History
The Maybelline Company was created by New York chemist T.L. Williams in 1915. Williams, in his early 30's noticed his younger sister applying a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to her eyelashes to give them a darker, fuller look. He adapted it in his small laboratory and produced a product sold locally called Lash-Brow-Ine. The product was a local hit, but the awkward name held it back. His sister, who inspired the product, was named Maybel. So T.L. Williams renamed it Maybelline, a combination of Maybel and Vaseline. It is under this name that Maybelline has achieved its now legendary status in the field of cosmetics. In 1917 the company produced Maybelline Cake Mascara, "the first modern eye cosmetic for everyday use" and Ultra Lash in the 1960s, which was the first mass-market automatic.
In 1967, the company was sold by T.L. Williams to Plough, Inc. (now Schering-Plough) in Memphis, Tennessee. The entire cosmetic production facility was moved from Chicago to Memphis over one week-end. In 1975, the company moved its factory to Little Rock, Arkansas, where it is still located. In 1990, Schering-Plough sold Maybelline to a New York investment firm, Wasserstein Perella. Maybelline Operational Headquarters remained in Memphis until being sold in 1996, when headquarters moved to New York City. The makeup factory moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 2000.
Maybelline received a boost when the company hired Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter as the company's beauty fashion coordinator; she also appeared in several of its television and print advertisements. Josie Maran, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Melina Kanakaredes, Zhang Ziyi, Siti Nurhaliza, Fasha Sandha, Sheetal Mallar, and Kristin Davis have endorsed Maybelline products. The current faces of Maybelline are Turlington, Julia Stegner, Christy Turlington, Jessica White, Erin Wasson, Kemp Muhl, Emily DiDonato, Lisalla Montenegro, and Shu Pei.
In 1991, the company adopted its current advertising slogan, "Maybe She's Born With It. Maybe It's Maybelline" tagline. The company was acquired by L'Oréal in 1996. Acquiring Maybelline gave L'Oreal access to mass markets in cosmetics.
Maybelline has released several new products, including 'Eye Studio' collection for eye products, 'Fit Me' collection for foundation/facial products, and new 'Color Sensational' shades for lips. Currently, Maybelline is the Official Makeup Sponsor of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
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Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Most events recorded in history are more remarkable than important, like eclipses of the sun and moon, by which all are attracted, but whose effects no one takes the trouble to calculate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)