Not even Britishborn French icon Jane Birkin was immune to the appeal of Great Lash mascara. Here, we unpack its history.
When Jane Birkin—who passed away in July at the age of 76—spills out the contents of her Hermès Birkin bag in the 1988 docudrama, among the many items is a very-familiar looking mascara. The name isn’t visible, but with its green cap and pink tube, it’s immediately recognizable as Maybelline Great Lash. There doesn’t seem to be any record of Birkin paying lip service to the product, but it can be surmised from this scene that she was a user.
The story behind this iconic mascara dates back to 1915. When 19-year-old Thomas Williams observed his older sister, Mabel, enhancing her lashes and brows with Vaseline mixed with cork ash, he thought it made her look like the silent-movie stars of the time. Realizing that a product like that didn’t exist on the market, he decided to create it, despite the potential obstacles.
Yet in a market that is constantly introducing new mascaras—even Maybelline itself continues to bring out new ones, as the category remains a huge windfall for it—Great Lash, now 52 years old and unchanged, endures. Why? “It’s proper, opaque, dark soot black, not that semi-permanent dirty puddle shade so woefully common in cheaper mascaras,” writes Sali Hughes in her book.
Jurors from all over the country put dozens of beauty products–from skincare and makeup to hair care and body care–to the test for the 27th edition of ELLE's Beauty Grand Prix. Here are this year's finalists.
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