When: 1913
Where: Europe and United States
Who: Eugene Rimmel and T.L Williams
The product that women and make-up artists the world over recognise as mascara today wasn't developed until the nineteeth century, By a Chemist named Eugene Rimmel. Eugene Rimmel developed a cosmetic using the newly invented petroleum jelly. The name Rimmel became synonymous with the product and still translates to "mascara" in the Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Greek, Turkish, Romanian and Persian languages today.At the same time in 1913, a man named T.L Williams created a very similar substance for his sister Maybel. It was later in 1917, L.T. Williams started a mail-order business from the product that grew to become the company Maybelline.
The product that these two men developed consisted of petroleum jelly and coal in a set ratio, It was extremely messy and a better and less messy alternative was soon developed. A dampened brush was rubbed against cake that contained soap and black dye in equal proportions and was applied to the lashes, It was still extremely messy, but no significant change or improvement happened until 1957 with an innovation by Helena Rubinstein.
Rubinstein's improvement began in Paris in the early 1900s. There in the fashion capital of the world, mascara was quickly gaining popularity. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Runinstein who were two giants in the American beauty industry had watched and kept updated about the development of mascara. After the First World War, The American consumers became eager for new products, Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rubinstein and Arden launched their own brands of cosmetics that included mascara.
With the invention of photographs and motion picture mascara had become even more popular and more in demand across America as the average woman soughted to mimic the looks of the actresses they saw on screen.
In 1933 tragedy strut, a woman who is only known as Mrs Brown from court records, agreed and consented to have her eyelashes permanently dyed. Unfortunately, the product which was called Lash Lure used a chemical called paraphenylenediamine it is extremely toxic to the body, the company had used this chemical as a dyeing agent. At the time cosmetics were unregulated by the Federal Drug Administration and the dangers of paraphenylenediamine were unknown. Within only a matter of hours after having the treatment done, Mrs Brown had began to experience severe symptoms of stinging and burning eyes. By the next morning Mrs Brown's eyes have developed weeping ulcers and had swollen shut, The use of Lash Lure ended up blinding Mrs Brown and fifteen other women and also caused the death of another, It was only after the Lash Lure accidents, that Congress granted the FDA the right to regulate cosmetics in 1938.
In 1957, Helena Rubinstein created and manufactured a formula that changed mascara from a hard cake into a lotion based cream, Rubinstein packaged the new mascara in a tube to be sold with a brush. To use this new mascara the cream was squeezed onto the brush and applied to the lashes, Although it was still messy it was a step in the right direction towards the modern mascara product we use today.
Soon after the grooved rod was patterned. This handy little device picked up the same amount of mascara for each use, Then the grooved rod was changed and altered to the brush similar to the ones used today. The change in applicators led the mascara to be even easier to use and its popularity increased even more.
In 2005 Procter and Gamble developed the Moldtrusion brush, it is a mascara wand that the bristles of the wand are made out of thermoplastic instead of nylon, The first company to market this new and improved brush was the Max Factor Lash Perfection.
With the increased demand for mascara growning over the decades has led to the development of the mascaras we see in the current market. Despite there being many different varieties, all formula's contain the same basic substances, Pigmentation, oils and waxes.
The pigmentation for black mascara is similar to the pigmentation used by the Egyptian and Victorian women, Carbon black has replaced the soot or ash that was once used, Tar and Coal are strictly prohibited by the FDA, Where brown mascaras are usually coloured by the use of iron oxides though the specific compounds are different and unique to each brand.
There is a great deal more freedom and leeway among the oils that are used, Different oils that might be used are mineral oils, linseed oils, Castor oil, eucalyptus oil, lanolin and oil on turpentine can be found most frequently among many mascara formula's.
Waxes that are usually found in mascara are paraffin, carnauba wax and beeswax
The formula's for mascara differ from one another due to the desired effect, The most basic effect is if the mascara is water resistant or not, Water resistant mascaras have a base in substances that rebuff water like dodecane. Non water resistant mascara have base ingredients that are water soluble. Mascaras that are formulated to lengthen or curl eyelashes often contain nylon or rayon microfibers.
Interesting Facts.
Mascara can be documented all the way back to ancient Egypt where in around 4000 BC it was refered to a substance called kohl that we still use today, it was used to darken eyelashes, eyes and eyebrows both men and women wore it, it was often made out of galena, malachite and charcoal or soot, crocodile poop, honey and water was added to the kohl to keep it from running.
Make up was considered to be unsightly in the Western culture until the Victorian era, During this era where the social opinion shifted towards the promotion of cosmetics and where women were know to spend a majority of there day occupied with grooming and beauty regimens, many wanted the illusion of long, dark eyelashes, to do this Victorian women made a type of mascaras in their own homes and kitchens, They would heat a mix of ash or lampback mixed with elderberry juice on a plate or in a bowl and apply the heated mixture to their eyelashes.
