I’m sure you know the famous story of how modern mascara was invented? If you don’t, it goes like this:
Back in 1915, there was a young chemist living in New York named Tom Lyle Williams, who’s sister Mabel had recently singed off her lashes and eyebrows in a small kitchen fire. He noticed her applying a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to her eyelashes to give them a darker, fuller look and the idea was born. Two years later, after establishing a company called “Maybelline” (Mabel + Vaseline), he launched Cake Mascara, and later, the first “automatic” mascara which reloaded the wand in a tube. This became the company’s greatest success and in 1971 was renamed Great Lash and given the iconic pink-and-green packaging.
Now owned by L’Oreal, Maybelline is the world’s largest selling mass market cosmetics brand and they continue to produce some of the most innovative and affordable beauty products around. Their mascaras in particular are unrivalled in their price range – a fitting legacy to Mr Williams’ revolutionary invention.
