
In case you were wondering why the blog has been so quiet the past 6 weeks or so, it's because I've been working feverishly on the latest exhibition. And I'm pleased to announce it's finally here! Well, you'll have to click over to get the full online version, but there will be more here soon. 😉 If you've followed the Museum for a while you know I've been obsessed with mermaids since I was little, and with all the wonderful mermaid makeup I've added to the collection over the years, I simply couldn't wait any longer to dive into an exhibition fully dedicated to these creatures (rather than incorporating them piecemeal into summer exhibitions as I had been doing). Plus, the only good thing about the pandemic was that I was able to dye my hair beautiful mermaid colors as a result of working from home where my boss can't see me and claim that my magical streaks are "unprofessional", so I figured now was the right time.


You can check out the exhibition at the Museum's special exhibition website. I was having so much fun though I wanted to display it in the Museum's physical space (a.k.a. my bedroom). Keep your eyes peeled as I will be updating this post with the in-person exhibition. UPDATE, March 29, 2022: I have finally gotten around to installing an abbreviated version of the exhibition at Museum headquarters! Just in time for International Mermaid Day.






Top row, left to right.





This is obviously a print-out of the original Coets ad – I didn't want to remove it from the 1955 copy of Vogue that I purchased and it was too large to fit anyway.




Second row, left to right.









Third row, left to right.








Bottom row, left to right.








Naturally, Research Assistant Mer-Babo was on hand to inspect everything and make sure it was in order.

All in all, I was really inspired and now I want to do either an entire water-themed exhibition or a mythological creatures exhibition.
As always, if you have any thoughts about mermaid makeup or would like to submit photos of your favorite mermaid looks or products, please comment below or email me! I'd love to have a little community gallery at the exhibition site.

I know it seems rather tone-deaf or even callous to launch an exhibition in the midst of a pandemic, especially an exhibition that projects optimism and celebrates a new spring season. But I honestly feel like it's carrying out the Makeup Museum's mission to do so. Both art and makeup have a positive effect on mental health, and I believe that the Museum's content can contribute to our collective well-being. I'm not going to pretend that the Museum can prevent people from getting sick or that it can save jobs. Nor would I be so pompous to believe that it can effect any sort of real change in the beauty industry or society in general; it simply doesn't have the power or influence (yet…world domination is on my bucket list.) But I do think it can help in some small way and provide a bit of comfort. At the very least, an exhibition won't cause any harm. I think you can be incredibly concerned about the current situation but also able to take a quick break from reality and soak in something positive and/or pretty to look at. And that's where the Museum comes in. I'm hoping the exhibition will be nice to browse, but I also wanted to give the option of participation as an added distraction, since we seem to need those now more than ever. For a while I've been enamored of the idea of the participatory museum, and while the efforts for audience engagement weren't quite successful for the Stila girls exhibition, perhaps the topic of the spring 2020 exhibition will yield a more lively conversation. The exhibition is scheduled to go up this week, but in the meantime you can ruminate on the following ways to get involved if you so choose.
- An oldie but goodie method of audience engagement: After the exhibition goes up, tell me what your favorite objects/looks were. (I've been doing this for years and I'm always interested to see what the favorites are.)
- Submit your favorite butterfly-inspired makeup looks. They can be your own creations or made by others, just make sure you provide the proper credit. I know there are tons of editorial and runway looks inspired by butterflies, but at the moment I'm only able to access what's freely available online, so I'm interested for others to uncover butterfly looks lurking below the surface.
- Submit your favorite butterfly makeup ads or objects that weren't covered in the exhibition. Again, I just need photo credits.
- Share your thoughts on makeup as metamorphosis. Do you think makeup is transformational on a level other than physical appearance? Why or why not? Do you have any moments where you felt transformed by makeup?
- Share any and all thoughts on butterflies as they relate to makeup.
The Museum will welcome entries from April 10 until May 15. You can email me, leave a comment here, or message me on Twitter or Instagram. I will set up a second blog post as a sort of crowd-sourced exhibition, and add all your contributions there as they come in. I'll be tweeting them and putting them in my stories on Instagram along the way as well. Of course, if you don't want to do any of the above and just sit back and view the exhibition, that's fine too. 🙂
Thank you and I hope your enjoy! Butterflies are a longstanding symbol of the soul, so consider the Museum's exhibition a little butterfly sanctuary for both makeup and spirit.
As I did back in January of 2016, I feel the need to discuss some ideas I've had rattling about in my head for quite some time. I could basically copy and paste from that post since I didn't make any progress, but perhaps 2020 is the year I actually start tackling some of the bigger Museum projects I've wanted to pursue for so long. Or not. I'm not putting pressure on myself, especially since, as I've noted countless times, the necessary resources – research materials, time and money – are lacking. The point of this post is to simply get down some ideas so that they can temporarily stop taking up so much room in my head and to possibly start prioritizing them.
First, let's talk exhibitions. Four years ago I had ideas for 15 of them. The number hasn't changed, although the topics for some of them have. Here's what I'm thinking about, along with working titles. I'll reiterate the disclaimer I had with the Stila girls exhibition: if/when these are completed, they won't be executed anywhere near how I envisioned, but they will be something to start with.
- "Black and Blue: A History of Punk Makeup" – A subject so near and dear to my heart deserves a solo show.
- "Catch the Light: A History of Glitter Makeup and Beauty" – I think this would be perfect for a holiday exhibition.
- "The Medium is the Message: Makeup as Art" – This will trace how makeup is marketed and conceived of as literal art. Consider it a comprehensive discussion of this post.
- "Wanderlust: Travel-Inspired Beauty" - I cannot for the life of me believe how many travel-inspired makeup collections there are. This exhibition would examine those and discuss the idea of makeup intended for travel. Who wants to see some vintage train cases?
- "Design is a Good Idea: Innovations in Cosmetics Design and Packaging" - I'm hoping this would be co-curated with two fashion/design scholars that I met on Instagram.
- "Taking Flight: Makeup as Metamorphosis" - I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but I know I want to have a whole section of makeup packaging featuring winged creatures (butterflies, fairies, etc.) and makeup looks inspired by them. Anchoring the exhibition would be an emphasis on the transformative nature of makeup.
- "Gilded Splendor: A History of Gold Makeup" – Another good holiday exhibition topic.
- "Ancient Allure: Egypt-Inspired Makeup and Beauty" - While I like this topic, it's necessary to be mindful of the rampant cultural appropriation.
- "Just Desserts: Sweet Tooth Revisited" – Like a rich dessert, this topic is too good not to have another bite of. I might also expand it to include non-dessert food-themed beauty, and maybe this very talented writer could co-curate with me.
- "Aliengelic: Pat McGrath Retrospective" – Oh, how I'd love to do an exhibition devoted to Pat McGrath, with a stunning catalogue that would double as a coffee table book. Alternate title instead of Aliengelic: "The Mother of Modern Makeup".
- "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 upcoming "Ravishing" exhibition. They weren't interested but I might just do it anyway.
- "From Male Polish to Guyliner: A History of Men's Makeup" – this will be huge. Various writers have discussed it previously, but I want to go really in-depth with it.
- "She's All That: Beauty in the '90s" – This is also the subject of the book on '90s beauty I've been wanting to write since at least 2014. Not a great message in the film She's All That, but I would hope the premise of the exhibition/book will explain why I chose it as a title. Or I might rework it to something totally different, I don't know. And while I know I'll run into the same problems I did with trying to launch this exhibition previously, I figured I need to start somewhere.
- "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.
- The last one is rather interesting in that it's the first exhibition topic suggested to me by an independent curator. I don't want to reveal too much since we haven't really talked through it, but I can say it would be incredibly out of the box and involve '80s makeup.
The husband made a super duper handy graphic of my exhibition ideas.

And now for all the other ideas that I'm going to try to get through on the website in 2020. Here's another graphic to help wrap my head around what topics I want to tackle this year. As you can see it gives the general categories and the number of articles in each category.

Some details:
MM Musings (3): Several huge topics, including the definition of a museum, inclusive museums, and an exploration of the process of a private collection going public.
Makeup as Muse (3): the next artists on my list are Sylvie Fleury, Rachel Lachowitz and Gina Beavers.
MM Mailbag (2-3): Too many inquiries to list! I'm still only at about 50% "solved" rate…good thing I'm not a real detective. But there were some really interesting questions in the past year or so, including ones about the history of Corn Silk powder and a travel set by Madam C.J. Walker.
Brief histories (4): zodiac-themed beauty, crystal-inspired beauty, makeup setting sprays, and how drag makeup techniques became mainstream and/or co-opted. Possibly something on colored mascara.
Trends (1): Makeup brand merchandise and swag.
Topics to revisit (3): faux freckles, non-traditional lipstick shades, cultural appropriation in cosmetics advertising.
Vintage (5): Feature on Revlon Futurama lipstick cases, research on a series of Dorothy Gray ads featuring portraits of well-to-do "society" ladies, a roundup of ads depicting women looking at their reflections (sort of a follow-up to my lipstick mirror post), a comparison of Benefit's Glamourette and Platé's Trio-ette compacts, and a history of face powder applicators.
Artist collabs (5): Only 5 so far but I'm sure there will be more! Currently I'm trying to catch up on some of last year's releases, including Brecht Evens for Mikimoto, Connor Tingley for NARS, Yoon Hyup for Bobbi Brown, and a staggering amount of Shiseido Gallery compacts and lip balms (there are 12, yes, 12 artists in all so I will have to combine several of them in one post.) Oh, and I want to start a series on the artists whose work appears on Pat McGrath's packaging.
Book reviews (3): I want to do at least 3, hopefully more. On my short list: Red Lipstick: Ode to a Beauty Icon, Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African-American Women, Viva MAC, and Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt. I also have two more tomes that have been sitting on my bookshelf for several years.
New series (3): I've been thinking about this for years, ever since I did my fantasy Broad City makeup collection. This would be a series discussing artists whose work I want to see on makeup packaging, complete with mock-ups. The reason I haven't done it yet is because I lack the technical skills to make said mock-ups, but hopefully I'll figure out a work-around.
Color Connections (?): I'd love to return to Color Connections. It's such a fun, albeit time-consuming series.
I'm sure there will be some surprises along the way – I think some guest posts and interviews will make an appearance here.
Finally, my book ideas. These are not new…I do hope to find some time to start writing all three. I have outlines and chapters for each but that's about it. The first one is an alternate title for the '90s exhibition. The second one you can find a description of in this post. And the last one, well, I still want to do the damn coffee table book of pretty makeup. We're going on 14 years that I've been wanting to publish it!

So those are all the ideas I have swirling about in my brain at the moment. They are subject to change as I'm sure I'll think of more but at least I've laid out the current ones. Please let me know in the comments which exhibitions and topics you want to see first! And if you'd like to help with any definitely let me know. Book-writing tips are especially needed. 😉

Welcome to the Makeup Museum's spring 2017 exhibition! As you may know, for the past few months I've been hopelessly under the spell of anything holographic/iridescent/prismatic, and I think this morphed into an obsession with all the colors of the rainbow. (Or it could be Desus and Mero's nightly rainbow feature seeping into my subconscious.) Duochrome makeup is obviously different than rainbow makeup – I see the former as having color-shifting principles, while the latter is vibrant yet static – but I'd argue that they're all on the same…spectrum. (Sorry, couldn't resist). What I mean is that merely colorful makeup is different than holographic, but they share similar qualities. Generally speaking, I was inspired by the broader notion of color play and the endless possibilities a variety of colors can provide. I've always loved vividly colorful makeup because as we'll see, over the years it's become synonymous with fun and self-expression, which is basically my makeup credo. From 6-hued rainbow highlighters and a set of primary colors to create unique shades to more subtle gradient palettes and sheer lipsticks, makeup that encompasses the whole spectrum allows for a great amount of experimentation. Even color correctors offer the opportunity to play. I wanted this exhibition to express the joy and creativity that a wide range of colors can bring, especially when viewed as a collective whole such as a rainbow.

While I could have probably could have done an entire rainbow-themed exhibition, there were some new, non-rainbowy releases that were simply too good not to include, plus I thought they added a nice balance to all the color. Also, did you notice the labels? I got the idea to make them a gradient rather than all one shade, but my husband, super smarty pants that he is, chose the exact colors and how to arrange them. I think this is the first exhibition where I had to determine where everything was going prior to printing the labels. Usually I just print them out and figure out placement of the objects later since I can always move the labels around, but this time I had decide on placement first since moving things would mess up the gradation effect.


Let's take a closer peek, shall we?
Top shelves, left to right.
I spotted this 1970 Yardley set on ebay and knew it would be perfect.

The box isn't in the best shape but aren't the graphics so cool?!

I love that the insert encourages you to have fun and experiment. It's a stark contrast to actual ad for the product, which, underneath its seemingly feminist veneer, is horrifically ageist.

I tried cleaning up the tubes but I scrubbed too hard on the yellow one, which resulted in a few cracks. I forget these things are over 40 years old and that plastic doesn't necessarily remain durable for that amount of time.

The similarity between the eye makeup for Dior's spring 2017 collection campaign and an ad from 1973 is striking.







My heart skipped a beat when I saw that Addiction would be featuring the work of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint on their compacts this spring. Af Klint's work really spoke to me and I'm so happy Addiction helped spread the word about her.



Second row, left to right.
These lipsticks are so delectable!

I know it's just a fake flower with highlighter dusted on top, but it still makes me swoon.


Still haven't figured out a name for this little lady.


If you remember that popular video that was making the rounds a little while ago, it showed a Charles of the Ritz powder bar.



If I ever display this again I'll update the label. Turns out Charles of the Ritz tried to bring back the service in August of 1988, but I don't think it stuck around long. Perhaps they couldn't compete with the likes of Prescriptives, who was by that point leading the way in custom blending? (Sidenote: I'm tickled at how the article is written by Linda Wells, who was just 2 years shy of launching what would become the world's best-known beauty magazine, and how it also cites Bobbi Brown and refers to her as simply a "makeup artist." Little did they know that Bobbi's own line would be taking the makeup world by storm in another 3 years.)

Third row, left to right.
I'm not sure why Guerlain used a rainbow for this spring's campaign and not for their summer 2015 Rainbow Pearls, but they look good together.


Paul & Joe:



Shiseido 7 Color Powders Centennial set (well, part of it):



Burberry Silk and Bloom palette:




Bottom row, left to right.
Rainbow highlighters…I just received word that the original was re-stocked so I will have to purchase it. 🙂


Loubichrome nail polishes:


Interestingly, when I working on the label I came across a Vogue interview with Julie Verhoeven that was published after I had posted about these makeup sets. She clarified that Jacobs had specifically requested to revisit the imagery on the 2002 Louis Vuitton collection, so it wasn't a random decision to go with that style. As for the frog motif, which I am completely smitten with, it was most likely a nod to Jacobs' fondness for the animal (another recent interview with Verhoeven tipped me off.)


Ah! I was so excited when this set popped up on ebay I could hardly contain myself. This is probably the best representation of late '60s/early '70s beauty. It doesn't have the insert but overall it's in great condition. I don't know whether this particular set is specifically the pastel version mentioned in the ad (which is a printout of an original from 1973 – forgot to put that on the label, oops) or the regular non-pastel crayons, but I was overjoyed to finally get one into the Museum's collection.





In doing a little background research for this exhibition I came across some interesting things. I couldn't possibly pull together a comprehensive history of colorful/rainbow-inspired makeup, but here's a quick look back on some of the highlights. While color correcting powders existed early on in the modern beauty industry, it seems as though the more colorful side of makeup wasn't popularized until the early '60s. Ads for collections featuring a robust range of vibrant shades included words like "fun", "play" and "experiment", thereby associating color variety with happiness and creativity.
(image from flickr.com)
This was the earliest ad I could find that mentions a "rainbow" of shades.
(image from hair-and-makeup-artist.com)
This 1967 ad not only depicts a spectrum of color, it encourages the wearer to create different looks by adding varying amounts of water to the pigments. I'm assuming you could adjust the opacity this way.

(image from pinterest.com)
While I love the Yardley Mixis set and the classic Mary Quant crayons, I think this brand is my favorite representation of late '60s beauty, at least in terms of advertising (you can see more here). It's so crazy and psychedelic…looking at this makes me want to dance around in a field with flowers in my hair, LOL. Sadly I was unable to track down any original makeup or ads from this line, which I believe was exclusive to Woolworth's in the UK.

(image from sweetjanespopboutique.com)
The demand for color didn't end with the '60s, as evidenced by these early '70s Yardley and Dior ads.



(images from ebay.com)
Once again, a variety of colors is linked to self-expression and fun.
(image from flickr.com)
Dior kept the color game strong in the '80s. (There was a 1981 Elizabeth Arden collection entitled Rainbows, but it didn't really offer much of a shade range).
(image from sighswhispers.blogspot.com)
More recently, rainbow-inspired beauty has had its moments. The models at Peter Som's spring 2013 runway show sported pastel rainbow eye shadow, while later that year, Sephora's holiday collection brush set featured iridescent rainbow handles. For summer 2015 MAC released a collection with basically the same finish on the packaging, and come November, Smashbox's collaboration with artist Yago Hortal offered an eye-popping array of shades. I'd argue that 2016 was the tipping point for the rainbow beauty craze, with fashion designers leading the way. These runway looks helped set the stage for the likes of ColourPop's rainbow collection and Urban Decay's Full Spectrum palette, both released last year, along with MAC's Liptensity collection, which brought a whole new dimension to color perception. While it wasn't a rainbow-themed collection per se, Liptensity's "tetrachromatic" formulation ushered in a new way of thinking about and playing with makeup pigments in much the same way rainbow makeup did.

(images from makeupforlife.net and fashionising.com)
(image from harpersbazaar.com)
(images from wwd.com and seventeen.com)
It doesn't look like rainbow makeup is going anywhere soon, as evidenced by the stunning looks Pat McGrath created for Maison Margiela's fall 2017 show, along with products like MAC's Colour Rocker lipsticks and Kat Von D's Pastel Goth palette. Even Sephora's typography got a rainbow makeover. (While the gradient rainbow style was used more to convey holographic makeup/highlighters, it represents exactly what I meant earlier – rainbow makeup and holographic makeup may be distant cousins, but they definitely belong to the same family).
(images from instagram.com)
(image from sephora.com)
Then there are these magazine features from the March 2017 issues. (Yes, I still tear out magazine pages. Yes, I'm aware there's Pinterest and that we live in a digital world.)



That was long! Phew, I'm tired. Actually I'm not, since looking at a bunch of different colors together energizes me. As a matter of fact, I tend to get a little overstimulated, which is why I do most of my makeup shopping online – in-store browsing at all those colors displayed on the counters is very bad for my wallet.
Update, 4/3/2020: I realized I never addressed rainbow makeup as it pertains to the LGBTQIA+ community. In addition to rainbow makeup's role as a way for people to explore more colorful cosmetic options, it also functions as an important extension of the rainbow symbolism created by and for the community over 40 years ago. One questionable trend, however, has been the rise of companies slapping rainbow packaging on some of their regular line items in order to "celebrate" (co-opt?) Pride month. By and large, it’s a positive development as the products raise visibility for LGBTQIA+ rights and most of them donate the sale proceeds from these items to various charities. They also call attention to makeup’s significance for the LGBTQIA+ movement, both past and present. On the other hand, sometimes it feels like a shameless cash grab with the main focus being the product instead of meaningful action or change. If you’re on the market for new makeup and want to feel good knowing that your purchase helps a marginalized population, go for it – no one should be embarrassed to buy them. I personally cannot get enough of rainbow packaging and purchased several items just for the colorful designs on the boxes. But the motivations of some of these companies are questionable, i.e. are they really committed to the cause or just once a year when they put rainbows on their packaging and call it a day? One thing is for certain though: although the Museum is committed to LGBTQIA+ rights year round, I look forward to the rainbow looks Pride month brings (and obviously I think people should feel free to wear rainbow makeup year round as well.) Pride looks exemplify the raison d’etre of rainbow makeup by demonstrating the joy playing with color can bring and the freedom to wear it.



(images from allure.com)
I hope you enjoyed the exhibition and that you'll play with color this season, either by wearing shades so bright they hurt your eyes or simply giving color correctors a go (and everything in between). Just have fun!