Maybelline a staggering success story

On the level of great American entrepreneurs, my Great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams story is a spectacular rise to the top of the business world and the cosmetic industry, with his hunches, hard work and deep-rooted faith that made it possible.

Ranging from the days when he literally couldn't spare a dime, to his building a world famous brand and cosmetic empire. Tom Lyle Williams story is a saga of American big business through depression, war and prosperity.

Most of all, though, it is a story of great personal adventure by a man who believed in himself, in his dreams, and in American as an unending frontier of opportunity.

Maybelline featured Hollywood Star Loretta Young in glamorous 1950 glossy ads

Loretta Young, Maybelline's Hollywood Madonna, a symbol of beauty, serenity, and grace. But behind the glamour and stardom was a woman of substance.

Nobody loves old Hollywood movies and Movie Stars more than I do.  Not just because so many of them endorsed Maybelline ad's between 1915-1967, but because my mother's father Andrew Mac Donald was a Motion Picture Pioneer in Hollywood from 1915 to 1967.  I grew up surrounded by Maybelline history from my great uncle Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company and stories from my grandfather Andy who worked at MGM and knew most every Star at the studio.

 My grandfather's story is lightly glazed over in my book, The Maybelline Story, because it's so extensive it needs to be a book itself, but you do get a brief picture of what his life was like during the Golden Age of MGM.  That being said, you can understand why I was so fixated on wanting to be a Star myself, or at least a Maybelline Model.

I asked my grandfather about Clark Gable, who I adored as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.  I was shocked when he said  "Gable was a very bad man," but wouldn't elaborate on the subject.  I never knew what he meant until this book about Loretta Young, came.  My grandfather disapproved of  Gable for abandoning Loretta Young when she was pregnant with their child, during the making of Call of the Wild in 1935.  He rejected their daughter all his life.

This story is clearly spelled out in Loretta Young's book, Hollywood Madonna, and though it makes me sad, I also realize how the Hollywood Star System worked at MGM and how any scandal could destroy a Stars career.  Gable and Young put their careers over their daughter and ruined her childhood.

Loretta Young's Daughter talks about her mother and father during the making of Call of the Wild.

Maybelline and Loretta Young represent classic beauty in the 1950s. 

Maybelline as well represented fashion and glamour with serenity and grace, always ahead of it's time.

Click below to view Lorretta Young as televisions best dressed most elegant woman in the industry. 

Like Loretta Young, Tom Lyle Williams was blessed with classic features and demended perfection in himself and his Maybelline Company.

  Want to meet Tom Lyle Williams and the Williams Family, be sure to purchase The Maybelline Story and brace yourself for quite a ride. 

THE LORETTA YOUNG SHOW TRANSFORMED WOMEN'S ROLES.

Loretta Young hosted and starred in the well-received half hour anthology series The Loretta Young Show. It ran from 1953 to 1961. Her trademark was to appear dramatically at the beginning in various high fashion evening gowns. Her program ran in prime time on NBC for eight years, the longest-running prime-time network program hosted by a woman up to that time

The Loretta Young Show, put women front stage and center, and created a vehicle for Maybelline to reach a larger target market in the 1950's.

The Loretta Young Show ran from 1953 to 1961. Her trademark was to come through a door dramatically at the beginning in various high fashion evening gowns.

The Lorette Young, TV series, worked through the image of the glamorous Hollywood star, and would forever remain a phenomenon of 1950s television, the period in which the Hollywood studio system that had created larger-than-life stars came to a close.

Her program ran in prime time on NBC for eight years, the longest-running prime-time network program hosted by a woman up to that time.

In 1988, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award. for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the

entertainment industry.

Maybelline capitalized on Loretta Young's fashionable image. with a series of ads that illustrated her persona.. and affirmed postwar ideas, that true happiness, was possible, within the domestic/heterosexual sphere of the middle-class home.

looking 35 at 18 didn't get me a Maybelline model contract. But the Maybelline Story was born.

Nana, my dad Bill, me with dyed black hair and my dad's uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, founder of the Maybelline Company.

I hoped to be a Maybelline model after I graduated high school. My grandmother convinced me to dress up for Christmas in a black cocktail dress, heals and of course my Chicken of the Sea hair-do to impress Unk Ile.  He took one look at me he said, "My god, Sharrie, you look like a 35 year old woman, not a teenage girl.

Was that a good or bad thing?  I wasn't sure, but it wasn't what he was looking for in a Maybelline model. He was targeting the teenage market in 1966.  In fact, Unk Ile, wanted just the opposite of my exotic look. Maybelline was going for a softer, more natural look.  So my hopes of becoming the next teen Maybelline model were smashed. 

Nana watched me mope around a while, then said, "Sharrie, Darling, why don't you go back to Chicago next summer and stay with your Great aunts and uncles, meet your cousins and and get to know the Chicago branch of the family.

My spirits lifted and I was on my way.  Here I am, Queen of the super rollers, with my sister, Donna and her pin straight surfer girl hair.  she was happy to see me go for the summer, envisioning driving my 57, blue and white Chevy, to the beach everyday and surf.  I was excited to take my first plane ride back to where the story all began. 

Exotic and over dressed for every occasion in Chicago.

Nana encouraged me to take notes to document my trip in a letter to Unk Ile, when I got back.  I did, and those notes became part of the book I'd  publish 45 years later. 

 When my house burned down in 1993 most of my pictures of my trip to Chicago were lost.  this picture of auntie Eva and uncle Ches at their home on Mercer Lake survived. It was here, as well as with Auntie Mabel and uncle Chet, Aunt Verona and Aunt Bunny, that the Maybelline Story, began to unfold.  They loved showing me pictures, letters, and sharing stories about the early days of Maybelline.  With their help I pieced together a memoir, The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It. 

Memories of Mabel and Chet on their Wedding Day,  Tom Lyle Williams, aka Unk Ile to us,  Maybelline eye shadow in the 1930's and an original Maybelline ad from 1925.

After two wonderful months of getting to know my aunts, uncles and cousins, I returned to California, (as you can see I don't look very happy about it.)  I wanted to stay in Chicago and start college, but my parents insisted I come home.  So here I am at the airport, with my mother, Pauline, My dad, Bill, Nana and little Preston and Billee.

 I did keep a diary of my trip to Chicago and wrote a 25 page letter to Unk Ile.  He was quite impressed with my writing and said, "Sharrie, you certainly have a way with words, I think you'd make a great copy writer. He didn't offer a modeling contract, but he did tell me that if I got a degree in advertising, he'd open every door for me. He also said, I really don't want my story told, but if you do someday write it, I don't want to be remembered as the man who invented mascara, I want to be remembered as the "King of Advertising." 

Read more of my book, The Maybelline Story.  I guarantee you, you won't be able to put it down.

Maybelline's King of Advertising, Tom Lyle Williams and his Film Queens

                   King of Advertising, Tom Lyle Williams

The man who would become a cosmetics giant, Tom Lyle Williams, was aprivate figure who hid from the public because when he launched the Maybelline Co., mascara was deemed the “province of whores and homosexuals.” To protect his family from scandal, and to stay out of view from the scrutiny of the press, Tom Lyle ran his empire from a distance, cloistered behind the gates of his Hollywood Hills Rudolph Valentino Villa.  He contracted movie stars to represent him in all forms of media.  From the earliest days of silent film he sought Photoplay stars, Viola Dana, Phyllis Haver, and Clara Bow.

Throughout the 1930’s “Golden Age of Hollywood,” he splashed magazines with glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Merle Oberon to represent the ideal Maybelline image.  During the World War ll era, he turned to pin up girls like Bettie Grable, Elyse Knox, Hedy Lamaar, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner, to inspire the boys fighting for our Country and keep Maybelline ingredients flowing.  By the 1950’s, the girl next door, represented by Debby Reynolds and Grace Kelly, appealed to the emerging young mothers and housewives. When Maybelline appeared on Television in the early 1950’s, Tom Lyle decided to appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.

Joan Crawford – had her teeth pulled and replaced to have a more beautiful smile and became Maybelline’s spokesperson for years.

Merle Oberon – was in an accident that disfigured the skin on her face, yet in films she looked flawless because of pancake make up.

Betty Grable - took over for the leading song and dance actress Alice Faye and became a big star in musicals as well As one of Maybelline’s top models.

Debby Reynolds - was to be Maybelline’s leading model in the 1950’s until Tom Lyle decided to change his ad campaign from the all American Girl to a more international exotic sophisticate in his TV commercials and print magazines.

Maybelline was the sole sponsor for the Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier lll, wedding in Monaco appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.  

My beautiful sister, Billee Williams, looks much younger than her age. Here's her secret!

My beautiful sister, Billee Williams, just turned 59 and doesn't look a day over 35.  She's 5'3, weighs around 100 lbs, is toned and doesn't have an ounce of fat on her.  How does she do it.  

Billee has taught Yoga, Pilates and Ballet since she was in her 20's, and that, along with a very clean diet and healthy lifestyle, has kept her skin flawless and her body youthful.  She is disciplined, doesn't drink, smoke or do any type of drugs... over the counter or Prescription.  She is a true testament of how taking care of yourself can actually stop the ravages of age.  I'm so proud of her and look forward to her new "fitness video," now in production. Congratulations and Happy Birthday Beautiful Billee!!!

Here's 4 year old Billee Williams with her Great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams, founder and owner of the Maybelline Company. Taking dance lessons at Joan Swore Dance School in 1959, little Billee had just entertained her her Unk Ile, before getting back to combing her Barbie's hair. 

Billee today, in the center of a family picture looking like a Movie Star, at my "100 years of Maybelline" One Woman Show.  

View the post I did on Billee with Karina Smirnoff...http://www.maybellinebook.com/2013/12/shape-up-with-dancing-with-stars-karina.html

 Stay tuned for more exciting news on Billee Williams new video.... "always a "Maybelline Girl," at any age."

My Guest Blogger, Internationally renowned master cosmetic, corrective and paramedical tattoo specialist, Athena Karsant, featured on "The Doctors" Television Show

The Beauty of Coupling Permanent Makeup and Traditional Makeup: It All Started With A Mascara

by: Athena Karsant

Website-    FoolingMotherNature.com

Facebook- facebook.com/foolingmothernature

Blog -        AthenaKarsant.blogspot.com

Twitter -    @athenakarsant  

I remember, as a little girl, watching my mother get dolled up at her vanity each day. I would watch her as the beautiful bright lights surrounded her mirror and dream of the day I would be allowed to do my own makeup. I remember her giving me my very first Maybelline mascara; I must have been 13 years old. With excitement, I brought it with me everywhere I went. After that, I knew I had a love for all things beauty: makeup, hair, fashion, etc. Many years later I found what I was truly born to do: cosmetic tattooing and permanent makeup. If I had known then that I would be in the field that I am in now, I would have started my career a long time ago. I did not know that little mascara would open the door to something bigger and greater than myself. I naturally enhance my clients beauty rather than replace it. Coupling permanent makeup and traditional makeup makes daily life so much easier for all women, including those on the go, mature women, corporate women and everyone else in between. It's not only about the girly stuff; I have many male clients as well. Cosmetic tattooing can really make a man look 10 years younger.

It's amazing how shaping someone's lips and using a pigment that exactly matches their natural lip color can be an easy guide for women to apply their lipstick or lip liner. I can't express how many women can't wait to purchase a wardrobe of lipstick colors to apply to their newly shaped mouth after their permanent makeup procedure. I love how tattooing someones eyelash line with a fine line can open their eyes and give the illusion that theirs eyes are bigger, brighter and younger looking. Adding a touch of mascara afterwards is like the icing on the cake. Sadly, many women experience the occasional "oops! I smeared my eyebrow off!" But that never happens when they are artistically done with permanent makeup. I have had makeup artists tell me that they love when their clients have permanent makeup because their clients already have an eyebrow guideline to work with. Instead, they can spend their time on the fun things like contouring, eyeshadow, fake lashes, blush and a luscious lip color.

Cosmetic tattooing and permanent makeup have been around since the days of Cleopatra. It is an art that is has been around for thousands of years. Makeup itself has been used since practically the beginning of time. Coupling traditional makeup with any permanent makeup procedure is not necessary for every errand or outing that we do; however, not worrying if your lip shape is perfect or your eyebrows are even is a huge relief. I love makeup! While I do have my eyebrows, eyeliner and lips tattooed, I wear makeup every day to make dramatize my eyes or make my lips shiny. But, if my lipstick wears off... it's okay! It's crazy to think that the amazing career that I have started with something so small in size yet it was so powerful. It started with a Maybelline mascara.

Athena Karsant, an internationally renowned master cosmetic, corrective and paramedical tattoo specialist, is one of the few Board Certified instructors through the State of California. In 2012, Athena was featured on The Emmy-Award Winning Television Show The Doctors. Her segment highlighted her solution to thinning eyebrows. She is conveniently located in San Francisco and Beverly Hills, California.

To learn more about Athena Karsant, please visit FoolingMotherNature.com. 

I am so impressed with Athena Karsant's work, that I plan to have permanent makeup done on my eyebrows and lips. 

Athena Karsant, like my great uncle, Tom Lyle Williams..... is a Master of Before and After Perfection..... and that's what Maybelline is all about. 

Sharrie Williams is author of The Maybelline Story and a direct descendant of the Maybelline Family

Maybelline Headquarters at the Villa Valentino - Hollywood Hills in the 1930s.

During the 1930's and 40's, Tom Lyle, Emery Shaver and Arnold Anderson made up the West Coast branch of the Maybelline Co.  These three men handled the entire Advertising department and produced some of the most artistic photographs of movie stars ever seen. 

Tom Lyle worked with the major film studios, movie stars and ad agency who booked ads in magazines and newspapers seen around the world.  Emery wrote the copy for the ads and created Maybelline's famous slogans. Arnold a creative genius when it came to  touch-up and "before and after" shots, used technicolor to perfect his photos to Tom Lyle's satisfaction. 

 Their story is clearly spelled out in my book, The Maybelline Story, but in case you've already read the book and wished for more pictures of Maybelline West, The Villa Valentino and the three men who lived there, here are some rare vintage black and whites.
 

Portion of Tom Lyle Williams Villa Valentino's garden.

 

steps leading to the patio.

 

Tom Lyle and Emery on one of the patio's, with the Packard parked on the street.

Tom Lyle, Arnold and Emery with two of Tom Lyle's nieces in front of the Villa Valentino


 

Maybelline West, The Villa Valentino in
 the Hollywood Hills.



The statue Aspiration overlooking the pool.