They say that something has real value when it gets a dedicated museum.
Today, make-up appears to someone like a futile embellishment to relay on when you feel insecure about your exterior, but it has been the symbol of decades and of historical, cultural and social mutations. Make-up has always followed the development of industries and technology and it’s by going back in time that we can understand how much of an impact cosmetics and make-up products had and still have on society.
This is part of the reason why the “Make Up Museum” was born. It is a very unique project: a museum entirely dedicated to the history of make-up which collects, repairs, analyzes and preserves artifacts from all over the world with the intent to connect past and future generations in order to show to the public how much a cosmetic product can tell about an historical period.
The opening took place on the 1st of September 2020 in New York (94 Gansevoort St.) with regulations that show a particular attention to the well-being and safety of the visitors. The museum debuted with “Pink Jungle: 1950s Makeup in America”, an exhibition completely dedicated to 1950’s makeup products and iconography.
On display among pink walls, interactive installations and cascades of flowers, it is possible to admire artifacts of all kinds, such as skincare products used by Marylin Monroe, Greta Garbo and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, various vintage cosmetics such as the rare compact “Bird-In-Hand” by Salvador Dalí and the diaries of the famous make-up artist “Kevin Aucoin”.
If you’re planning a trip to New York, you can buy tickets for the exhibition on the website www.makeupmuseum.com which cost $ 42.70 each (approximately € 36). For those who are not able to visit the museum in person, it is possible to download the “Makeup Museum” app (available for both iOS and Android at the price of € 3.49) which allows to admire the artifacts exhibited at the museum in your own house thanks to augmented reality.
The “Make Up Museum” is an innovation for sure, the founders give the opportunity of learning to those who are willing to be captured by the trends of the past, and they are succeeding in this! At the end of the day, it seems that more and more people are finally recognizing the great potential of make-up and cosmetics. Could this be the first of several themed museums around the world? I hope so!