Mabel Williams, ‘Secrets from the Harem,’ from Photoplay Magazine…1915, inspired the birth of Maybelline

After accidently burning her brows and lashes in 1915, Mabel Williams found a trick in Photoplay magazine, called “Secret of the Harem.” It allowed her to get the desired fuller darker lash look by using simple house hold products. Vaseline & soot or coal dust, was mixed into a black gel and then applied to the lashes with a fine brush. It was this simple trick that inspired her brother, Tom Lyle Williams, to formulate and name his new beauty product, Maybelline, in honor of his sister who gave him the idea.

Elsie Ferguson

Jean Harlow

Phyllis Haver

Gloria Swanson

Greta Garbo

Joan Crawford

Hedy Lamarr

Throughout the decades, Tom Lyle Williams, continued to contract these beautiful Hollywood Stars as the faces of Maybelline, while he kept his personal life and family, private from the public eye.

Being in the right place at the right time was partly the secret of Maybelline coming into the world. That and the fact the world of women were starving for something to allow them to enhance their natural beauty. I know that if I didn’t have my Maybelline, I would have always been the plainest of Jane’s for sure. My daughter once remarked that without makeup, my face looked like a blank slate. With make up I can transform into a completely different persona. So thank goodness my auntie Mabel, had the accident that caused her to need to invent something quick to save her face and to save all of our faces.

Read more these beautiful Photoplay Stars who represented Maybelline, in my book, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

Be sure to visit my Hilarious 1964 High School Blog called Saffrons Rule at http://saffronsrule.com/

Mabel Williams, ‘Secrets from the Harem,’ from Photoplay Magazine…1915, inspired the birth of Maybelline

Maybe She’s Born With It