For nearly a century, "Maybelline" has been synonymous with "eye cosmetics"-- yet little is known about how a tiny company offering a single product by mail order managed to grow into an international institution.
The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It, aims to change that. It could only be written by someone with insider knowledge. Sharrie Williams is the great-niece of Tom Lyle Williams, the charming and creative, yet remarkably secretive man who founded Maybelline along with his tight knit family, including his brothers and sisters -Noel, Preston, Mabel and Eva - catapulting a little mail order business in 1915 into the most successful and famous eye cosmetic company in the world.
By digging through family documents, her own memories and the memories of the few remaining people intimately familiar with the founders of Maybelline, Sharrie slipped beneath the public facade of the company to reveal the amazing personalities at its heart. This is an exciting and thoughtful book, part memoir, part history, part family saga, that reveals the triumphs and tragedies behind the beautiful public face of Maybelline.
Chet and Mabel (Willliams) Hewes, and Ches and Eva (Williams) Haines, Hollywood, 1938.
Tom Lyle Williams with Mabel, Chet, Ches and Eva at The Villa Valentino - Hollywood, 1938.
Catalina California 1938 - left to right, My father Bill,
great uncle Tom Lyle, my Grandmother Evelyn and my auntie Eva, auntie Mabel and uncle Chet.
