• Home
  • Museum Information
  • Collection
  • Support
  • FAQs
  • Staff
  • About the Curator
Home Museum Information Collection Support FAQs Staff About the Curator

Museum Information

About and History

Dedicated to the preservation, research and exhibition of vintage and contemporary cosmetics, the Makeup Museum is a progressive, unique space that explores makeup design and packaging, beauty culture and history from all eras.  The Makeup Museum is the first comprehensive cosmetics museum in the U.S. and a leader in conceptualizing new ways of thinking about makeup and its cultural and artistic significance. 

In 2006, the Museum's founder and curator had the idea to develop a coffee table book devoted to the most beautiful makeup from the 1990s and early 2000s.  From that idea grew the bigger notion of an entire museum to display these objects, along with older pieces and a visual history of the beauty industry.  In 2008 the Museum's website was launched as a way to chronicle new makeup releases, research cosmetic objects and champion the idea of a dedicated cosmetics museum on a global scale.  

The Makeup Museum is a member of the International Perfume Bottle Association, the British Compact Collectors Society and the American Alliance of Museums.

Location and hours

There is no public physical space for the Museum yet, but in-person tours of the collection can be arranged and admission is FREE!  Plus, the magic of the internet means you can visit online 24/7.  The collection as well as most exhibitions are displayed in the Curator's Baltimore, Maryland home, while more in-depth exhibitions can be found here.  Photos of exhibitions are posted at the website so visitors can get a sense of what a museum devoted to cosmetics would look like.  The Curator would like nothing more than to break ground on a public physical space for the Museum, but it's a daunting task for someone without the connections and money required to do so.  Temporary/pop-up spaces are continually being explored.

Museum Services and Inquiries

The Museum welcomes all inquiries. Please contact the Curator with any loan requests or photography permissions. The Curator is also available for press interviews, speaking engagements, research assistance, book contributions and other projects. 
If you have an object you'd like to learn more about, please email the Curator with photos and any information you have. However, the Museum cannot provide valuations of artifacts.  See the FAQ's web page for details on object inquiries.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Makeup Museum is to:

- Preserve and document contemporary and vintage cosmetic objects, both for beauty consumers and the general public.

- Promote these objects as legitimate cultural artifacts by examining the history, design, and artistic inspiration behind them.

- Explore the sociological and cultural impact of makeup objects, including their usage and advertising, along with makeup artistry.

- Research and record the history of the beauty industry and the culture therein.

- Educate the public on the artistic, cultural, and historic value of makeup from all eras through exhibitions and publications.

Search

Beauty Library

  • A Collectors Guide Book to Estee Lauder Powder Compacts 1963 - 2015
  • : Dior: The Art of Color

    Dior: The Art of Color

  • A' Lelia Bundles: On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (Lisa Drew Books (Paperback))

    A' Lelia Bundles: On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker (Lisa Drew Books (Paperback))

  • Aileen Ribeiro: Facing Beauty: Painted Women and Cosmetic Art

    Aileen Ribeiro: Facing Beauty: Painted Women and Cosmetic Art

  • Andrea Benoit: VIVA MAC: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of MAC Cosmetics

    Andrea Benoit: VIVA MAC: AIDS, Fashion, and the Philanthropic Practices of MAC Cosmetics

  • Angeloglou, Maggie: A history of make-up

    Angeloglou, Maggie: A history of make-up

  • Anne Camilli, Jean-Marie Martin-Hattemberg: An ode to the complexion: the art of skincare and beauty objects from the 18th century to the present
  • Autumn Whitefield-Madrano: Face Value: The Hidden Ways Beauty Shapes Women's Lives

    Autumn Whitefield-Madrano: Face Value: The Hidden Ways Beauty Shapes Women's Lives

  • Croy, Anita: Terrible and Toxic Makeup (The Bizarre History of Beauty)

    Croy, Anita: Terrible and Toxic Makeup (The Bizarre History of Beauty)

  • De Castelbajac, Kate: The Face of the Century

    De Castelbajac, Kate: The Face of the Century

  • Frances Johnson: Compacts, Powders and Paint: With Values

    Frances Johnson: Compacts, Powders and Paint: With Values

  • Geoffrey Jones: Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry

    Geoffrey Jones: Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry

  • James Gager: Miles of MAC

    James Gager: Miles of MAC

  • Jean-Marie Martin-Hattenberg: Lips of Luxury

    Jean-Marie Martin-Hattenberg: Lips of Luxury

  • Jessica Pallingston: Lipstick: A Celebration of the World's Favorite Cosmetic

    Jessica Pallingston: Lipstick: A Celebration of the World's Favorite Cosmetic

  • Julie Patenaude: A Catalogue of Egyptian Cosmetic Palettes in the Manchester University Museum Collection (Catalogue Egypt Collections Manchester Museum)

    Julie Patenaude: A Catalogue of Egyptian Cosmetic Palettes in the Manchester University Museum Collection (Catalogue Egypt Collections Manchester Museum)

  • Juliette Edwards: Miller's: Powder Compacts: A Collector's Guide

    Juliette Edwards: Miller's: Powder Compacts: A Collector's Guide

  • Kathy Peiss: Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture

    Kathy Peiss: Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture

  • Larry Clayton: The Evans Book: Lighters, Compacts, Perfumers & Handbags

    Larry Clayton: The Evans Book: Lighters, Compacts, Perfumers & Handbags

  • Laura M. Mueller: Collector's Encyclopedia of Compacts Carry Alls & Face Powder Boxes (v. 1)

    Laura M. Mueller: Collector's Encyclopedia of Compacts Carry Alls & Face Powder Boxes (v. 1)

  • Laura M. Mueller: Collector's Encyclopedia of Compacts, Vol. 2: Carryalls and Face Powder Boxes- Identification & Values

    Laura M. Mueller: Collector's Encyclopedia of Compacts, Vol. 2: Carryalls and Face Powder Boxes- Identification & Values

  • Lisa Eldridge: Face Paint: The Story of Makeup

    Lisa Eldridge: Face Paint: The Story of Makeup

  • Lise Manniche: Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy, and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt

    Lise Manniche: Sacred Luxuries: Fragrance, Aromatherapy, and Cosmetics in Ancient Egypt

  • Lynell Schwartz: Vintage Compacts & Beauty Accessories

    Lynell Schwartz: Vintage Compacts & Beauty Accessories

  • Madeleine Marsh: Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian times to the Present Day

    Madeleine Marsh: Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian times to the Present Day

  • Mary Schaeffer Conroy: The Cosmetics Baron You've Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal And Tokalon (Second Edition)

    Mary Schaeffer Conroy: The Cosmetics Baron You've Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal And Tokalon (Second Edition)

  • Meg Cohen: Read My Lips: A Cultural History of Lipstick

    Meg Cohen: Read My Lips: A Cultural History of Lipstick

  • Meredith Etherington-Smith: Ultra Vanities: Minaudieres, Necessaires, and Compacts

    Meredith Etherington-Smith: Ultra Vanities: Minaudieres, Necessaires, and Compacts

  • Morag Martin: Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750-1830 (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)

    Morag Martin: Selling Beauty: Cosmetics, Commerce, and French Society, 1750-1830 (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)

  • Naomi Wolf: The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

    Naomi Wolf: The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women

  • Penny Dade: All Made Up: 100 Years of Cosmetics Advertising

    Penny Dade: All Made Up: 100 Years of Cosmetics Advertising

  • Sally Pointer: The Artifice of Beauty: A History and Practical Guide to Perfume and Cosmetics

    Sally Pointer: The Artifice of Beauty: A History and Practical Guide to Perfume and Cosmetics

  • Rachel C. Weingarten: Hello Gorgeous!: Beauty Products in America, '40s-'60s

    Rachel C. Weingarten: Hello Gorgeous!: Beauty Products in America, '40s-'60s

  • Rachel Felder: Red Lipstick: An Ode to a Beauty Icon

    Rachel Felder: Red Lipstick: An Ode to a Beauty Icon

  • Richard Corson: Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times

    Richard Corson: Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times

  • Roselyn Gerson: Vintage Ladies Compacts: Identification & Value Guide

    Roselyn Gerson: Vintage Ladies Compacts: Identification & Value Guide

  • Sali Hughes: Pretty Iconic: A Personal Look at the Beauty Products that Changed the World

    Sali Hughes: Pretty Iconic: A Personal Look at the Beauty Products that Changed the World

  • Sarah Jane Downing: Beauty and Cosmetics 1550–1950 (Shire Library)

    Sarah Jane Downing: Beauty and Cosmetics 1550–1950 (Shire Library)

  • Susan Stewart: Cosmetics & Perfumes in the Roman World

    Susan Stewart: Cosmetics & Perfumes in the Roman World

  • Susan Stewart: Painted Faces: A Colourful History of Cosmetics

    Susan Stewart: Painted Faces: A Colourful History of Cosmetics

  • Susannah Walker: Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975

    Susannah Walker: Style and Status: Selling Beauty to African American Women, 1920-1975

  • Teresa Riordan: Inventing Beauty: A History of the Innovations that Have Made Us Beautiful

    Teresa Riordan: Inventing Beauty: A History of the Innovations that Have Made Us Beautiful

  • Thomas, Erika: Max Factor and Hollywood: A Glamorous History

    Thomas, Erika: Max Factor and Hollywood: A Glamorous History

  • Val Garland: Validated: The Makeup of Val Garland

    Val Garland: Validated: The Makeup of Val Garland

  • Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks: Golden Beauty Boss: The Story of Madame Sara Spencer Washington and the Apex Empire

    Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks: Golden Beauty Boss: The Story of Madame Sara Spencer Washington and the Apex Empire

  • Meeta Jha: The Global Beauty Industry (Framing 21st Century Social Issues)

    Meeta Jha: The Global Beauty Industry (Framing 21st Century Social Issues)

  • Cheryl Thompson: Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada's Black Beauty Culture

    Cheryl Thompson: Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada's Black Beauty Culture

  • Tiffany M. Gill: Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women's Activism in the Beauty Industry (Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History)

    Tiffany M. Gill: Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women's Activism in the Beauty Industry (Women, Gender, and Sexuality in American History)

  • Robert E. Weems, Jr.: The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire

    Robert E. Weems, Jr.: The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire

  • Lindy Woodhead: War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden: Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry

    Lindy Woodhead: War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden: Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry

  • Clare Douglass Little: Makeup in the World of Beauty Vlogging: Community, Commerce, and Culture

    Clare Douglass Little: Makeup in the World of Beauty Vlogging: Community, Commerce, and Culture

  • Anne de Thoisy-Dallem: La poudre de beauté et ses écrins (French Edition)

    Anne de Thoisy-Dallem: La poudre de beauté et ses écrins (French Edition)

  • Howard W. Melton: American Compacts of the Art Deco Era: The Art of Elgin American, J.M. Fisher, and Others

    Howard W. Melton: American Compacts of the Art Deco Era: The Art of Elgin American, J.M. Fisher, and Others

Recommended reading

  • Ada Calhoun: Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis

    Ada Calhoun: Why We Can't Sleep: Women's New Midlife Crisis

  • Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler, Victoria Rose Pass, Christopher Wilson: Design History Beyond the Canon

    Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler, Victoria Rose Pass, Christopher Wilson: Design History Beyond the Canon

  • Andi Zeisler: Feminism and Pop Culture: Seal Studies

    Andi Zeisler: Feminism and Pop Culture: Seal Studies

  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We Should All Be Feminists

    Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We Should All Be Feminists

  • Dana Thomas: Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

    Dana Thomas: Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

  • Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation

    Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation

  • Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City:  Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

    Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

  • Linda M. Scott: Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism

    Linda M. Scott: Fresh Lipstick: Redressing Fashion and Feminism

  • Linda Nochlin: Women, Art, And Power And Other Essays (Icon Editions)

    Linda Nochlin: Women, Art, And Power And Other Essays (Icon Editions)

  • Linda Nochlin: Representing Women

    Linda Nochlin: Representing Women

  • Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success

    Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers: The Story of Success

  • Marisa Meltzer: Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music

    Marisa Meltzer: Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music

  • Mason Klein: Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power (Jewish Museum)

    Mason Klein: Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power (Jewish Museum)

  • Norma Broude: Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany

    Norma Broude: Feminism and Art History: Questioning the Litany

  • Norma Broude: Power of Feminist Art

    Norma Broude: Power of Feminist Art

  • Professor David M. Lubin: Picturing a Nation: Art and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century America (Yale Publications in the History of Art)

    Professor David M. Lubin: Picturing a Nation: Art and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century America (Yale Publications in the History of Art)

  • Roxane Gay: Bad Feminist: Essays

    Roxane Gay: Bad Feminist: Essays

  • Lucy Jane Santos: Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium

    Lucy Jane Santos: Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium

  • Susan Faludi: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

    Susan Faludi: Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women

  • Wanda M. Corn: The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935

    Wanda M. Corn: The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935

Subscribeemail meFollow me on Instagram!Follow me on Twitter!Follow me on Pinterest!Follow me on Facebook!Follow me on Tiktok!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Categories

  • 18th and 19th century (1)
  • 1900s (5)
  • 1920s (10)
  • 1930s (10)
  • 1940s (17)
  • 1950s (13)
  • 1960s (13)
  • 1970s (5)
  • 1980s (6)
  • 1990s (7)
  • 2000s (13)
  • Advertising (50)
  • Ancient cosmetics (5)
  • Armani (21)
  • Art history (93)
  • Artist collaboration (117)
  • Benefit (10)
  • Bobbi Brown (8)
  • Books (15)
  • Bourjois (7)
  • Burberry (8)
  • Cargo (5)
  • Chanel (26)
  • Chantecaille (22)
  • Clarins (12)
  • Clinique (5)
  • Clé de Peau (9)
  • Color Connections (42)
  • Cosme Decorte (8)
  • Cosmetics history (60)
  • Couture/Fashion (157)
  • Curator's corner (262)
  • Design (65)
  • Dior (31)
  • Dolce & Gabbana (12)
  • Donations (5)
  • Estee Lauder (17)
  • Exhibitions and museums (83)
  • Feminism (25)
  • Fresh (4)
  • Fun (84)
  • Giveaways (16)
  • Givenchy (11)
  • Green (15)
  • Guerlain (21)
  • Hauls (14)
  • International brands (53)
  • Lancôme (37)
  • Laura Mercier (7)
  • LM Ladurée (7)
  • MAC (64)
  • Makeup as Muse (20)
  • Medieval and Renaissance beauty (1)
  • Miscellaneous (70)
  • MM Mailbag (14)
  • MM Musings (29)
  • NARS (15)
  • Other makeup brands (90)
  • Pai Pai (5)
  • Paul & Joe (51)
  • Sephora (10)
  • Shiseido (9)
  • Shu Uemura (52)
  • Smackdowns (15)
  • Smashbox (8)
  • Staff (52)
  • Stila (59)
  • Sulwhasoo (1)
  • Technology (12)
  • The Balm (4)
  • Too-faced (11)
  • Trends (43)
  • Urban Decay (14)
  • Vintage (115)
  • Yves Saint Laurent (16)
See More

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020

More...

© 2008-2021 The Makeup Museum
  • The Makeup Museum®
Top