Helena Rubinstein

© Helena Rubinstein

We take a look at the invention and development of mascara by all the top brands through the ages...    

Helena Rubinstein
"Theda Bara was one of the first women to perfect the vamp look back in the 1920s, and she owes it all to us," writes Helena Rubinstein. "It spread all over the world. Before that, American women didn't wear eye make-up. In Europe, only theatre actresses used mascara, and it was never very well done. I came up with a mascara that highlighted Theda's amazing eyes so that you were drawn to them, and that didn't run."

1939: Helena Rubinstein invented the first ever waterproof mascara.
1958: It became known as Mascara Matic, which then became Long Lash refillable waterproof mascara in 1964. It contained silk fibres and proteins along with a vitamin complex to lengthen, protect and nourish the lashes, and a hair-free stick brush that made it easy to apply the silk fibres. 
1985: Helena's mascaras first came out in intense colour.
1999: Helena created Vertiginous Mascara, which is infused with an elastic formula that coats and curls lashes.