History of Mascara

Mascara has been around far before the ages of Great Lash and DiorShow. In fact, it was first used in the year 4000 B.C. in Egypt. The Egyptian women often used Kohl on their eyelashes, lids, and eyebrows. Honey and water were often added to keep the kohl in place. The usage of kohl as a cosmetic item spread to Babylonia, Greece, and Rome.
Long after the Egyptians (I'm talking the Victorian Era), women manufactured their own mascara at home. Said product was usually composed of lampblack or ash and mixed with elderberry juice. The mascara was then heated and applied to the lashes.
A more modern form of mascara was not available until the time of Eugene Rimmel (circa 1850). Rimmel made his mascara using petroleum jelly and coal dust, which was a fairly new product at the time. The product caught on quickly, and was widely used.
In 1913, T.L. Williams (founder of Maybelline cosmetics), created a type of mascara for his sister, Maybel. He called it Lash-Brow-Ine, as it could be used on both lashes and eyebrows. The product was very messy, but nonetheless popular. In 1917, he launched his very own mail-order service. A better form of mascara was soon developed to replace Lash-Brow-Ine. Said product included a brush and a cake of mascara. It was applied by wetting the brush and rubbing it over the cake, then sweeping onto lashes and brows. This mascara was also quite messy.
Years later, in 1957, American cosmetic giant Helena Rubenstein came out with a new type of mascara. It was a cream that could be squeezed onto an applicator, and applied to lashes. This method was not quite as messy as the previous ones, however it could still be a catastrophe.
The grooved mascara wand was created in the 1960s, and made it easier to apply mascara, and it more effectively coated lashes. This method is the most common one today.