Lashings Of History, The Story Of Mascara

It’s funny how we assume the world was always like this. There is a whole generation with no idea what rotary phones or film cameras are. Few people I’ve spoken to were familiar with what cake mascara (or cake eyeliner, for that matter) looks like or how it works. I find history fascinating (especially domestic, fashion and cosmetic history), so let’s have a look at the history of mascara.

Mascara was first used by the ancient Egyptians, with records of its use beginning in 4000BC. But it didn’t really get it’s start in the Western world until the Victorian period. There were no commercial mascaras but women would mix ash or soot to a paste and use it as mascara.

Around 1910, Eugene Rimmel, a French born British chemist created a mascara using the newly invented Vaseline and coal dust. In fact the word Rimmel still translates as ‘mascara’ in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, Romanian and Persian languages!

In 1913, about the same time, American T.L Williams had the same idea and an almost identical recipe. Williams created his mascara for his sister Maybel and several years later he started a company which he named after his sister and her beloved Vaseline, hello Maybelline.

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Vaseline based Mascara was messy and soon cake mascaras made of black dyes and soap appeared, eventually becoming a cake of dried pigments (similar to pressed eyeshadows). To use these cake mascaras, you moisten a brush and rub it on the cake and apply to the lashes.

 

The invention of motion pictures really spread the word about mascara and it became incredibly popular. The quest for lashes went so far that in 1933 a product called Lash Lure was released that killed one woman and blinded sixteen others! Lash Lure used a toxic chemical, paraphenylenediamine, as it’s dyeing agent. This incident, along with several others, lead to the FDA regulating cosmetics in 1938. 1938 also brought the first waterproof mascara but it never really took off. It contained large quantities of turpentine that stung, burnt, smelled awful and caused many allergic reactions.

Cake mascara was the only way until 1957 when Helena Rubenstein created a lotion based mascara. This was packaged in a tube, the product was then squeezed onto a brush and applied. It wasn’t long before a product resembling modern mascara. Cake mascara was still a commonly found item in the chemist until the late 70’s. You can certainly still buy it but it’s less common.

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Tune in tomorrow to see my cake mascara review! If you’re interested in the cake eyeliner I mentioned earlier, I have this post on it. I hope you enjoyed this little history. If you fancy more, check out the history of women’s underwear xxx