Hello lovelies, I have been collecting vintage cake mascara for a few months now and found a vintage Maybelline cake mascara from the 1920s and a Max Factor cake mascara from the 1950s. I am not 100% sure on the exact dates so if you have a better idea; please let me know. I also found this 1950s Studio Girl eye palette that has a cake mascara in it. I know that the Studio Girl set is from the 1950s because my grandma used to sell Studio Girl in the 1950s. I had never tried cake mascara before so I thought it would be fun to try Longcils Boncza Le Cake Mascara Black and the classic Besame cake mascara. I also wanted to include the Iconic Maybelline Great Lash mascara from 1971. Below is a brief history of Mascara.
The Victorian Era 1837 to 1901
The first mascara was developed by Eugène Rimmel, a perfumer to Queen Victoria, and was primarily comprised of coal dust and Vaseline jelly. His invention caused quite a sensation.
The Early 1900s
In 1916, fake eyelashes were invented by American film director David W. Griffith to create a fluttering lash effect for silent film actresses. Even so, they didn’t become popular until the ’30s.
In 1917, a woman named Mabel Williams worked with a drug manufacturer to come up with “Lash-Brow-Ine,” a formula made of petroleum jelly and oils to provide sheen. Eventually, their trademark became Maybelline, and over the next decade, they became a household name.
The 1920s and 1930s
A patent from 1931 claims that William McDonell invented the first lash curler and he called it Kurlash. I was made of stainless steel and modeled after scissors. They become very popular as they curled the lashes within seconds and were relatively inexpensive. In 1933, the term mascara came into play, and Maybelline designed a 10-cent package sold in drugstores.
The 1940s and 1950s
At the time, makeup was all about emphasizing the peepers—and painting cat eyes on the upper lashline, with fanned-out lashes to match, was a trend. In the early ’40s, waterproof mascara formulas were introduced and became very popular. In 1958, Revlon introduced the first mascara package in a tube with a spiral-tip wand.
The 1960s and 1970s
In 1960, Revlon invented the first colored formula with its “Brush on Mascara,” which came in hues like mauve and dark green. At the time, full, dramatic, and slightly-spidery lashes were in, and more attention was given to the lower lashes than ever. Women also opted for painted, brush-stroke lashes à la Twiggy. It was in 1971 that cult-favorite Maybelline Great Lash, a water-based mascara, hit the market. It’s one of our favorites to this day.
