LibGuides: Cosmetics & Fragrances: Histories & Biographies

Expanding the Canon: Global and Inclusive Beauty History

"Beauty history is incomplete. Much of what has been written about beauty culture and the beauty industry to date has been exclusive, prioritizing Eurocentric and American developments and perspectives. The goal of ... research... is to expand the canon of beauty history and scholarship to include groups, cultures, or customer segments who...have been underrepresented, undervalued, or not fully understood by the beauty industry. Areas may include, but are not limited to, gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, ability, geographic region, religion, or sexual orientation. ...We encourage you to be broad in your subject consideration, given the need for more global examples in the beauty history canon."
Leslie Harris and Denise Sutton, Course content for CF 505 — Innovations in the Development of the Beauty Industry (2023)

Suggested databases :

Fashion and Race Database
The Fashion and Race Database examines the history and impact of race in the fashion system and our everyday life. 1,600+ research resources (including media) in The Library, covering interdisciplinary topics and categorized by keyword, author and year.
Original essays, profiles and object analyses, primarily authored by racialized and minoritized scholars and writers.

-Content goes beyond a strict definition of race to include regions, ethnicity and other forms of identity, and features significant beauty-related info.

Visit The Fashion and Race Database to validate as an FIT user
Sign up for an account using an FIT email
After the initial visit verifying FIT access, users are free to come back to FRD by way of any link to fashionandrace.org (proxied link not required)
Berg Fashion Library
BFL has a number of books that touch upon cosmetics and fragrances and their connection to fashion and beauty in general.They are most useful for scholarly quick overviews and context but there are some surprising entries such as "Soviet State Cosmetic Company TEZHE in the 1930s" and "Cosmetics and Beauty Culture in Australia".

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Ebony Magazine Archive
Ebony magazine coverage from 1945-2014

Historical databases (pre-1950s content)
Several library databases include cover-to-cover content of popular and trade publications, such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, WWD, and "women's magazines" (e.g. Ladies' Home Journal).

SELECTED BOOKS

For more books and DVDS, use OneSearch, entering the names of other individuals, companies, or products,
e.g. Ash, Mary Kay; Chanel; Shiseido; Body Shop; Maybelline; lipstick; theatrical makeup; film makeup; et al.
Information on companies whose primary business is toiletries (rather than color cosmetics or fragrances) can be found using the name of the company (e.g. Procter & Gamble), a specific product (e.g. soap), or the phrase "toilet preparations"