MM Curator's Profile

A not so magical holiday with Holiday Magic Cosmetics

While hunting for vintage Christmas makeup a few months ago I stumbled across a brand from the 1960s called Holiday Magic. This won't be a complete history either of the brand or the man who founded it, but it's one... Continue reading

Posted 7 days ago at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's corner, January 2021

Links for one of the most miserable months of the year. Good riddance, January! - Sephora unveiled an action plan to eliminate racial bias in their stores. Let's hope they keep the public informed on their progress. Ditto for L'oreal's... Continue reading

Posted Feb 3, 2021 at The Makeup Museum

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MM Musings, vol. 29 : Diversity and inclusion

Makeup Museum (MM) Musings is a series that examines a broad range of museum topics as they relate to the preservation, research and exhibition of cosmetics, along with my vision for a physical Makeup Museum. These posts help me think... Continue reading

Posted Jan 30, 2021 at The Makeup Museum

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Color Connection #42

Todd Chilton, Split and Quartered, 2012 Juvia's Place, The Masquerade palette, 2017 Continue reading

Posted Jan 24, 2021 at The Makeup Museum

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Makeup Museum ideas for now and the future, 2021 update

It's the time of year where I babble on about things I want to tackle but most likely won't be able to. I reviewed last year's blog post ideas and out of the 30 topics I only managed to accomplish,... Continue reading

Posted Jan 12, 2021 at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's corner, December 2020

I was too tired and sad to do a 2020 version of Curator's Picks and Pans, so I'm skipping straight to Curator's Corner for December. - Mother has become a Dame! Huge congratulations are in order for Pat McGrath, who... Continue reading

Posted Jan 3, 2021 at The Makeup Museum

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Fox weddings, weaving cranes and moon princesses: Kate holiday 2020

As usual, there was no shortage of artist collabs of the holiday season. Kate is an affordably-priced Japanese brand owned by Kanebo, maker of the beautiful Milano compacts. I was immediately intrigued by the packaging for their holiday collection, and... Continue reading

Posted Dec 31, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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A season for giving (and receiving): donations galore!

I am forever grateful for those who approach me with makeup they no longer want or that they feel belongs in the Museum. While 2020 was another hellish year for me personally and the Museum, as well as basically the... Continue reading

Posted Dec 29, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Wishing you peace and joy from Bob Jordan and MAC

MAC's Frosted Fireworks was already a fun collection, but they managed to sneak in an artist collab in their holiday lineup too. And amazingly, the artist actually responded to my interview request and kindly answered my questions! We'll get to... Continue reading

Posted Dec 21, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's corner, November 2020

The November rewind. - Tooting my own horn, again...this time I was interviewed for a short video segment on makeup during the pandemic. If you want to see what I sort of look like - I swear I'm not quite... Continue reading

Posted Dec 4, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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The Birkin of lipsticks: Rouge Hermès

Here's a bit of luxury to start off your week! (Yes, I backdated this post.) Hermès, historic French purveyor of fine leather goods and other accessories since 1837, debuted a lipstick line back in March. Once I saw the modern... Continue reading

Posted Dec 2, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Makeup as Muse: Gina Beavers

Despite my art history background and general love of art, I am less than eloquent when writing about it. Nevertheless I will continue soldiering forward with the Museum's Makeup as Muse series, the latest installment of which focuses on the... Continue reading

Posted Nov 28, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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First: unraveling the origins of cosmetics museums

I'm doing the #Museum30 challenge on Twitter, and one of the recent prompts was "origin". It got me thinking about the very first makeup museum. While I have no definitive answers, it seems the first cosmetics museum, at least in... Continue reading

Posted Nov 17, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's Corner, October 2020

I was hoping to do a history of Day of the Dead makeup in addition to Curator's Corner, but as usual I wanted to tackle a very in-depth topic that I lacked the time to cover, so here are some... Continue reading

Posted Nov 5, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Halloween 2020 roundup

It's hard to believe I haven't done a Halloween roundup since 2016, but here we are. Hopefully this post will compensate for the makeup I missed the past couple of years, as cosmetic companies continue churning out spooky and fun... Continue reading

Posted Oct 31, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Beauty profile: Carmen Murphy and Carmen Cosmetics

"To borrow Dr. King's phrase all I had, too, was a dream. I got into the business mainly because Black women, myself included, had been searching for cosmetics that would look good on them for years. There just weren't any."... Continue reading

Posted Oct 20, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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An exhibition of royal makeup (that you might be able to buy): Princess Hwahyeop

Here's more makeup awesomeness from Korea. As usual I completely forget what I was looking for when I stumbled across a couple of articles describing the discovery of cosmetic containers in the tomb of an 18th-century princess, but it was... Continue reading

Posted Oct 8, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's Corner, September 2020

Links for September. - Any makeup history fan must check out Lisa Eldridge's video showcasing highlights from her amazing collection. - Estée Lauder will be the first company to send beauty products into space, to the tune of $128,000. To... Continue reading

Posted Oct 2, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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No cities to love: Yoon Hyup for Bobbi Brown

I was hoping to post about Bobbi Brown's collaboration from this past spring, a partnership with British artist Morag Myerscough, but I realized I never got around to writing about an Asia-exclusive collab from last year so I'm covering that... Continue reading

Posted Sep 22, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Interview with a curator: Andra Behrendt of Perfume Passage

I had the great fortune of getting in touch with Andra Behrendt, curator of the Perfume Passage museum. She's a member of the International Perfume Bottle Association and sends out a quarterly eNews for their Compacts & Vanity Items Specialty... Continue reading

Posted Sep 14, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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A visit from the future and past: Paul & Joe x Doraemon

I distinctly remember ordering this Paul & Joe collection in April of 2019, as my dad was still in the ICU and I felt guilty for taking a few minutes to place an order before visiting him. But I knew... Continue reading

Posted Sep 3, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Curator's Corner, August 2020

Links for August, plus another special milestone. - I'm just gonna go ahead and toot my own horn - I was honored to be interviewed for an article on gender-inclusive beauty over at Mission Magazine. Not the most insightful quote... Continue reading

Posted Sep 1, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Party patellas: the knee makeup fad of the '20s and '60s

Not sure how I missed Mimi Choi's fantastic makeup optical illusions on Instagram, but I'm grateful to Jen of Coffee Sundays for introducing me a few months ago. One look in particular caught my eye: Choi's hilarious "twin", Knee-Knee. (image... Continue reading

Posted Aug 21, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Giveaway winner announced!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the Makeup Museum's 12-year anniversary giveaway! Now it's time for MM staff to announce the lucky winner. This time Visitor Services Associate Space Babo will do the honors. Yay!! Laura, please send me... Continue reading

Posted Aug 15, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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Giveaway in honor of the Museum's 12th anniversary!

Once again I nearly forgot about the Museum's anniversary! While my idea for a makeup museum was generated prior to its online presence, I mark the anniversary as the day I wrote the very first blog post. Over 1,300 posts... Continue reading

Posted Aug 8, 2020 at The Makeup Museum

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