topic Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there in Beauty

When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Jayro — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 17:59:57 GMT

were all the different beauty brands at Ulta and Sephora - before there was Ulta and Sephora and all the various on-line suppliers? I remember when there was either drugstore or department store, and the department stores had 5-7 main staple brands that had been around for years, such as Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and Lancome.

I've read so many articles that say it was because of the bad economy and that even when women have no disposable income, they will still buy cosmetics as a treat.

The first time I remember noticing a movement toward all these brands and niche products was when I caught Saturday Night Beauty with Patty. I'd never heard of those brands, and had never heard of Sephora and had never been to my Ulta. I think that was about 2006, but I'm not sure. I was raising small children before that and never had time to notice anything but them.

When did you start noticing all these lines outside the realm of either drugstore or department store?

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

4doggies — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:08:21 GMT

I think it started when the oldest Baby Boomers (born in the 50's) started to hit 35 or 40. Prior to that, there were only a few products to choose from. I remember that Adrienne Arpel (much later Signature Club A) always had big ads in the newspaper. There was also the "EB 5" that was developed by a pharmacist, a few brands in department and drug stores.

To the best of my recollection, the huge number of products started around mid to late 80's. Retailers found a good thing--baby boomers/anti aging.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

serenity4ever — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:13:11 GMT

I started seeing new brands around the time that Bobbi Brown in the early 90's was selling her lipsticks in Nordstrom. When Sephora opened early nineties there were a lot of brands I had never heard of and I remember being hesitant to try them. Now of course, there are a myriad of brands that seem to be mainstream.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Katluvr58 — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 18:18:37 GMT

I remember getting the mega kits at Xmas from the dept store brands around 69 or 70. Back then you had the dept store with Estee Lauder, Chanel etc... or the dime store like Woolworth or Kresge. Max Factor was a biggie back then as was Maybelline. Yardley make-up and Bonne Bell were big for the teens (me). I think that the "mod" look started a make-up revolution. I didn't find Sephora till the 90's and Ulta's in the 2000's.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Tricolor — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 19:44:01 GMT

On 2/21/2014 Katluvr58 said:
I remember getting the mega kits at Xmas from the dept store brands around 69 or 70. Back then you had the dept store with Estee Lauder, Chanel etc... or the dime store like Woolworth or Kresge. Max Factor was a biggie back then as was Maybelline. Yardley make-up and Bonne Bell were big for the teens (me). I think that the "mod" look started a make-up revolution. I didn't find Sephora till the 90's and Ulta's in the 2000's.

OMG did you bring back some memories with Woolworth and Kresge. In the late 60's I loved Max Factor, Mary Quant, Yardley and Bonne Bell. We all wanted to have the British look. Remember Hazel Bishop and Chantilly?

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Katluvr58 — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 20:27:20 GMT

On 2/21/2014 Tricolor said:
On 2/21/2014 Katluvr58 said:
I remember getting the mega kits at Xmas from the dept store brands around 69 or 70. Back then you had the dept store with Estee Lauder, Chanel etc... or the dime store like Woolworth or Kresge. Max Factor was a biggie back then as was Maybelline. Yardley make-up and Bonne Bell were big for the teens (me). I think that the "mod" look started a make-up revolution. I didn't find Sephora till the 90's and Ulta's in the 2000's.

OMG did you bring back some memories with Woolworth and Kresge. In the late 60's I loved Max Factor, Mary Quant, Yardley and Bonne Bell. We all wanted to have the British look. Remember Hazel Bishop and Chantilly?

No I don't remember those but I did forget about Mary Quant. My first cologne was that Baby Powder scent by Bonne Bell and then my "grown up" scent was Jovan Musk. I was 13 in 69 and wanted to be a hippie, lol. I had the long straight hair, bells, loud prints, moccasins, bright eye shadow and white lipstick. I wasn't in to bra burning (not wearing one) because I just got my first bra and I was proud of it. My parents let me paint a wall in the laundry room bright purple, put up my black light posters and hang my incense holder next to my cowbells. What were we thinking, lol.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Katcat1 — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 02:25:16 GMT

It seems in the last 10 years, a bunch of new cosmetic/skincare cos. have emerged. Especially, introduction of facial/body oils, organic & natural.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

willdob3 — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 02:27:10 GMT

I believe the cosmetics boom started some time before Cleopatra was born...

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Sooner — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 05:11:14 GMT

On 2/21/2014 willdob3 said:
I believe the cosmetics boom started some time before Cleopatra was born...

Exactly! The folks in those tomb paintings were INTO eyeliner!

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Sooner — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 05:11:14 GMT

On 2/21/2014 willdob3 said:
I believe the cosmetics boom started some time before Cleopatra was born...

Exactly! The folks in those tomb paintings were INTO eyeliner!

And Alexander the Great's mother was, if I remember, a Thracian (sp?) and they were known for wearing blue paint.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

viva923 — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 05:38:16 GMT

Helena Rubenstien was a hit back in the 50's-60's. Revlon was the big product in the 60's. Eterna. Almay was huge in the early 70's

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

lavendar — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 06:41:35 GMT

Does anyone remember Queen Helene? The only natural line in the 50's and 60's? There was a real Helene; she was my friend's aunt. She'd come in from Manhattan to Buffalo and visit. Very glam. I was doing the white lipstick, black eyeliner look and she told me I was too young for that. Really lovely woman! She'd give us her goopy stuff to condition our hair with.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Desi — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 07:51:20 GMT

They have found vessels with make-up sealed in the pyramids, and I am sure women (and some males) have always found ways to decorate their faces and bodies. As far back as works of art and cave paintings go, you can spot eye-liner, something on the lips, wigs, etc.

I remember the brands my mother had when I was a kid. Helena Rubenstein, Hazel Bishop, Max Factor, Tangee, and Ponds are the ones that come to mind. They came from places like Woolworths and the 5 and 10, since that was about the only place she could get them. I think the Sears catalog may have carried cosmetics, but we didn't get one back then.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

MarenSeattle — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 07:55:00 GMT

Wonderful book about the warring between Charles Revson, Estée Lauder, Helena Rubenstein -- Fire and Ice. It's actually about Revson but of course has lots of info on the cosmetics industry back then. These people were cutthroat! I've read it a couple of times and will probably read it again.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

ennui1 — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 08:05:19 GMT

On 2/21/2014 Sooner said:
On 2/21/2014 willdob3 said:
I believe the cosmetics boom started some time before Cleopatra was born...

Exactly! The folks in those tomb paintings were INTO eyeliner!

I always thought the Egyptians were into eyeliner because they didn't have sunglasses. I often think these things are environmental, not secksual.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

shoekitty — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 09:24:29 GMT

Max Factor was known for commercially producing colorful polishes, lipstick and foundation make up. I am remembering this off the top of my hat, but he was one of the first to commercially sell face powder in custom shades. The company started in the beginning of the 1900's. and was actually family owned intil several years ago. He specialized in stage make up, but then went commercial as well. He had so many colors, and even made custom colors for many people. His studio still stands in downtown Hollywood. It is a museum with 4 floors. The bottom floor is dedicated to him. The building is gorgeous, and the inside is very art deco. Done in a pink and black.

As it has been mentioned, the Egyptians used powder, kohl pencil (from lead) on their eyes for sunblock and distinction. They made a make up from a gypsum type substance, colored with earth pigments. I think if you were poor working in the fields or in the pits, you slapped mud on for sunblock, but who knew.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

shoekitty — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 09:29:35 GMT

My all time favorite cosmetic from the past? In the museum I worked. we have a jar of MERCROLEUM, c1930. It was guarenteed to prevent wrinkles and smoothe skin! On the front of the jar they bragged about containing the highest percentage of mercury of any other brand! LOL. It was taken off the market in the 1940's. LOL! Someone figured out mercury might be a little hard on the skin.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Desertdi — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 11:02:37 GMT

During WW2, there was a "luxury tax" on cosmetics, perfume, furs, etc. It wasn't until the tax was lifted that these items began to hit the market with a bang.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

Pook — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 12:39:01 GMT

I remember back in the '70's magazines had ads for cosmetic kits that came every 2 months. One was Cosmetique and I don't remember the other one. You filled out a questionnaire about you skin, hair,eye color, etc and were sent kits with makeup products from new companies. The kits ran from about 12:95 to 19.92 each. I got them both and it was just so much fun to wait for the next kits to come and then to hurry up and open them when they came. That's partly where I got my love of skincare/makeup. The only problem was that if I liked something I didn't know where to find it to buy it. Occasionally there was a flyer from some companies but usually not. My very favorite product was a Kohl bullet looking crayon inner rim liner from Aziza. It lasted forever but I never could find it to purchase.

Re: When did the cosmetics boom really start and what started it? Do you remember before there

BassetMomma — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 14:10:23 GMT

I think it started early 90s. That's when MAC and Bobbie Brown first came on the scene. Then a lot of make-up artist lines started coming out like Laura Mercier, Vincent Longo, Trish McEvoy. I remember growing up you went to the department store and there were a few lines, the biggest ones being Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Clinique, Prescriptives, and Lancome. You would also see Adrienne Arpel, Boghese, Ultima 2 and Charles of the Ritz in a few stores.

I think the internet has changed the industry as well. Smaller companies can get a lot of love from youtubers promoting their products.