The Maybelline Company was founded in Chicago by pharmacist Thomas Lyle Williams in 1915. Williams noticed his older sister Mabel applying a mixture of Vaseline and coal dust to her eyelashes to give them a darker, fuller look. He adapted it with a chemistry set and produced a product sold locally called Lash-Brow-Ine.
Williams renamed his eye beautifier Maybelline in her honor. In 1917, the company produced Maybelline Cake Mascara, "the first modern eye cosmetic for everyday use", and Ultra Lash, the first mass-market automatic, in the 1960s.[5]
In 1967, the company was sold by Williams to Plough Inc. (now Schering-Plough) in Memphis, Tennessee. The cosmetic production facility was moved from Chicago to Memphis over one weekend. In 1975, the company moved to Little Rock, Arkansa. In 1990, Schering-Plough sold Maybelline to a New York investment firm, Wasserstein Perella & Co. Maybelline's headquarters remained in Memphis until its acquisition by L'Oréal in 1996. Its headquarters was then moved to New York City in 1996[6] and its factory to Brooklyn in 2000.
Maybelline received a boost when the company hired Lynda Carter as the company's beauty fashion coordinator after her television series ended; she also appeared in several of its television and print advertisements.
In 1981, the company adopted "Maybelline, Maybelline Ooh La La" as its advertising slogan,[10] which was used until 1991 when the tagline changed to "Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline".[11] The latter slogan was found to be the most recognizable strapline of the past 150 years by CBS Outdoor.[12]
In 1989, L'Oréal ceased to use animal testing in finished products before launch and committed to developing alternative methods.[13] According to a 2010 report, however, animal testing of products is required by law in some countries to sell cosmetics.[14] In 2021, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reported that Maybelline tested on animals.[15]
In January 2019, Maybelline collaborated with the German fashion brand Puma for its limited edition collection that was marketed as Maybelline X Puma.[16] It was claimed as the multi-tasking athleisure-inspired collection and consisted of five products. Adriana Lima was chosen as the ambassador for the collaboration.[17][18][19]
In May 2021, Maybelline collaborated with Marvel to create a limited edition that connects Marvel's most iconic characters with the brand's top-selling hero products.[20]
