There are products we use.
And then there are products that end up becoming a part of us.
A simple gesture – the movement of a mascara wand through the lashes – can completely transform a face. It can open up the gaze, intensify it, make it more sophisticated, or sometimes, create the illusion of wearing nothing at all.
Today, mascara is almost an instinctive gesture. It lives in handbags, makeup bags, backstage, and drawers all over the world.
But the history of mascara began long before that small black tube became a beauty essential...
IT ALL STARTED WITH THE EYES
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In Ancient Egypt, women and men used kohl to emphasize their eyes. Dark pigments were applied around the eye, creating that characteristic elongated shape that became one of the most recognizable beauty codes in history.
Beauty, ritual, and identity were already deeply intertwined.
The eye was not merely something to enhance.
It was something through which to communicate.
Thousands of years later, that idea hasn't changed all that much.
FROM POWDER TO THE SMALL BLACK WAND
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Modern mascara began to take shape much more recently.
In the early twentieth century, the world of cosmetics began to abandon homemade preparations to transform into a universe of products designed for daily use.
Around 1917, T. L. Williams developed Lash-Brow-Ine, inspired by the mixture his sister Mabel used to darken her eyelashes. The product and the company that followed would later become Maybelline.
But mascara was still very different from what we know today.
In the 1920s, it could come in the form of a cake, wax, or liquid formula, and application was done with a brush, not yet with the familiar modern wand.
It was makeup, of course.
But it was also a ritual.
THEN CAME HOLLYWOOD
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If cosmetics had given women new tools, it was cinema that gave them a new reason to use them.
The close-up changed everything.
On the big screen, eyes had to speak even from a distance. Lashes became darker, thicker, more dramatic. The gaze became part of a character's identity — seductive, innocent, mysterious, rebellious.
And suddenly, mascara was no longer just for darkening lashes.
It was for creating a look.
This is also why mascara has become so deeply intertwined with the visual language of fashion and cinema. Beauty trends have never existed in isolation: they moved between actresses, photographers, designers, makeup artists, and the women who observed them.
THE 60S: WHEN LASHES BECAME A STATEMENT
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Then came the 1960s.
And the gaze took center stage.
Graphic eyeliner, exaggerated lashes, almost doll-like eyes, and a beauty aesthetic that was anything but discreet.
Mascara became something to build.
One coat was not necessarily enough.
The more dramatic the lashes, the stronger the statement.
And that idea – that the same mascara can create different levels of intensity depending on how it's applied – is still one of the fundamental principles of modern makeup today.
One coat to define. Multiple layers to create drama.
FROM BEAUTY PRODUCT TO ICON
In the second half of the twentieth century, mascara had already become one of the emblematic products of modern makeup.
Packaging changed.
Formulas evolved.
Wands became increasingly sophisticated.
Waterproof formulas arrived. Different wands were designed to achieve different effects. Lengthening, volumizing, curling, defining: mascara became increasingly specialized.
It was no longer simply black pigment for eyelashes.
It had become technology, design, and artistry enclosed in one small object.
And perhaps that's precisely what makes mascara so fascinating.
It's one of the smallest things in a makeup bag – and at the same time one of the most transformative.
THE LINK WITH FASHION
Fashion has always known the power of the gaze.
On a runway, a look can completely change through a single choice: nude, almost invisible lashes, intensely defined, extreme volume, graphic colors.
Makeup artists use mascara not simply to "complete" a face, but to control how the entire image is perceived.
A natural face with defined lashes communicates something different from the same face with intense and dramatic volume.
Clothes create the silhouette. Makeup creates the attitude.
And often, it is precisely from the lashes that this look takes shape.
TODAY'S MASCARA
Today we demand much more from our makeup.
We want performance, but we also look at the formulation. We want intensity without sacrificing comfort. We want visible results, but increasingly we also look for products capable of caring for what they are applied to – in this case, our eyelashes.
Mascara has evolved from a purely decorative product to something much closer to a beauty ritual that combines makeup and care.
And that's where we are today. Discover THE FIRST ICON - LENGTH & VOLUME MASCARA.
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