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- For the Chuck Berry song, see Maybellene.
Maybelline is a makeup brand sold worldwide and owned by L'Oréal.[1] Their motto is Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
History
The Maybelline Company was created by New York chemist T.L. Williams in 1915. Williams, then in his early 20s, noticed his younger sister applying a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to her eyelashes to give them a darker fuller look. He adapted it in his little laboratory and produced a product sold locally called Lash-Brow-Ine. The product was a local hit, but the awkward name held it back. His sister, who inspired the product, was named Maybel. So T.L. Williams re-named it Maybelline, a combination of Maybel and Vaseline. It is under this name that Maybelline has achieved its now legendary status in the field of cosmetics. In 1917 the company produced Maybelline Cake Mascara, "the first modern eye cosmetic for everyday use" and Ultra Lash in the 1960s, which was the first mass-market automatic mascara.[2]
In 1967, the company was sold by T.L. Williams to Plough, Inc. (now Schering-Plough) in Memphis, Tennessee. The entire cosmetic production facility was moved from Chicago to Memphis over one week-end. In 1975, the company moved its factory to Little Rock, Arkansas, where it is still located. In 1990, Schering-Plough sold Maybelline to a New York investment firm, Wasserstein Perella. Maybelline Operational Headquarters remained in Memphis until being sold in 1996, when headquarters moved to New York City.
Maybelline received a boost when the company hired Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter as the company's beauty fashion coordinator; she also appeared in several of its television and print advertisements. Christy Turlington, Josie Maran, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Melina Kanakaredes, Zhang Ziyi, Fasha Sandha, and Kristin Davis have endorsed Maybelline products. The current faces of Maybelline are Turlington, Julia Stegner, Jessica White, Erin Wasson, and Emily DiDonato.
In 1991, the company adopted its current advertising slogan, "Maybe She's Born With It. Maybe It's Maybelline" tagline. The company was acquired by L'Oréal in 1996. Acquiring Maybelline gave L'Oreal access to mass markets in cosmetics.
External links
References
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