Making Ourselves Up: The History and Impact of Cosmetics/Makeup

In 2019 the beauty industry was valued at $532 billion and is continuing to grow at lightning pace (Biron). Clearly, the beauty industry is profitable, so why have so few people bothered to study it? In the Barrett thesis database, as of 2020 there were less than half a dozen theses addressing the cosmetic industry, compared to nearly 50 projects concerning football. In response to the lack of study in academics and general public knowledge concerning the history and impact of cosmetics, the multi-part podcast series, Making Ourselves Up: The History and Impact of Cosmetics/Makeup was created by Kaley Scott, a fashion and sociology student. The personal nature of makeup and cosmetics, making the intimate forum of a podcast the perfect medium. The podcast operates in five episodes. First is: Making Ourselves Up, Makeup Fueling our Memories and Selfhood which contains personal narratives of makeup through interviews, establishing the intimate and wide-reaching effects of cosmetics and makeup. The second and third episodes: How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Cleopatra to Helena Rubenstein and How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Elizabeth Arden to Glossier cover the entirety of the history of makeup and cosmetics, focusing on western beauty. The third episode: Making Faces, Applying Makeup, the Theories that Let Us Create which focuses on techniques and theories of color and makeup application. Lastly is, Making Change, Cosmetics as a Current of Social Change which reveals how cosmetics have led to social change and continue to allow us to reinvent our society and ourselves. Makeup and cosmetics have been incredibly important for the creator for much of her life and she created this project with the aim of proving how important they are to the rest of the world.