Beauty History: Mary Quant

The first time that I learned about Mary Quant was in high school when a fashion-forward friend of mine lent me a book about fashion history. If you aren’t familiar with her name, you are definitely familiar with her fashion contribution — a little something called the mini skirt? Heard of it? Thought so. Mary Quant popularized the mini skirt in the late 1950s, and it was, needless to say, a huge trend through the 60s. She was also a beauty pioneer, launching her own line of affordable and colorful cosmetics with her emblematic black daisy logo.

One of the most popular and innovative products that she released were her make up crayons, which were sold in a cute yellow tin! They have a set at the Museum of London, but I’ve also found sets on eBay. I’m not sure if I would use them after so many years, but they are a definite collectors item!

In 2000, the brand was bought by a Japanese company, and sadly you can only get the products in Japan now. From the website, it doesn’t look like she has relaunched the crayons, but we certainly have lots of makeup crayon options now, from Lipstick Queen’s Chinatown Glosses to Sephora’s Jumbo Eye Pencils.

It appears that she still has a clothing line in England as well, so I’m definitely going to keep an eye open for the brand the next time I decide to travel!