The Story of Maybelline: How a Sister's Burn Gave Birth to Mascara, and a Brother Hid His Love for Half a Century

The story of Maybelline began in 1915 in an ordinary kitchen. Mabel Williams, the older sister of Tom Lyle Williams, singed off her eyebrows and eyelashes and drew new ones with a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust. Nineteen-year-old Tom turned the home trick into a mascara and named it after his sister: Mabel + Vaseline = Maybelline. And for almost half a century he hid from the world that he loved a man.

In this story:

• Who was Mabel and what happened in the kitchen?
• How did ash and Vaseline become Maybelline's first mascara?
• Why was the mascara called Maybelline?
• How did a ten-cent mascara conquer America, and what happened to the bank?
• Whom did Tom Lyle Williams love?
• Maybelline secrets that aren't in the video
• What happened to Maybelline after Tom?
• Mabel's gaze is in your makeup bag

In this story:

• Who was Mabel and what happened in the kitchen?
• How did ash and Vaseline become Maybelline's first mascara?
• Why was the mascara called Maybelline?
• How did a ten-cent mascara conquer America, and what happened to the bank?
• Whom did Tom Lyle Williams love?
• Maybelline secrets that aren't in the video
• What happened to Maybelline after Tom?
• Video version of the story
• Frequently asked questions

Who was Mabel and what happened in the kitchen?

The kitchen stove flares up — and the flame hits a girl right in the face. One second. The smell of burnt hair. When the smoke clears, a stranger's face looks back at her from the little mirror: red skin, soot, and emptiness where that morning there had still been eyebrows and eyelashes.

The girl's name was Mabel Williams. She was the older sister of Tom Lyle Williams — a boy from a simple family who, still a teenager, went to Chicago to seek his fortune and worked there in sales. Neither of them knew that this fire would one day ignite an entire industry.

Imagine: you're young, and you can't leave the house without covering your face with your hand. Without eyebrows, the gaze seems bare, lost, alien. Mabel hid — from the neighbors, from church socials, from her own reflection.

And there was also him. The boy Mabel had fallen in love with. According to family tradition, that was when he began to look at another girl. Whether he was really choosing between two girls or jealousy painted in the rest of the picture, history is silent. But Mabel decided not to give up.

How did ash and Vaseline become Maybelline's first mascara?

She takes a cork and holds it over a candle until it turns black. She scrapes the ash onto a saucer, adds coal dust and a little Vaseline. She rubs it with her finger — and, hair by hair, draws on her own lashes and eyebrows.

They say she laughed that it was a "harem secret" — that was the romantic name then given to Eastern feminine beauty tricks. The recipe really was as old as the world: women made dark eye mixtures back in ancient Egypt. But for a girl from a simple American family, it was a discovery.

And the boy — turns around. As if seeing her eyes for the first time. She blushes, and the evening that was supposed to be the worst suddenly becomes the best.

But the most important gaze in this scene is not his. Tom stands in the doorway. He looks at his sister and sees not a burn. He sees how her eyes have changed. And he realizes: what Mabel did on a saucer, every girl in America will want.

Why was the mascara called Maybelline?

Tom seizes on the idea. The first mixture is far from perfect: it runs into Mabel's eyes, stings, and black tears stream down her cheeks. And his sister sits down at the mirror again — because her brother asks her to try once more.

The first name Tom came up with was practical — Lash-Brow-Ine, that is, "a product for lashes and brows." He sold it by mail, through magazine ads. That name got caught up in a trademark dispute, and a new one had to be found.

Two years after the fire in the kitchen, the word that the whole world knows today appears: Maybelline. Mabel plus Vaseline. His sister's name and the main ingredient of that first mixture — in a single word. Like a declaration of love that you can put in your makeup bag.

That was also when Maybelline Cake Mascara appeared — a pressed mascara in a small cake with a tiny brush. You wet the brush with water, ran it over the cake — and applied it to your lashes. Tubes with a wand didn't exist yet, so every morning began with a little ritual.

How did a ten-cent mascara conquer America, and what happened to the bank?

At first the mascara traveled to customers in mailing envelopes. And when the Great Depression hit America, Tom made a move that turned out to be brilliant: he put Maybelline into chain variety stores, those very "five-and-dime shops." A small package cost ten cents.

In movie theaters, girls watched stars with long, dark lashes. And now such a gaze could be bought with the change left over from bread. Hollywood became Maybelline's best advertising — and later movie stars appeared in the brand's own ads as well.

And then — a blow. The bank where Tom's money was kept collapses. In a single day he loses everything he has built. Imagine that morning: locked doors, a crowd, a hat in his hand — and emptiness.

And then a friend arrives. According to family lore — with a check for thirty thousand dollars, a real fortune in those days. Tom grips his hand with both of his. The business lives.

Whom did Tom Lyle Williams love?

And now — the secret Tom kept for almost his whole life. He loved a man. His name was Emery Shaver, and he wrote advertising copy for Maybelline. The words with which the brand addressed millions of women were born right beside Tom.

In America at that time, such love could land you in prison or destroy your reputation in a single evening. So Tom drew the curtains and played the role that was expected of him.

They move to California and buy the villa where Rudolph Valentino once lived — a silent-film star, an idol who made women faint in movie theaters. An irony worthy of a screenplay: the home of the greatest female idol became a refuge for two men who had to hide their love.

In public, Tom is a businessman among movie stars. At home — with Emery. This went on for almost fifty years. Tell me honestly: could you love someone for half a century only behind closed doors?

One day Emery dies. And Tom fades. Three years later he sells his life's work. He himself will go at eighty. They were buried side by side. There is no need to hide there anymore.

Maybelline secrets that aren't in the video

The price of goodbye. Tom sold Maybelline to the pharmaceutical company Plough Inc., and, according to the brand's history, the deal came to about $22.5 million. The boy who started with mail-order ads left a millionaire — but already without the person for whom all of it had meaning.

The pink-and-green tube. Already after the company was sold, the Great Lash mascara appeared — in bright pink packaging with a green cap. It is still called one of the most famous mascaras in history, and makeup artists kept it in their kits for years.

Where "New York" came from. For a long time the brand's headquarters were in Memphis. And when the French company L'Oréal bought Maybelline, the company was moved to New York — and the words New York were added to the name. How L'Oréal itself became an empire, we told in the series "L'Oréal. The Richest Woman in the World Gave a Billion to a Photographer."

What happened to Maybelline after Tom?

After Tom, the brand passed from hand to hand until it ended up with L'Oréal. Today the group calls Maybelline New York the number one cosmetics brand in the world, and it is sold in more than a hundred countries.

From a country kitchen to a makeup bag on every continent. And it all began with a single second, when the kitchen stove flared up.

Brand passport

Timeline

Mabel's gaze is in your makeup bag

Mabel drew her gaze with a finger, ash and patience — because she had nothing else. You are luckier: to bring depth back to your eyes, you don't need to burn a cork over a candle.

EXTRA LONG WEAR VOLUMIZIING MASCARA BLACK mascara gives lashes black color and long-lasting volume, and the POWDERY EYEBROW PENCIL eyebrow pencil gently fills in brows where hairs are missing. The same gaze from that kitchen — only without burns and tears.

EXTRA LONG WEAR VOLUMIZIING MASCARA BLACK mascara · POWDERY EYEBROW PENCIL eyebrow pencil

SINART Catalog →

You've read to the end — now see how this story comes alive in the video: the fire in the kitchen, the ash on the saucer, and a love that lived for half a century behind drawn curtains. Subscribe to the SINART YouTube channel so you don't miss the next episodes of "SINART. The DNA of Beauty."

Mabel never became the face of the brand — she became its name. Tom gave the world a movie star's gaze for ten cents, but he kept the most precious thing in his life a secret. Today Maybelline is sold in more than a hundred countries, and it all began with a saucer, ash, and a girl who didn't want to hide her face.

In the next episode — "Marilyn Monroe. A Face to the Last Day": how a woman known to the whole world re-created her image anew every day. And you — what would you be ready to do for a single glance that makes him turn around?

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Maybelline?

Maybelline was founded by the American Tom Lyle Williams. In 1915 in Chicago he began selling by mail Lash-Brow-Ine, a product for lashes and brows, created on the basis of a homemade mixture by his older sister Mabel. Two years later the product received the name Maybelline. Tom ran the company for more than half a century and sold it in 1967.

Why is Maybelline called that?

The name Maybelline combines the name Mabel and the word Vaseline. Mabel Williams, the founder's sister, after a burn mixed Vaseline with coal dust and ash to draw on her lashes and eyebrows. Tom named the mascara after her in 1917, when the first name, Lash-Brow-Ine, had to be changed because of a trademark dispute.

Who was Mabel Williams?

Mabel Williams was the older sister of Tom Lyle Williams and the muse of the Maybelline brand. According to family lore, in 1915 she singed her eyebrows and eyelashes by the kitchen stove and drew them back on with a mixture of Vaseline, ash and coal dust to attract the attention of the man she loved. That very home trick inspired her brother to create mascara.

When did the first Maybelline mascara appear?

Tom Williams's first product, Lash-Brow-Ine, appeared in 1915. And under the name Maybelline, Maybelline Cake Mascara came out in 1917 — a pressed mascara in a cake with a small brush. It was moistened with water and applied to the lashes. Tubes with a spiral wand appeared much later.

What was Maybelline's first product called?

The first product was called Lash-Brow-Ine — that is, a product for lashes and brows. Tom Lyle Williams sold it by mail through magazine ads. Later, because of a trademark dispute, the name had to be changed, and that is how the word Maybelline appeared, in honor of his sister Mabel.

How much did Maybelline mascara cost in the 1930s?

During the Great Depression, Tom Williams began selling Maybelline in chain variety stores, the so-called five-and-dime shops. A small package of mascara cost ten cents. Thanks to this, an expressive gaze like that of movie stars became available to almost every American girl.

Who was Emery Shaver?

Emery Shaver was the partner of Maybelline's founder Tom Lyle Williams, with whom he spent almost fifty years. Emery wrote advertising copy for the brand. Because of the laws and prejudices of that era, the couple hid their relationship. They lived in California in the villa where Rudolph Valentino once lived, and they are buried side by side.

When did Tom Williams sell Maybelline?

Tom Lyle Williams sold Maybelline in 1967 to the pharmaceutical company Plough Inc. According to the brand's history, the deal amounted to about $22.5 million. The sale took place several years after the death of his beloved Emery Shaver. Tom himself died in 1976 at the age of 80.

When did Great Lash mascara appear?

Maybelline's Great Lash mascara appeared in 1971, after Tom Williams had already sold the company. It is recognized by its bright pink tube with a green cap. Great Lash is considered one of the most famous mascaras in history; for years it was used by ordinary girls and professional makeup artists alike.

Who owns Maybelline now?

Since 1996, Maybelline has belonged to the French cosmetics group L'Oréal. After the purchase, the brand moved from Memphis to New York and received the name Maybelline New York. L'Oréal calls Maybelline the number one cosmetics brand in the world; it is sold in more than a hundred countries.

Why does Maybelline's name include New York?

The words New York appeared in the name after L'Oréal bought the brand in 1996 and moved Maybelline's headquarters to New York. Before that, the company had long operated in Memphis, and it was born in Chicago. So New York is about the city of the headquarters, not the brand's birthplace.