somewhat limited by the layout. The collage hanging in the back was really just a way to cover up the TV. The credenza that the exhibition was set up on is way too heavy to be moved conveniently, and there was also no place to move it without some of the artwork on the walls getting in the way anyway. So we had to leave that there. Same issue with the TV – too cumbersome to take off the wall, and too time-consuming to Photoshop out all the holes in the wall where the wires go in behind the TV. Overall, it was much more convenient and less expensive to make a collage out of ads rather than moving the TV or having a big poster designed and printed. However, I can assure you that if the Museum did occupy a real, public space and had unlimited funds, the backdrop for the table would be magnificent.
Speaking of funding, I would dearly love to re-stage the exhibition, possibly in a different space (don’t know where) and hire a professional photographer. While the pictures are slightly improved from previous exhibitions due to my purchase of a new camera, they are nowhere near professional and thus do not capture the beauty of the objects and table setup.
I would have done more research and written a more thoughtful and polished essay about sweets-themed makeup and the relationship between women, dessert and cosmetics (would love to work in Janine Antoni’s 1992 work Gnaw somehow). For a temporary exhibition I just couldn’t put in the time, but maybe for the coffee table book I could do this, especially if I re-do the exhibition and have it professionally photographed.
In terms of curation, I was pleased with all of the objects. The only things I would have added would be the Creme Caramel Shimmer Powder and Caramel Swirl lip gloss from the Estée Lauder Chocolate Decadence collection, Steamcream’s “Lola” tin, which is adorned with a cupcake illustration, and these gorgeous cupcake-shaped “bath bakes” from Miss Patisserie. I was going to order all of this and put the exhibition off even further, but then I decided it was probably going to be too much to fit on the table. Plus having too many objects negates the whole idea of curating – each piece in an exhibition is selected for a good reason.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! And if you want to see more on the exhibition, check out my post on what went on behind the scenes and pictures from the exhibition opening. 😉
Shiseido's been rolling out new products and doing lots of events in honor of their 140th anniversary this year. To add to the celebration, the company released this lovely camellia highlighting/blush compact.
With flash:
The Shiseido Corporate Museum (more on that tomorrow) hosted an exhibition on the company's use of the camellia. "In 1915, Shiseido's first president Shinzo Fukuhara replaced the hawk emblem trademark used by the company's original pharmacy business with a camellia blossom. Ever since, this camellia trademark has been closely and fondly associated with Shiseido as a company. What does the camellia mean for the Japanese people? What does it mean for Shiseido? As the camellias came into bloom to welcome Shiseido's 140th anniversary this year, the year's first planned exhibition considered the history of the Japanese people's relationship with the camellia, and looked back on the history of the company's camellia-related products and designs using the camellia motif." I would have given my right arm to see this exhibition, but Japan is a long way off for a quick museum visit! Fortunately, at their website Shiseido fills us in a little bit as to the meaning of the flower for their brand. "When the company was known as a pharmacy, its trademark was a brave hawk, but when it shifted its focus to cosmetics, it was thought that the stern image of a hawk was unsuitable. It is said that the camellia was chosen because the best-selling product was Koyu Hanatsubaki (hair oil; Hanatsubaki is Japanese for camellia). At that time, trademarks in Japan were typically traditional patterns from ancient family crests, but the Western design of the camellia mark was a great novelty. The camellia trademark was designed by the company's first president, Shinzo Fukuhara. The original nine camellia leaves were reduced to seven by the Design Department staff. In 1918 its design was near today's, and in 1919 the trademark was registered. Many small changes have been made since, and in 1974 the present design was decided on."
Additionally, there was once something called the Camellia Club – a membership service for loyal Shiseido customers that was launched in 1937. Club members received exclusive pamphlets and invitations to beauty classes. The biggest spenders received commemorative gifts – I'm thinking this is sort of like Sephora's VIB program in which customers can become "VIBs" after spending $350 in a given year. "The first year's gift was an art deco metal vanity case, the following year's was a Nishijin handbag, and in following years continued with ceramic sash clips and other luxurious items." While I enjoy the more modern perks of today's membership programs (free samples, discount codes, etc.), receiving keepsakes from the company sounds great to a collector like me.
Stay tuned for more on the history of Shiseido tomorrow, when I will highlight some pieces from their museum.
So exciting! There’s a new beauty exhibit at the Center for History in South Bend, Indiana called “Gizmos, Corsets & Concoctions: Our Obsession with Health & Beauty.” From the website: “Gizmos, Corsets & Concoctions: Our Obsession with Health & Beauty explores some of what has been experienced over time in the pursuit of health and beauty. Seeking to look or feel better, people have willing to imbibe, don and endure many interesting cure-alls throughout the years. A wide variety of medicinal and cosmetic offerings have been available, some hawked by fast-talking peddlers and others provided by highly respected institutions. Whether looking for better health, treatment for ailments, or transformation into the current pinnacle of beauty, people have turned to medical sources, even the ‘magic potions’ of sideshows. Some did the trick; others caused more harm than good.”
The exhibit contains beauty ads from the 19th and 20th centuries, contraptions like a “permanent wave” hair-styling machine from the ’30s, and even a replica of a doctor’s office with elixirs and tonics. Too bad I’m not going to Indiana any time soon! I’d love to see it.
