When Thomas Lyle Williams was nineteen, he saw his sister Mabel using a homemade concoction of petroleum jelly, coal dust, and burnt cork to darken her eyelashes. The results were commercially manufactured mascara, and his company, Maybelline, was named for his sister.
Poppaea Sabina (30-65 CE) was the wife of Praetorian prefect Rufrius Crispinius and then Marcus Salvius Otho (r. 69 CE) before she became the second wife of Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE).
Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
Beautyblender founder
Cordelia Greene Johnson (1887-1957) founded the Modern Beautician Association and served as its president until her death.
Co-founder of the Boston unit of the Housewives League
Beautician and community activist, formed the Boston unit of the Housewives League with Geneva Arrington and E. Alice Taylor.
Toni Ko, a first-generation South Korean immigrant, made a name for herself in the business world as the founder of NYX Cosmetics and now helps fund and develop other women-run brands.
American chemist and entrepreneur, most famous for inventing the first long-lasting, non-smearing lipstick.
Businesswoman, inventor, and philanthropist who was one of the first African American women to become a millionaire.