There have been a few different origin stories over the years related to teenage Tom Lyle's submersion into the world of women's make-up. Like the vast majority of gay men during his era, he lived a closeted life, so any natural interest in such things (he enjoyed applying make-up to his own face in the style of silent film stars) was downplayed in corporate accounts. All versions of the story, though, do feature Tom getting a crash course in DIY cosmetics from his sister-watching her apply some strange formula of Vaseline, coal dust, and ash to her brows and eyelashes. According to Sharrie Williams, Mabel had actually singed her brows, and wowed her brother by using the hodge-podge of ingredients to essentially rebuild her best visage with a vanity mirror and a brush.
"Gays in the 1930s were not allowed to have any influence on women," Sharrie adds, noting that the government had actual programs in place to crackdown on homosexual elements in the cosmetics industry. "It was a witch burning. The Government tried to break up the Maybelline Company by calling it a monopoly. Tom Lyle never was allowed to use his face on his products, like Max Factor or Charles Revson. Instead, he used the biggest Stars in Hollywood to represent Maybelline. Tom Lyle never let anything stop him and he never gave up believing in himself and his company. A positive thinker, he would say. 'It's easy to be happy when things are going your way, the true test of character is staying positive during the hard times.'"
