The first black Vogue cover model and lipstick feminism [ GHD]Cult hair styling brand ghd has collaborated with fashion historian Amber Butchart to celebrate some of the key beauty moments in history, from the birth of false lashes and the manicure to Kate Moss's 'London look'.
The exhibition delves into beauty archives and highlights poignant moments, from the make-up artist that created the first ever blonde bombshell to unusual techniques women relied on to manipulate and set their hair.
Hair stylists Sam McKnight, Kenna, Adam Reed and Zoe Irwin also contributed to the exhibition as the brand’s creative ambassadors, selecting moments that influenced their careers.
The exhibition will be open to the public on July 16 at ghd’s London studio between noon and 8pm, where people can also book an exclusive ghd Aura experience - a bespoke blow-dry appointment with one of the brand’s creative team.
Here are 13 pictures documenting some of the pivotal beauty revolutions and inventions that still influence how we beautify ourselves today.
In the early 20th century make-up was not for the masses [ GHD]Stage style to real life
When make-up was still seen as risqué, it was the stars of stage and screen who led innovations in the beauty arena.
Both Bourjois and Leichner began as theatrical make-up companies, paving the way towards cosmetics becoming more respectable - even fashionable when their stage ranges were broadened out to the public.
With the growth of Hollywood in the early 20th century, the coming of film heralded its own challenges for stage make-up. Initially stars had to colour their faces with unnatural shades to show up on the film stock.
Max Factor was the first in the industry to develop make-up specifically for film use, and his product ranges soon crossed into general use.
Fake lashes were invented in 1911 [ GHD]The birth of false lashes
According to silent screen star Lillian Gish, false eyelashes were invented by DW Griffith for the actress Seena Owen in his movie Intolerance in 1916.
He claimed he wanted a fluttering effect with lashes brushing the actresses’ cheeks.
His wigmaker made lashes from human hair, using spirit gum to glue directly onto her eyelids.
However Griffith wasn’t entirely the inventor, more the populariser. A US patent was granted to a Canadian woman called Anna Taylor in 1911 for artificial lashes, and she initiated the crescent-shape that we still have today.
In the 1940s fake lashes became available for the general public, not just those in the movie industry.
The Selfridges counter made cosmetics more respectable [ GHD]Shop girl
In Edwardian Britain, cosmetics were still very much associated with show girls and actresses, rather than "respectable" women.
Buying face powder or cheek rouge happened at the pharmacy, where products would rarely be out on show.
In 1910 Harry Gordon Selfridge revolutionised this by opening England’s first major cosmetics department.
Elizabeth Arden made red lipstick shades for women serving in WW2 [ GHD]Lipstick feminism
Beauty has long been an industry that has encouraged women to set up their own businesses. Such was the case with Elizabeth Arden, who began hers in 1910.
In 1912 Arden was part of the New York Women’s Suffrage march that saw 15,000 women take to the streets. Many of them wore red lipstick as a symbol of liberty and rebellion.
A few years later Arden began her own cosmetics line. She later created lipstick shades specifically for women in the armed forces serving during World War Two.
Beauties sunbathing on the glamorous French Riviera [ GHD]The Riviera tan
An American couple called Gerald and Sara Murphy first visited the Cap d’Antibes in the south of France in 1922 as guests of Cole Porter. They liked it so much they returned in 1923 and set up home.
In doing so they created a summer "season" (previously "society" were only there for the winter) and they welcomed various shining lights of the Modernist movement into their villa such as Man Ray, Dorothy Parker, Stravinsky, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
With the birth of the summer season, the suntan became an aspirational look. By 1935 tanning had become the norm and the first sunscreen, Ambre Solaire, was launched by L’Oreal.
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Door-to-door sales brought beauty products to the masses [ GHD]Avon calling
In 1886 the California Perfume Company originated as a door-to-door book selling company, offering perfume samples to prospective customers.
Perfume quickly became the more popular product, and the books were phased out. The sales technique stayed however, and the company grew.
In 1929 the Avon brand of colour cosmetics was created, and sales took off during the Depression as agents were able to reach rural people with no access to retail chains or department stores.
This sales model was picked up and adapted by Mary Kay Ash, who founded her own cosmetics line in 1963 in Dallas. Revolutionising the direct sales method, she pioneered home parties in which the sales consultant would find hosts to invite friends over for demonstrations and possible purchases.
When employment options for women were limited, direct sales offered respectable, reliable and flexible jobs to many women seeking independence or work around family life.
Jean Harlow was the original blonde bomshell [ GHD]Blondes have more fun
In 1928, thanks again to Max Factor, Jean Harlow become a platinum blonde - the first blonde bombshell.
The popularity of blonde hair had already been established, when Anita Loos published Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1925. With the link to Hollywood given credence through the glamorous Jean Harlow, blonde would become a defining colour for glamour.
Modern manicures were popularised in the 1920s and 30s [ GHD]The making of the manicure
Nail art has ancient origins, but the manicure we know today was spurred on by innovations in the 1920s and 30s with the rise of two distinctly American phenomena - cars and movies.
Around 1920 the glossy paint used for automobiles was adapted for use on the fingernails and an industry was born. The ‘moon manicure’ was popularised by Hollywood actresses from the mid-1920s, which left the half-moon and tip bare with a flash of red or pink at the centre of the nail.
In 1927 Max Factor introduced a rosy cream and a white liquid that formed the basis of what became known as the French manicure. Then in 1932 Revlon was founded on a single product – an opaque nail enamel – which saw it become a multimillion dollar company in just six years.
Veronica Lake's hairstyle was the 'Rachel' of its day [ GHD]Veronica Lake waves
Veronica Lake’s hair, with a wave seductively falling over her right eye, was known as the "peek-a-boo" style and became a trademark for the Hollywood star, copied by women around the world.
During WWII Lake had her breakthrough role in the 1941 drama I Wanted Wings, a major hit in which Lake played the second female lead. Lake's appeal with audiences began to transcend the box office. Women adored her signature hairstyle and copied it in droves.
Her hairstyle was so prolific that, during the war, the government used her as part of a campaign to get women to change the style as they could become injured if their wavy locks got caught in machinery. In a shoot for LIFE magazine in 1943 she posed with her long tresses wound around industrial machinery, to highlight the potential hazards.
Donyale Luna, the first black cover model for British Vogue [ GHD]First black Vogue cover model
In 1966, 20-year-old model Donyale Luna made history by being the first black model on the cover of British Vogue, shot by David Bailey.
Eight years later, in 1974, American Vogue also cast a black model for its cover when Beverley Johnson was shot by Francesco Scavullo for the August issue.
David Bowie was the king/queen of androgyny [ GHD]Boy/girl
David Bowie totally reinvented himself as the otherworldly alien Ziggy Stardust, complete with red shock of hair and lightning flash make-up, for the Aladdin Sane album cover (1973), created by make-up artist and collaborator Pierre Laroche.
Even before he found fame in the early 70s, Bowie was always interested in challenging gender stereotypes with his hair. At 17 he founded the “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men".
Tilda Swinton and Kate Moss have both been shot as Bowie, and androgyny has been resurfacing as a fashion and beauty trend through designers such as JW Anderson, who repeatedly questions the gender divide in clothing.
Kate Moss has had a huge influence on beauty and style [ GHD]The original London look
From her first photo shoots with Corinne Day in the early 90s to "heroin chic" and rock n’ roll royalty, Kate Moss has been as famous for setting trends off the catwalk as modelling them on it.
In 1996 Sam McKnight (ghd global creative director) styled Kate Moss’s hair for a Vogue photo shoot in which he used straighteners on set for the first ever time to create this sleek, contemporary aesthetic.
An early advert for ghds, which have become synonymous with salon hair at home [ GHD]Hot hair
Hair manipulation, both curling and straightening, has been a Holy Grail for the beauty industry for a very long time.
In 2001 ghd revolutionised hair straightening and curling in the home, but it was back in the late 19th century that the first inroads were made into making the permanent wave a possibility.
Marcel Grateau - later Francois Marcel - began his career in the poorest neighbourhoods of Montmartre in Paris. In 1872 he discovered that curls would last much longer if hair was wrapped around the sharp edge of hot scissors.
Marcel was canny with celebrity endorsement and his "Marcel waves" took off; he was so successful that he ended up retiring to a castle in Normandy.
German wig-maker and hairdresser Karl Nessler was next to take up the mantle.
He realised that wigs kept their curls for longer if the hair was rolled around wooden blocks, covered in bread dough and baked. Based on this, in 1906 he perfected his chemical perming machine.
The exhibition was created to celebrate the launch of the ghd Aura hairdryer [ GHD]Glossy girls
The idea of washing your hair regularly only became a possibility with the invention of an easy means of drying it.
Back in 1888 an early version was patented by a French hairstylist called Alexandre-Ferdinand Godefroy. The machine could be attached to a heater which would then heat the head which was encased in a dome. Helpful for the salon, but not incredibly helpful at home, as it was bulky and the temperature couldn’t be controlled.
With improvements in technology the salon dryer continued in popularity. During the 1950s home-use dryers were developed, often in pastel shades to match the bathroom. Although early hand-held dryers were patented in 1911, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the first truly practical and safe blow dryers were pioneered.
The ghd aura is described by the makers as a pivotal step in this evolution for a new technology-savvy era, making home styling with salon quality more accessible than ever.
Styling while it dries, using less energy yet giving high shine and precision, the aura provides salon quality finish in the comfort of the home. Giving uplift and a glossy finish, the aura fits perfectly into ghd’s history of creating iconic, multi-function products.
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