I am forever grateful for those who approach me with makeup they no longer want or that they feel belongs in the Museum.  While 2020 was another hellish year for me personally and the Museum, as well as basically the whole world, I believe a record number of donations were received.  Here's a brief overview of what was graciously bestowed upon the Museum this year. 

First up is a mint condition Max Factor gift set.  A very nice woman in Canada donated it, noting that it was a birthday present from her father to her mother one year.  According to newspaper ads it dates to about 1948. I love the suggested use for the box lids as "party trays"!

Vintage Max Factor gift set

December 1948 ad for Max Factor gift sets

December 1948 ad for Max Factor gift sets

Next up is a slew of awesome ads and postcards from the '80s and '90s, donated by an Instagram buddy from Argentina.  Such a sweet note too!

MM donation note

Revlon Rich and Famous and LA postcard, 1986-1987

Revlon Wall Street and Tea Silks postcards

Revlon Counterpoint postcard

Lancome postcards, 1986-1987

Lancome postcards, 1987-1988

Lancome L'Art Nature postcard, 1992

Helena Rubinstein postcards, 1988

This next one is super interesting.  Normally the Museum does not include hair products, but the donor is a fellow collector and very knowledgeable about Russian culture, having lived in Moscow for several years.  This vintage hair dye was made in East Germany and exported to the USSR.

Florena hair dye

Next up are some lovely Elizabeth Arden objects. These were donated by a woman in California whose mother worked at the Elizabeth Arden counter at a department store.  Here we have the Napoleonic compact which was introduced around 1953, Faint Blush, the famous Ardena patter, and some Color Veil (powder blush) refills.

Makeup Museum donation - Elizabeth Arden

Near as I can figure, the Faint Blush was a sort of foundation primer, but it seems like it could also be worn alone.  I love the plastic pink rose packaging, as it's very much of its era (ca. 1963-1973).

Newspaper ad for Elizabeth Arden Faint Pink, February 1964

I think the patter and the Faint Blush are my favorites from this bunch.

Makeup Museum - Elizabeth Arden donation

Then, another very kind Instagram friend and fellow collector sent a huge lot of vintage powder boxes and compacts.  The Museum did not have any of these…some I hadn't even heard of and some I had only admired them from afar.  I just about died when I opened the package!  Clockwise from top left: a 1930s eyeshadow by a company called Quinlan, a 1920s Harriet Hubbard Ayer Luxuria face powder, a powder dispenser by Cameo (probably from around the '30s), a '20s Marcelle compact tin, an extremely rare Red Feather Rouge tin (ca. 1919), an unmarked lipstick and floral powder tin, a Princess Pat compact from about 1925, a Yardley English Lavender tin (ca. 1930s) and a Fleur de Glorie face powder compact (ca. 1923-1926).  In the middle is an amazing pink plastic 1940s Mountain Heather face powder case, a line manufactured by Daggett and Ramsdell.

Makeup Museum donation

I love each and every piece, but my favorites are the eyeshadow compact, and an adorable Mondaine book compact (with the original box!) that was also included. Bookworm that I am, I want a whole "library" of these designs.

Vintage Mondaine book compact

Not all of the donations were vintage.  I was so happy to have received these two nail polishes from another IG friend. They were the result of a 2016 collaboration between Cirque Colors and the Met in honor of the latter's Manus x Machina exhibition.

Cirque Colors Raven and Moon Dust

I'm sure you remember the kindness of makeup artist Amelia Durazzo-Cintron, who shared her memories of working for Kevyn Aucoin back in July.  For some reason she felt the need to thank ME instead, and did so by donating a really cool Black Swan makeup kit.  How nice is her note?!

Black Swan makeup kit

Black Swan makeup kit

Another Instagram friend and lipstick fanatic has been making lipstick swatch books.  These are kind of a new trend and in my opinion, far easier than taking photos of your lipsticks.  Once again a sweet note was enclosed.

Lipstick swatch book by Satin Matte Sheer

This lipstick swatch book is particularly lovely for its sprinkling of cosmetics trivia and important dates.  (It also reminds me that I never started working on my daily makeup history calendar, sigh.) If you want one of your own you can purchase it here.

Lipstick swatch book by Satin Matte Sheer

And that wraps up MM donations in 2020! I'm so incredibly grateful for these kind souls generously helping to build the collection.  And while physical objects are amazing, it's the notes and messages that come with them that mean the most.  :)  Also, if you have a makeup object you think is historically significant, an object from the Curator's wishlist, or anything else you'd like to give, please check out the Museum's support page.  I'm always looking for old fashion/women's magazines too, along with ads and brochures and such…I can never have too much paper memorabilia!

Which one of these is your favorite?  What's the best gift you've ever received?

You might remember this neat ad for Max Factor's Italian Touch that I featured in the summer exhibition.

Max Factor Italian Touch ad, 1957

I also mentioned there was a really cool bust used as a store prop floating about on E-bay, but that it was pricey.  Well, as it turns out I didn't have to worry about the cost because a certain very thoughtful and generous husband purchased it for me!  I really don't have anything like this in the Museum's collection and I was so happy he snagged it for me.  As far as store advertising goes it's pretty unique.

I've named him Enrico.  🙂

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

I love the sphinxes on each shoulder!  Perhaps they were borrowed from the Augustus of Prima Porta.

Max Factor Italian Touch bust, ca. 1957

I couldn't find a complete history of the campaign but it must have been quite large, given that I've seen ads in various languages.  In addition to plain old English, I also came across French:

Max Factor Italian Touch ad
(image from hprints.com)

Italian (of course…additionally, Italian film star Virna Lisi starred as the model, which further demonstrates how calculated the campaign was):

Max Factor Italian Touch ad
(image from delcampe.net)

And Dutch.  This is particularly fascinating given that the e-bay seller Enrico was purchased from was located in the Netherlands.  I also would have loved to get my hands on the little set pictured in these ads to round out a sort of capsule collection of the Italian Touch campaign, but I'm pretty satisfied with the bust.

Max Factor Italian Touch ad
(image from invaluable.com)

I also found these two English-language ads from Canada and Singapore. 

Max Factor Italian Touch ad(image from middlebrowcanada.com)

I couldn't remove the watermark from this but you get the gist.

Max Factor Italian Touch ad, Straits Times, October 8, 1957
(image from eresources.nlb.gov.sg)

In the U.S., a new shade called Roman Touch was available in several products in addition to the Italian Touch collection.

Max Factor Roman Touch ad, Deseret News, May 1, 1957
(image from news.google.com)

Max Factor Roman Touch ad, Torrance Press, April 25, 1957(image from arch.torranceca.gov)

All in all, I think this is one of the strangest, yet well-planned advertising campaigns for a vintage collection I've come across.  Normally I'd be creeped out by the idea of statues coming to life, but in this case I think the offbeat nature of it is quite amusing. And based on what Museum Advisory Committee member Sailor Babo has told me about his conversations with him, Enrico is totally harmless and has lots of interesting stories.

Sailor Babo makes a new friend!

What do you think about this latest Museum gift?  Big huge thanks to my awesome and supportive husband. 🙂