The products may change, but their goals remain the same
while trends and looks superficially change, nothing has really changed fundamentally in beauty. Women still want lush lashes and brows and perfect skin 103 years later, though the way advertisers have marketed those products to women has changed.
1915-1920S
Maybelline got its start with a lash and brow product. In 1915, a young woman named Mabel Williams mixed coal dust with Vaseline and used it to beef up her lashes after singing them off in an accident. Her brother Tom Lyle Williams took the idea and ran with it, producing a product he called it Lash-Brow-Ine, that became popular via mail order. He called his new company Maybelline (Mabel + Vaseline) and a brand was born.
1930S
By the 1930s, "eye lash darkener," as it was called, was officially a thing, and Maybelline sold it in cake form with a separate brush. There was a scare surrounding a lash dye at the time called Lash Lure (not made by Maybelline), which blinded some women, so the company was very careful to say that no dyes were used and that the products were "safe." In the '30s, brow pencils and eye shadow also came into vogue. This was also the birth of the makeup tutorial's earliest ancestor. The brand produced ads of Betty Grable demonstrating a three-step application process, which ran in popular magazines. The company also notes that in the '30s, the time of the Great Depression, women couldn't afford a new dress, but they could certainly afford a new eye shadow.
1940S-1950S
In the 1940s and 1950s, Maybelline introduced iridescent eye shadow sticks and liquid liner. In 1959, the company launched its first "automatic" mascara (after Helena Rubenstein got one to market first), featuring a spiral brush in the tube, called Magic Mascara. During this era, Maybelline began distributing overseas.1960s
By this point, Tom Lyle Williams was the Cosmetic King and Maybelline was Number one Globally. Then in 1971, the company cemented its hold on women's lashes for good by launching the now-iconic pink and green Great Lash Mascara. In the late '60s, the company was sold to Schering-Plough.
1970S
In 1974, the company launched its first lip products, which included products like Kissing Sticks, Kissing Koolers, and Kissing Potion. Kissing: very big in the '70s.
1980S
The brand started offering a full complement of products, including lipstick and foundation. Lynda Carter featured prominently in many ads during this decade, ushering in the era of the actress as spokes model.
1990S
In 1990, Maybelline changed hands again, this time to investment firm Wasserstein Perella and Co. One of the most famous ad slogans of all time was also introduced during this decade: "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." (Admit it. You just sang the jingle in your head.) Christy Turlington featured prominently in commercials during the '90s. L'Oreal acquired the brand in 1996 and still owns it. Over the last 20 years, the brand has signed buzzy models like Jourdan Dunn, Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima, Freja Beha Erichsen, Jessica White, Charlotte Free and Shu Pei Qin, and sponsored global fashion week.
Maybelline changed its Logo from "Maybe it's Maybelline," to "Make it Happen."
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And it all started with a 19 year old boy with a good idea from his sister Mabel and a $500. loan from
- CHRISTY TURLINGTONMAYBELLINEL'OREALVINTAGE MAKEUP ADSLYNDA CARTER
- The Maybelline Story starts a century ago and takes you though the interesting life of founder Tom Lyle Williams and his fascinating family as he climbs his way to achieving the all American dream. Cross country, it will take you from Chicago to Hollywood, mingling with the who's who in each era and location.
The Maybelline Story is one that has left a lasting impression upon America, yet not many realize just how vital a role the cosmetic brand has played in shaping idealism today. The obsession with perfection is widely seen throughout Hollywood, as it was nearly 100 years ago. However, the obsession at that time did not reach the rest of society as it has today. Early cosmetic developers, such as founder Tom Lyle Williams of the Maybelline Co. brought cosmetics to the everyday woman, pushing the idea that every woman, young and old, regardless of class, can obtain glamour and beauty with a simple swish of the eyes. That’s where Maybelline got its start. Developed in a time where women were breaking away from being modest and obedient housewives, and starting to seek their right as legal voters and equals in society.The story captivates all audiences by its incredible survival through economic, social, and personal turmoil. The Maybelline Story takes you on a journey through 20th century America, and into the 21st century, where Maybelline thrives as a billion-dollar Icon, the world’s largest cosmetic brand. For Tom Lyle, the journey was not easy, as the brand tears his family and their world apart, yet brings them together to re-discover what they had before they had millions.....each other. 
