Hello! It’s been a while since anything has been posted at the blog. I just wanted to pop in and give a quick recap of my 72-hour voyage to the UK, where I presented “Makeup Design, Compulsory Beauty, and the Modern American Woman, 1920-1960” at the 32nd annual Women’s History Network conference at Royal Holloway University.

I had expected a virtual option, but upon learning there wasn’t one I had to make the very difficult decision to travel internationally for the first time in nearly a decade and traveling anywhere since February 2020. Between COVID anxiety, travel anxiety and my usual baseline state of “total basket case”, it was incredibly stressful and scary, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity! Gotta build up that CV if I ever am really going to apply for PhD programs. 😉

Here’s the abstract: “From ‘automatic’ lipsticks and disposable face powder sheets to multi-use compacts and retractable brushes, the cosmetics industry introduced thousands of products during the first half of the 20th century to accommodate women’s rapidly changing lives. This paper will explore how certain makeup packaging reflected the fundamental shift in women’s daily activities, their relationship to beauty and their identity as modern women. I will highlight several key cosmetic artifacts that were specifically designed and marketed as more convenient alternatives to existing products. By allowing women to apply makeup faster or on-the-go, these objects were touted as cutting-edge, superior inventions that boasted freedom from time-consuming beauty routines and the hassle of cluttered vanities or purses, as well as the prevention of social faux pas. I will also examine how these artifacts embodied social expectations for women in terms of beauty and femininity. Novel makeup may have reduced the amount of time and labor women allocated to engaging in beauty practices; in doing so, however, these products tacitly encouraged women to adhere to beauty standards at all times. The modern woman could travel, work, participate in athletics, etc. but still was expected to maintain her appearance – thanks to new developments in makeup design.”

And here are some Makeup Museum objects that were featured in the presentation, along with some that fit the theme but not the 15-minute time limit – just couldn’t include everything.

Of course, some museum staff tagged along. We had a lovely tea at the hotel.


In addition to all my other neuroses, I have crippling social anxiety so I didn’t “network” as much as I could have, but I tried. Makeup Museum business cards made it into the hands of a few people. All in all, I think it went well and was worth the trip. I must give a shout-out to the wonderful Lucy Jane Santos, who posted the call for papers and kindly read through both the abstract and presentation – I would not have attended without her expertise and guidance! Oh, and if you’re interested in the topic, stay tuned for a post at the CHMSN Substack.
2023 was a particularly quiet year on the blog and social media front due to some big projects! A book chapter, two grant proposals, two talks, and the website redesign meant I couldn't put out much content. I hope to remedy this in 2024, but I can't make any promises, especially as I'm writing another book chapter due in September, two more grant proposals, two papers and the website redesign is ongoing. Here's my attempt to prioritize projects this year. (Yes, I realize we're already 4 months in!)
First up is the Museum's exhibition shortlist, the topics that I think are the most important and might be doable by myself. Following the same grouping as 2023, in addition to the shortlist, the second group consists of exhibitions that I think would have wide appeal but require co-curation, and the 3rd category is for lower priority topics, i.e. ones that are good but not quite as pressing as the shortlist. If the title has no notes next to it, that means the description and my thoughts on these haven't changed since previous years.
Priority:
- "Indies and Influencers: The Changing Makeup Landscape"
- "Youthquake: Teens and Makeup" – tweaked the title a bit from last year, and given all the hubbub around Sephora tweens as of late, the exhibition would include this age group as well.
- "Color History Through Cosmetics: Blue"
- "The Medium is the Message: Makeup as Art"
- "Flutter: A History of Eyelash Adornment" – So, this isn't a brand new topic as I mentioned it last year, but I did change around the working title and gave it a lot more consideration, and concluded that this most likely will be the next exhibition. There are so many different subtopics and areas to weave in, like when it was decided that long, dark lashes are beautiful, the dangers of lash tinting and false lashes, and moral considerations – lots of vintage lashes used human hair, which probably was not gathered in an ethical way. See also: mink eyelashes.
- "Ancient Allure: Egyptomania in Makeup"
- "Just Desserts: Sweet Tooth Revisited"
- "Beauty Marked in Your Eyes: A History of '90s Makeup" - It will be 10 years in the fall since I had this idea and not much progress, but I'm still not giving up!
- "Design is a Good Idea: Innovations in Cosmetics Design and Packaging"
- "Nothing to Hide: Makeup as Mask"

Here are the ones the Museum will need much help with.
- "From Male Polish to Guyliner: A History of Men's Makeup"
- "Queens: A History of Drag Makeup"
- "Aliengelic: A Pat McGrath Retrospective"
- "Ugly Makeup: A Revolution in Aesthetics"
- Fashion x Makeup (still haven't thought of a decent title!)
- "Working Beauty: Makeup Artistry as Profession"
- "Mineral, Animal, Vegetable: 5,000 Years of Cosmetic Ingredients"

And the last set, which are things I'm still debating or that need to wait a bit.
- "From Mods and Hippies to Supervixens and Grrrls: '60s and '90s Makeup in Dialogue"
- "Gilded Splendor: A History of Gold Makeup"
- "Vanity Projects: Celebrity Makeup Brands"
- "Black and Blue: Punk Makeup, 1975-2000"
- "Pandemic: Makeup in the Age of COVID-19" – Sorry to everyone who thinks COVID is over, but it's not, so this is sadly remaining tabled.
- "Catch the Light: Glitter in Cosmetics from Ancient Times Through Today"
"Wanderlust: Travel-Inspired Beauty"
- "By Any Other Name: The Rose in Makeup"

Poor little neglected blog! I just can't seem to balance it with the bigger projects like papers and book chapters. I am aiming for at least 15 posts this year, but once again, I can't make any promises.
MM Musings (1-2): The next installment will be about problematic objects and how/if to display them. Museum accessibility and revisiting permanent collections and the issue of ethics in collecting are still up there too. I've also been dipping my toe into material culture and design history, so maybe something about the materiality of makeup objects.
Makeup as Muse (1): Oof. No Makeup as Muse in 2023. In addition to last year's shortlist of Janine Antoni, Rachel Lachowitz, Asa Jungnelius or Tomomi Nishizawa, I'm now looking at Anika Leila and Caroline Zurmely. I was also thinking that if the Museum should ever have a physical space, we could hold painting classes where people would bring in their expired makeup (or use some provided by me, LOL) and be their own Makeup as Muse. And of course I'd still love to do a whole exhibition on Makeup as Muse artists.
MM Mailbag (2): Again, none in 2023, so at least one this year would be helpful! Would also like to return to Dream Teams.
Vintage/brief histories (4-5): Mostly the same as the past two years, but more ideas popped up later in 2023, which are: oshiguma, Chinese beauty advertising of the 1920s and '30s, MCM design (had way too much fun with Art Deco last year!), the "multicultural" wars of the '90s, and histories of Femme Arsenal, Agnes Sorel, Xanadu by Faberge, Eddie Senz, Alo Cosmetics and Mona Manet Cosmetics. Really need to work on local (Baltimore/Maryland) beauty history too. And while I didn't get to it for this year's National Denim Day, I'd like to write something about makeup and healing from sexual assault (and while it's unrelated to the purpose of National Denim Day, there is a lot of denim-themed makeup.) To save you a click, here are some ideas from previous years: cosmetic practices of various Indigenous peoples, ear makeup, mouches and skin tone, true crime and makeup, a history of face gems, bindis, matching portraits on vintage compacts, the art of shibayama inlay, makeup for glasses wearers, spray (airbrush) makeup, Russian cosmetics during the communist era, guns and makeup, Riot Grrrl makeup, vices in makeup divided into 4 subjects (gambling/casinos, smoking/cigarettes, junk food and alcohol), dolls and makeup, histories of early modern powder applicators, setting sprays and color-changing cosmetics, copycats, profiles of some more obscure makeup artists from the '60s through the '90s, and histories of defunct brands (a slew of celebrity lines, Inoui ID, and revisit Stephane Marais), especially Black-owned brands like Marva Louis and Rose Morgan.
Continuations: Still need to finish up posts on Dorothy Gray's portrait series, Chinese makeup brands, and clothing and color coordination.
Topics to revisit (1-2): Mostly the same as 2022 and 2023 sadly, since I still did not tackle them: faux freckles, non-traditional lipstick shades, and a deeper dive into surrealism and makeup. I also need to do updates of both the mermaid exhibition and the Stila girls exhibition. 😉
Artist collabs (5): If you thought last year's list was overwhelming, it grew again in 2023. Additions include Aya Mobadeen for Bare Minerals, foxco for Clarins, Nicolas Lefeuvre for Shu Uemura, Elzbieta Radziwill for Sisley, the Eeni Edit for Ulta, Elizaveta Porodina for Addiction, and the Lancome Louvre collection. And already in 2024 there are a few: Margot Reverdy for Clé de Peau, Masaru Suzuki for Etvos, and Kerri Rosenthal for Bobbi Brown.
Book reviews (2-5): The list continues to be staggering. Take a peek at the Beauty Library and let me know what you'd like to see a review for.
Fashion: Off-White, Lauren Goodday for Prados, Marco Ribeiro for Pleasing, Sabyasachi and Shuting Qiu for Estée Lauder are the priorities, along with couple of vintage brands (Diane von Furstenberg, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Henry Rosenfeld).
Color Connections (1-2): Slowed down from 2023, but still keeping up with them!
Tabled for now: history of colored mascara, how makeup language has evolved (for example, why we typically say "blush" now instead of "rouge" for cheek color, the idea of makeup as jewelry, day and night makeup, wear-to-work makeup from the 1970s-90s, profiles of Halston, Calvin Klein and Nina Ricci brands, BIPOC salespeople and customers in MLM companies, and makeup ad illustrators.
New series: the Collector Chronicles. This would be a series of interviews with other makeup collectors and maybe it could be expand to include collectors whose interests fall outside of makeup. I've met so many fellow collectors online and would love to hear more about their collections!
Miscellaneous: Same as 2023, but adding a catch-up on Shu Uemura holiday collections.
Books are the same as last year with one new idea: if there seems to be interest, I could see the Flutter exhibition becoming a book. I finally got around to reading Zahra Hankir's excellent Eyeliner: A Cultural History and I was really inspired! I think a history of eyelash adornment in a similar format could be useful too.

What exhibitions and blog posts do you want to see the most? And what do you think about lashes as the next exhibition topic?
A long-time Makeup Museum supporter invited me to speak at her organization's Pride festivities! I'm so incredibly honored! I'll be at the Old State House at Delaware State Parks on Saturday, June 10 at 1pm. Details here (and yes, it's free!) Hope you can make it!

I am so honored to present at the Art Deco Society UK's winter event series! On Tuesday, March 14 at 7pm BST (3pm EST) join the Museum for "Makeup Moderne: Art Deco Influence in Cosmetics Design". Admittedly I knew very little about Art Deco so it's been quite the learning process, but I hope I deliver a good talk. Get your tickets here.

2022 was the year I realized that I shouldn't try to stick to any kind of schedule in terms of blogging or even exhibition openings. I need to assign target dates, but also try not to beat myself up too much when inevitably they are not met. No progress was made on many of the blog topics, exhibition ideas, and bigger initiatives from last year – for example, as predicted, the website is exactly the same. Nevertheless I want to keep soldiering forward.
In an effort to have slightly more realistic expectations and stay focused, this year I've made three categories of exhibition topics. The first group is the Museum's shortlist, topics that I think and that might be doable by myself. The second group consists of exhibitions that I think would have wide appeal but require co-curation, which, again, will be difficult as no payment can be offered at this time. The last category highlights the non-priority topics, i.e. ones that are good but not quite as immediate as the first group. If the title has no notes next to it, that means the description hasn't changed since last year.
Priority:
- "Indies and Influencers: The Changing Makeup Landscape"
- "Age Before Beauty: Teens and Makeup"
- "Vanity Projects: Celebrity Makeup Brands"
- "Color History Through Cosmetics: Blue"
- "The Medium is the Message: Makeup as Art"- same themes as described in 2022, but I'd love to add a smaller gallery just for Makeup as Muse artists.
- "Ancient Allure: Egyptomania in Makeup" – Tweaked the title from last year, and since I delivered a paper on this subject in October 2022, it might not take quite as much time to pull together an exhibition. Plus, I just discovered the Cleveland Museum of Art is opening an Egyptomania in fashion exhibition in the spring, so there's definitely interest.
- "Just Desserts: Sweet Tooth Revisited" – I'd love for Sweet Tooth to return on its 10-year anniversary. A section on savory food would have to be added since bizarre food collabs reached a new level in 2022.
- "Beauty Marked in Your Eyes: A History of '90s Makeup" - Nearly 10 years and still not much progress since I first got the idea in 2014, but I'm not giving up yet. I was thinking it might be better to try to work on individual segments than the entire history. So far, chapters include: the rise of makeup artist brands, the impact of the internet on cosmetics, the battle for the "multicultural" market of the early '90s, makeup in various subcultures/genres (grrrls, grunge, goth, hip-hop) and how these styles got co-opted by the mainstream beauty industry. The epilogue would be the transition to Y2k makeup and the impact of '9os makeup on today's makeup, including various comebacks.
- "Design is a Good Idea: Innovations in Cosmetics Design and Packaging"
- "Nothing to Hide: Makeup as Mask"

Here are the ones the Museum will need much help with. Who wants to be a volunteer curator?
- "From Male Polish to Guyliner: A History of Men's Makeup"
- "Queens: A History of Drag Makeup"
- "Aliengelic: A Pat McGrath Retrospective"
- "Ugly Makeup: A Revolution in Aesthetics"
- Fashion x Makeup (still haven't thought of a decent title!)
- "Working Beauty: Makeup Artistry as Profession" – I found myself pondering who the first makeup artist was (and I love the hilarious Makeup Artist Memes Instagram account), so perhaps a history of how the career of makeup artist came to fruition would be interesting.
- "Mineral, Animal, Vegetable: 5,000 Years of Cosmetic Ingredients" – We really do put a lot of weird stuff on our faces in the name of beauty. This exhibition would explore the main ingredients used in makeup, along with the more questionable and downright dangerous ones from history.

And the last set, which are things I'm still debating or that need to wait a bit.
- "From Mods and Hippies to Supervixens and Grrrls: '60s and '90s Makeup in Dialogue"
- "Gilded Splendor: A History of Gold Makeup"
- "Black and Blue: Punk Makeup, 1975-2000"
- "Pandemic: Makeup in the Age of COVID-19" – As COVID case numbers remain high, this is getting tabled until it might actually be reasonably safe to go outside without a mask.
- "Catch the Light: Glitter in Cosmetics from Ancient Times Through Today"
"Wanderlust: Travel-Inspired Beauty"
- "By Any Other Name: The Rose in Makeup"
- "Lash Out! A History of Eyelash Beauty" – This one is new and while it might be boring, I am honestly sick of lipstick getting all the attention. There are so many books on it, why not have an extensive look at another makeup category? Thinking eyeliner, blush, highlighter and face powder might all be great options too.

Now for the blog posts. It's too much, but my brain is so eager to research and write!
MM Musings (1-2): In addition to museums as activists/agents of social change (which is coming soon!), I want to write about museum accessibility and revisit building a permanent collection and the issue of ethics in collecting. As the Museum evolved over the years to discuss makeup prior to 1900 and the cosmetic practices of Indigenous peoples, related objects have been on my collecting radar. But none of them have been purchased because their provenance remains questionable. This could also tie into the idea of using replicas of ancient artifacts as a more ethical way of displaying them. Oh, and I've been very inspired by the DMDA – a post exploring in-person events and activities would be really fun.
Makeup as Muse (1): Finally got around to Sylvie Fleury in 2022, so hopefully will be covering Janine Antoni, Rachel Lachowitz, Asa Jungnelius or Tomomi Nishizawa. But there were a couple of others I discovered in the past year, so those are possibilities too.
MM Mailbag (2): I only got one MM Mailbag post up in 2022. Two posts in 2023 would be ambitious, but I'd like to get them up as I think people searching for information find them helpful.
Vintage/brief histories (4-5): Mostly the same as last year, but I am sidetracked by newer ideas I had later in 2022, which are: ear makeup (the knee makeup article yielded a decent amount of website traffic), mouches and skin tone, true crime and makeup, a history of face gems, bindis (got a little obsessed with kumkum and bindi boxes), matching portraits on vintage compacts, the art of shibayama inlay, makeup for glasses wearers, spray (airbrush) makeup, Russian cosmetics during the communist era, guns and makeup, and Riot Grrrl makeup. Local (Baltimore/Maryland) beauty history might be interesting too. I also like the idea of an article on vices in makeup divided into 4 subjects: gambling/casinos, smoking/cigarettes, junk food and alcohol. Previous ideas included dolls and makeup, histories of early modern powder applicators, setting sprays and color-changing cosmetics, copycats, profiles of some more obscure makeup artists from the '60s through the '90s, and histories of defunct brands (a slew of celebrity lines, Diane von Furstenberg, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Inoui ID, and revisit Stephane Marais), especially Black-owned brands like Marva Louis and Rose Morgan.
Trends (1): Licensing deals are at the forefront.
Continuations: Still need to finish up posts on Dorothy Gray's portrait series, Chinese makeup brands, and clothing and color coordination.
Topics to revisit (1-2): Mostly the same as last year, sadly, since I still did not tackle them: faux freckles, non-traditional lipstick shades, and a deeper dive into surrealism and makeup. I'd expand to Dada so I can include Rrose Sélavy, this very intriguing woman, and possibly incorporate the MSCHF x Fenty collaboration, since it read very Dada to me.
Artist collabs (5): The list is absolutely staggering. In 2022 alone there were the following collabs: Marleigh Culver for Laura Mercier, Steffi Lynn for Ulta, Robin Eisenberg for Urban Decay, Obi for Fenty, Katie Scott for Hourglass, Elie Top for Clé de Peau, Cho Gi Seok for RMK, Kazuki Hioki for Osaji, Caho for Blendberry, and Andy Paiko for Kanebo. There are tons of other collabs from previous years too, including Kelly Beeman for Laura Mercier, Charlotte Gestaut for Clé de Peau, Cecilia Carlstedt and Ethar Balkhair for Bobbi Brown, Masumi Ishida for Osaji, Åsa Ekström for Estée Lauder, El Seed for MAC, Connor Tingley for NARS, and the Shiseido Gallery compacts and lip balms. Not to mention I found a couple of Native American artists who made some beautiful pieces, and some other artists whose work appeared on vintage compacts (Raymond Peynet and Jean Cocteau, for starters.) The series on the artists whose work appears on Pat McGrath's packaging is better suited to the Aliengelic exhibition so that might be at the end of the queue for now.
Book reviews (2-5): The list is seriously out of control. Two more beauty books are coming out soon, plus I came across a couple I didn't know about previously.
Fashion: The collections of Dries van Noten, Off-White, and Marco Ribeiro for Pleasing are at the top of the list, along with a couple of vintage brands.
Color Connections (1-2): Slowed down a bit from the beginning of 2022, but still keeping up with them!
Miscellaneous: Kawaii collections like Kakao Friends, BTS, Sticky Monster Lab and others, along with newcomer Isamaya Beauty, a line by makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench. And I want to keep plugging away on Indigenous peoples' makeup and lesser-known LGTBQ+ histories. I'm finding the latter difficult to locate – the same figures and stories keep popping up, and I want to find others that haven't been shared much before. Finally, it's not even a fully formed idea, but I'm giving myself a crash course in material culture, so I'd like to write something about how that relates to makeup objects. Oh, and some reflections on the Makeup Museum in honor of its 15 year anniversary, which is coming up in August.
Tabled for now: history of colored mascara, how makeup language has evolved (for example, why we typically say "blush" now instead of "rouge" for cheek color, the idea of makeup as jewelry, day and night makeup, wear-to-work makeup from the 1970s-90s, profiles of Halston, Calvin Klein and Nina Ricci brands, BIPOC salespeople and customers in MLM companies, and makeup ad illustrators.
And finally, the books I can't seem to even start. Meh. New idea for this year is an edited volume of alternative makeup histories. I've seen many examples of "beyond the canon" in other fields and think a book like this is needed for makeup, and I think the Makeup Museum would be perfect to put out such a publication since it has always tried to tell the story of makeup in a different way and uncover hidden histories. Still need a title.

So, tell me: which of the topics from the first exhibition category and which blog posts do you want to see the most? And do you want to see exhibitions and blog posts or would you rather see a book finally get published and the website redone? It's a constant battle between regularly putting out content and devoting time to larger projects.
Not entirely sure how to write one of these, but I did my best. Feedback is appreciated. 🙂 The annual report can also be found on the Museum's information page.
Download Makeup Museum FY 2022 annual report


Just popping in to let you know that the Makeup Museum will be giving a talk on Jewish pioneers in makeup for the National Council of Jewish Women on Monday, January 31 at 7:30pm EST. Register here. Hope you can make it! 🙂
Here we go again! I was not nearly as productive on blog posts and exhibitions as I had hoped in 2021, but that was due to some behind-the-scenes things going on – namely, making the Museum a nonprofit organization, writing a land acknowledgment and developing a diversity report card (which is coming soon!) I must preface the following exhibition and blog topics by stating that there will be more behind-the-scenes things going on in 2022, so it will be even quieter than in 2021.
I won't bore you with the details, but I've made decisions about two major initiatives that have been rattling about for years: collections management software and overhauling the website. Since I can't hire a professional to help with either of these massive tasks, they will be very slow going and will require cutting back on blog posts and exhibitions (and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the website is exactly the same 12 months from now.) My goal is to curate one exhibition and however many blog posts I can manage – I'm hoping for 20-30, but even that seems very ambitious. So with that, let's take a peek at the topics I have brewing.
In an effort to narrow down the amount of exhibition ideas I have, last year I came up with a priority list of topics that might be doable in 1-5 years (if the Museum is still in existence) and a secondary list for ones that are not quite as high priority. The descriptions are basically the same as last year and I hope to think of better titles. Once again the husband came up with handy graphics. The first four are new ideas I came up with in the past few months, so feedback is greatly appreciated in terms of how they rank in relation to the others. Also, while I plan having people assist in specific parts of exhibitions, i.e. writing the introduction or an essay on one aspect of the topic, there are four exhibitions I absolutely can't take on mostly by myself. Whether they're a group effort or involve just one other person, co-curation is necessary. It will be difficult to get co-curators, however, given that it would be a volunteer (i.e. unpaid) effort. So while these exhibitions are included in the priority list, none of them will be the 2022 exhibition as it will take time to find funding or someone who will co-curate for free.
Priority:
- "Indies and Influencers: The Changing Makeup Landscape" – I am so fascinated by the number of indie brands on the market as well as their creativity. Influencers are another fairly recent development and I think it would be interesting to see how these two major developments interact and also how they're shaping makeup history.
- "Age Before Beauty: Teens and Makeup" – This is pretty straightforward. It would be a history of makeup marketed to teens, makeup advice for teens, and how past and current generations of teens view makeup. The segment on '90s prom makeup is already set. 😉
- "Vanity Projects: Celebrity Makeup Brands" – Again, self-explanatory. You would be shocked how long celebrity endorsements and lines have been around.
- I don't have a title for this one, but it would be similar to the big art x makeup exhibition/book. I think a deep dive into all the various connections between fashion and makeup is in order – from fashion brands launching makeup lines, designer collaborations and runway makeup to makeup as jewelry and a history of makeup/clothing color coordination, I'm aiming for a comprehensive look at the relationship between fashion and makeup.
- "Aliengelic: Pat McGrath Retrospective" – I'd strongly prefer having a makeup artist co-curate with me. Alternate title instead of Aliengelic: "The Mother of Modern Makeup".
- "Black and Blue: A History of Punk Makeup"
- "Catch the Light: Glitter in Cosmetics from Ancient Times Through Today" – this one is just so enormous I still don't know where to start even though it's been on my radar for a couple years now.
- "Color History Through Cosmetics: Blue" – I decided to scrap the gold-themed exhibition in exchange for blue. I discovered so many interesting things about blue makeup while pulling together some trivia on Instagram, there's definitely enough there for an exhibition. I'd also love to cover other colors.
- "Ancient Allure: Egypt-Inspired Makeup and Beauty" – This one is still proving popular when I've polled on social media. My big issue is how to handle the cultural appropriation/racist aspects of it.
- "Queens: A History of Drag Makeup" – Great topic but overwhelming. Need much help.
- "Just Desserts: Sweet Tooth Revisited" – If the Museum is still around next year, Sweet Tooth will definitely make a triumphant return on its 10-year anniversary. I would also add a section on savory food themed makeup and possibly booze…some of the things I've seen are just bonkers and have to be included.
- "Beauty Marked in Your Eyes: A History of '90s Makeup" – If you've been following this for a while you can see I tweaked the title from "She's All That". I was in the shower and listening to "Now They'll Sleep" by Belly, and the new exhibition title just hit me like lightning! You know I've been wanting to do a comprehensive exhibition and book since at least 2014, but just never seem to have the time. We'll see if I make any progress this year.
- "Pandemic: Makeup in the Age of COVID-19" – Depressing but historically significant. I'll need to wait until (if) the pandemic is safely behind us, but I am gathering bits of what will surely become history now.
- "Ugly Makeup: A Revolution in Aesthetics" – I still love Makeup Brutalism and her other effort Ugly Makeup Revolution. It would be amazing to have her curate with me. The exhibition would be a deep dive into how makeup is going beyond basic artistry and self-expression.
- "Nothing to Hide: Makeup as Mask" – This was the other choice I included in the Twitter and Instagram polls. While respondents chose Egyptian-themed makeup over this one, the mask theme in makeup goes back centuries and would certainly make a rich topic, plus I could do a subsection on mask wearing's effects on makeup in the pandemic.
- "From Male Polish to Guyliner: A History of Men's Makeup" – Would love for the author of Pretty Boys to co-curate!

Secondary list/things I'm not sure about:
- "From Mods and Hippies to Supervixens and Grrrls: '60s and '90s Makeup in Dialogue" – In my opinion, cultural developments in both the late '60s and mid-1990s radically changed the beauty industry and gave birth to new ideas about how people view and wear makeup; there are many parallels between the two eras. I feel, however, that I'd need to do the '90s exhibition and book first so this would have to wait.
- "Gilded Splendor: A History of Gold Makeup" – This is nice but the more I thought about it the more I didn't think it would be a priority.
- "Design is a Good Idea: Innovations in Cosmetics Design and Packaging" – Another that I still like but not so much as to make it immediate. I do love the notion of including a huge section on novelty packaging.
- "The Medium is the Message: Makeup as Art" – This will trace how makeup is marketed and conceived of as traditional fine art mediums, i.e painting and sculpture, artist collaborations for packaging (naturally) and also how art history is incorporated into makeup advertising and collections. Consider it a comprehensive discussion of this post while working in canonical artists whose work has appeared on makeup packaging. While the idea of makeup as fine art was the Museum's original raison d'etre, the expression of this has been overwhelmingly white. The artists used in vintage ads such Lancome's are white and even collections today don't collaborate with many BIPOC artists, especially Black ones.
- "Wanderlust: Travel-Inspired Beauty" – honestly, this topic is sort of boring me now. But I figured I'd still keep it on the back burner.
- "By Any Other Name: The Rose in Makeup and Beauty" – I pitched this idea to the FIT Museum as a small add-on to their "Ravishing" exhibition. They weren't interested and now that the exhibition has passed I'm tabling it for now.

And here are the blog posts.
MM Musings (1-2): Really want to write about museum accessibility and how museums can be agents of social change. Those topics are huge so it'll probably have to be one or the other.
Makeup as Muse (3): I'm so ashamed I didn't get to a single Makeup as Muse in 2021. On my shortlist: Sylvie Fleury, Rachel Lachowitz, Asa Jungnelius and Tomomi Nishizawa.
MM Mailbag (2-3): The MM mailbag overflowed yet again in 2021 and they took a considerable amount of time to research and respond. We'll see what I can get around to sharing.
Vintage/brief histories (4-5): I still want to go ahead with histories of powder applicators, setting sprays and maybe colored mascara, color-changing cosmetics and how makeup language has evolved (for example, why we typically say "blush" now instead of "rouge" for cheek color.) The author of Cosmetics and Skin kindly suggested an article on copycats, i.e. how companies clearly ripped each other off and continue to do so today in terms of packaging, ad campaigns, etc. which is a great topic. I'm also interested in a history of Day of the Dead makeup, and the Museum's Revlon Futurama post got me thinking more about the idea of makeup as jewelry. I still need to finish the series of Dorothy Gray ads featuring portraits of well-to-do "society" ladies, and I'd like to pursue wear-to-work makeup from the 1970s-90s, histories of defunct brands (a bunch of celebrity lines, Diane von Furstenberg, Halston, Ralph Lauren, Benetton, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Nina Ricci and Inoui ID, and revisit Stephane Marais), especially Black-owned brands like Naomi Sims and Rose Morgan. I still want to write something about Black salespeople and customers in direct sales companies, i.e. Avon, Mary King by Watkins, Fuller, Artistry by Amway, etc. but given that it could be an entire book I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do on it. Finally, in 2021 I became quite fascinated with paper mache lipstick holders so hope to work up a history of those and other doll-inspired lipsticks in general, along with profiles of some more obscure makeup artists from the '60s through the '90s, and a feature on makeup ad illustrators. Whew!
Trends (1): Makeup brand merchandise and swag – another I STILL didn't cover in 2021 as planned. I'm also very interested in the video game trend in makeup, but I'm hoping this amazing person writes about it instead!
Topics to revisit (1-2): Same as last year, sadly, since I still did not tackle them: faux freckles, non-traditional lipstick shades, and cultural appropriation in cosmetics advertising. Also, perhaps a deeper dive into surrealism and makeup.
Artist collabs (5): Yes, still trying to catch up on some of 2020's holiday releases, including Fee Greening for Mikimoto and Cecilia Carlstedt for Bobbi Brown. There was also a beautiful surprise Japan-exclusive holiday collection from Clé de Peau, who teamed up with Charlotte Gastaut. There are tons of other collabs from previous years that I'm still thinking about, such as El Seed for MAC, Connor Tingley for NARS, the Shiseido Gallery compacts and lip balms, and a series on the artists whose work appears on Pat McGrath's packaging. There will a few surprises too. 😉
Book reviews (2-5): So. Many. Books. The speed reviews I did last year were fine, but I want to do more of these and also maybe return to more in-depth reviews.
Dream Teams (1-2): I really thought I would do at least one more of these in 2021, but I did exactly zero. I especially want to focus on BIPOC artists and flesh out the idea I had back in 2016 for a Rrose Sélavy-themed collection.
Color Connections (1-2): I returned to Color Connections last year with a vengeance, and made good on the idea to create an entire Instagram account for them. So expect a few here from time to time. 🙂
Miscellanous: a feature on new Chinese beauty brands and some kawaii collections like Kakao Friends and others. And of course, keep plugging away on individual bits and pieces for the '90s book.
Speaking of which, the book ideas are the same as last year. The first and second ones are the accompanying catalogs to their respective exhibitions. The last one is the coffee table book, which I'm tinkering with to make it more diverse.

So it looks like the Museum has its work cut out for it! What exhibitions and post topics are you most excited about?
It's the time of year where I babble on about things I want to tackle but most likely won't be able to. I reviewed last year's blog post ideas and out of the 30 topics I only managed to accomplish, let's see, 10. One-third of what I was aiming for. Sigh. As for exhibitions, I only did one and it wasn't all that cerebral. Anyway, no point in ruminating over what I should have done so here's a bit of an update.
In an effort to sort of narrow down the massive amount of exhibition ideas I have, I came up with a priority list of topics that might be doable in the 1-5 years (if the Museum is still in existence) and a secondary list for, well, I have no idea – eventually. I tweaked some of the descriptions as needed. Also, please keep in mind these are working titles. Hopefully I can think of better ones! Once again the husband came up with handy graphics.
Priority:
- "Black and Blue: A History of Punk Makeup"
- "Catch the Light: Glitter in Cosmetics from Ancient Times Through Today" – Aiming to have this up for holiday 2021, but it's a big one and I will need lots of help that I'm not sure I can get.
- "The Life Aquatic: Mermaid Makeup" – I need to think of a better title soon because I want this to go up in June this year.
- "Color History Through Cosmetics: Blue" – I decided to scrap the gold-themed exhibition in exchange for blue. I discovered so many fascinating things about blue makeup while pulling together some trivia on Instagram, there's definitely enough there for an exhibition.
- "Ancient Allure: Egypt-Inspired Makeup and Beauty" - I did some polling on Twitter and Instagram and this one won as the next exhibition, so the tentative date is March 2021.
- "Just Desserts: Sweet Tooth Revisited" – It might be good to revisit this on its 10-year anniversary in 2023.
- "Aliengelic: Pat McGrath Retrospective" – Still a priority, but again, I will need lots of assistance and would strongly prefer having a makeup artist co-curate with me. Alternate title instead of Aliengelic: "The Mother of Modern Makeup".
- "From Male Polish to Guyliner: A History of Men's Makeup" – I know that a new book on men's makeup will be released in June this year and it would be great to have the author as a co-curator.
- "She's All That: Beauty in the '90s" – Oh, poor little neglected '90s makeup book and exhibition. You know I've been wanting to do a comprehensive exhibition and book since at least 2014, but just never seem to have the time. I do have the chapter outline but I think I need to make deadlines for each chapter and publish the drafts as blog posts, otherwise it's not getting done.
- "Pandemic: Makeup in the Age of COVID-19" – Depressing but historically significant. I'll need to wait until the pandemic is safely behind us, but I am gathering bits of what will surely become history now.
- "Ugly Makeup: A Revolution in Aesthetics" – I am so incredibly inspired by Makeup Brutalism and her other effort Ugly Makeup Revolution, I absolutely need to explore looks that completely shatter our notions of makeup's purpose. The exhibition would be a deep dive into how makeup is going beyond basic artistry and self-expression.
- "Nothing to Hide: Makeup as Mask" – This was the other choice I included in the Twitter and Instagram polls. While respondents chose Egyptian-themed makeup over this one, the mask theme in makeup goes back centuries and would certainly make a rich topic, plus I could do a subsection on mask-wearing's effects on makeup in the pandemic.

Secondary list/things I'm not sure about:
-
- "Queens: A History of Drag Makeup" – Amazing topic but overwhelming. Need much help!
- "From Mods and Hippies to Supervixens and Grrrls: '60s and '90s Makeup in Dialogue" – In my opinion, cultural developments in both the late '60s and mid-1990s radically changed the beauty industry and gave birth to new ideas about how people view and wear makeup; there are many parallels between the two eras. I feel, however, that I'd need to do the '90s exhibition and book first so this would have to wait.
- "Gilded Splendor: A History of Gold Makeup" – This is nice but the more I thought about it the more I didn't think it would be a priority.
- "Design is a Good Idea: Innovations in Cosmetics Design and Packaging" - Another that I still like but not so much as to make it immediate.
- "The Medium is the Message: Makeup as Art" – This will trace how makeup is marketed and conceived of as traditional art mediums, i.e painting and sculpture, and also how art history is incorporated into makeup advertising and collections. Consider it a comprehensive discussion of this post while working in canonical artists whose work has appeared on makeup packaging. My issue with it is that it's overwhelmingly white. The artists used in vintage ads such Lancome's are white and even collections today don't collaborate with many BIPOC artists, especially Black ones.
- "Wanderlust: Travel-Inspired Beauty" - A rich topic and would be timely in light of the pandemic limiting travel for most, but honestly, I'm not that excited about it.
- "By Any Other Name: The Rose in Makeup and Beauty" – I pitched this idea to the FIT Museum as a small add-on to their "Ravishing" exhibition. They weren't interested and now that the exhibition has passed I'm tabling it for now.

And now for blog posts!
MM Musings (2): FINALLY getting up the diversity and inclusion in museums post up this month after a year of working on it, and the other topic to tackle this year will be becoming a nonprofit organization.
Makeup as Muse (3): I managed to get around to covering Gina Beavers last year, but that was it. The artists on my list are Sylvie Fleury, Rachel Lachowitz, Asa Jungnelius and Tomomi Nishizawa.
MM Mailbag (2-3): Once again the MM mailbag overflowed in 2020 and most of the inquiries took a significant amount of time to research and answer. I'll see what might be feasible.
Brief histories (4-5): I still want to go ahead with histories of powder applicators, setting sprays and maybe colored mascara, color-changing cosmetics and how makeup language has evolved (for example, why we typically say "blush" now instead of "rouge" for cheek color.) The author of Cosmetics and Skin kindly suggested an article on copycats, i.e. how companies clearly ripped each other off and continue to do so today in terms of packaging, ad campaigns, etc. which is a great topic. I'm also interested in a history of Day of the Dead makeup.
Trends (1): Makeup brand merchandise and swag – another I didn't cover in 2020 as planned. I'm also very interested in the video game trend in makeup, but I'm hoping this amazing person writes about it instead!
Topics to revisit (1-2): faux freckles, non-traditional lipstick shades, and cultural appropriation in cosmetics advertising. I did not update any of these in 2020 so I hope to do at least one of the three this year. Also, perhaps a deeper dive into surrealism and makeup.
Vintage (6): series of Dorothy Gray ads featuring portraits of well-to-do "society" ladies, '90s prom makeup, and wear-to-work makeup from the 1970s-90s, defunct '90s and early aughts brands (Benetton, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Nina Ricci and Inoui ID to start with), and a slew of other brand histories, especially Black-owned brands like La Jac and Rose Morgan. I'm also itching to write something about Black salespeople and customers in direct sales companies, i.e. Avon, Mary King by Watkins, Fuller, Artistry by Amway, etc. The company I hope to tackle this month if the objects I purchased on Ebay ever arrive will be Holiday Magic…the story is absolutely bonkers.
Artist collabs (5): As in 2020 I'm still trying to catch up on some of last year's holiday releases, including Fee Greening for Mikimoto and Cecilia Carlstedt and Morag Myerscough for Bobbi Brown. There are tons of others from previous years that I'm still thinking about, such as El Seed for MAC, Connor Tingley for NARS, the Shiseido Gallery compacts and lip balms, and a series on the artists whose work appears on Pat McGrath's packaging.
Book reviews (2): In the interest of saving time and also because my reviews tend to be badly written (even for me), I decided to do regular reviews only for some books and speed reviews of others, combining several books in a single post. Most of the ones I'm planning on are in the Beauty Library section of the website.
Dream Teams series (1-2): I did actually start this series last year, albeit without the mockups I had wanted to do. Stay tuned for more fantasy artist/makeup collabs. I especially want to focus on BIPOC artists and flesh out the idea I had back in 2016 for a Rrose Sélavy-themed collection.
Color Connections (5+): I returned to Color Connections last year but only once. They just take so much time. However, I've been toying with the idea of putting them as a dedicated series on Instagram separate from the Museum's regular account. That way it might make me accountable in terms of working on them more regularly.
Finally, there will be lots of other random things popping up, and I have so many people I want to talk to so I hope to nab some interviews and guest posts. 🙂
And here we have my book ideas. They're the same as last year. The first one is an alternate title for the '90s exhibition. The second one would basically be the accompanying catalogue for the Makeup as Art exhibition. I still want to do a coffee table book of pretty makeup, but my concern is that it won't be diverse.

Any of these topics interest you? Which ones would you like to read about/see first?
It's hard to believe I haven't done a Halloween roundup since 2016, but here we are. Hopefully this post will compensate for the makeup I missed the past couple of years, as cosmetic companies continue churning out spooky and fun collections. I would have purchased some for the Museum, but by the time I made up my mind about which ones to add they had sold out and weren't restocked in time to arrive by Halloween. It says something about the demand when these collections are released in late September and sell out immediately…I think consumers and businesses are feeding off each other, both creating the increased frenzy for Halloween-themed makeup collections.
I'm not the biggest fan of either The Nightmare Before Christmas or Hocus Pocus – I've never even seen the latter – but I will hopefully add them to the Museum's collection as I thought they were cute and culturally significant enough to warrant purchasing.
(image from revolutionbeauty.com)
(image from colourpop.com)
I should probably re-watch Beetlejuice. As a kid it scared me half to death but obviously as an adult I should be able to handle it, plus it's got a good cast. This Melt collection would go nicely with Hot Topic's Handbook for the Recently Deceased palette I bought in 2018.

(images from popsugar.com)
Here's some other miscellaneous Halloween fun released this year.

- Shroud Cosmetics It's Freakin' Bats palette
- Hot Topic Chucky palette
- Profusion Here Lies Jester palette
- Alien Cosmetics Spooky Glam palette
- Kihitsu pumpkin face brush
- Milani Halloween edition Ludicrous Lip Gloss in Let's Bone (yes, that's really the name.)
- Peachy Queen Sweet Dreams palette
And now for a couple vintage pieces. I'm pleased to have added this Glebeas (pronounced glee-bay) to the Museum's spiderweb collection. Even though I hate spiders there are some great objects with spiderweb designs. You can read the whole history of Glebeas and see some of their other spiderweb packaging over at Collecting Vintage Compacts.

About three years ago I found a brass version of Volupte's awesome cobweb compact for a very good price in excellent condition and an original ad. The compact dates to about 1946-1952 and there were many variations, including sterling silver and 14kt gold, along with butterflies and ladybugs that had the misfortune of getting caught in the spider's lair.


Interestingly, the spiderweb design was created by Josephine Forrestal, a Vogue writer turned military wife. According to the patent the compact was originally intended for Paul Flato, for whom she created other compacts, so how it ended up with Volupte I'm not sure.

(image from books.google.com)
So while it's small now, I hope the Museum's spiderweb collection continues to grow. By the way, do you remember the Elegance eyeshadow on the right?

Some other spooky vintage finds include a celluloid coffin-shaped compact:

(image from rubylane.com)
Wound filler used in mortuary makeup:

(image from ebay.com)
And a makeup room in Illinois said to be haunted by the deceased director of the Peoria Players Theater:

I hope you have a fun Halloween! Are you dressing up? I am not but the plushies and I will be eating copious amounts of candy, of course.