Lipstick: A brief history of glamour, rebellion, and trends
My earliest memory of makeup was watching my mother put on this gorgeous deep red on her lips as she got ready for Sunday mass. And like all children I thought my mother with her lipstick on must be the prettiest woman in the world.
Although my memory of lipstick only goes back twenty years, this iconic product has been glamming up the women (and men) of history for centuries.
The Shiseido Museum: 140 years of beautiful history
The best part of my Japan trip last week was the visit to the Shiseido Museum in Kakegawa. It wasn't the shopping or the sight-seeing around Tokyo - it was the museum housing 140 years worth of stories and innovations! Remember my post on the rich history of the oldest cosmetics brand in the world? I was so in awe of Shiseido when I wrote that, so imagine my delight in visiting the place where the brand's product archives, ad materials, and art work are stored!
The museum is about two hours away from Tokyo via the Shinkansen (bullet train), and four hours by car. It's surrounded by a quiet suburban neighborhood - the kind of place where Doraemon and Nobita would have lived. It was an offbeat location for a corporate museum but the curator explained why it was built there. The first in place was actually a factory. The location was chosen for convenience since it's between Tokyo and Osaka, making it easier for employees to commute to work
The factory utilized the most cutting-edge technology at that time so people visited it to satisfy their curiousity. It became so popular that Shiseido decided to build something that could accommodate visitors while displaying and storing their extensive archives. Hence, the Shiseido Museum was born.
Okay, enough talking and more sight-seeing. Are you ready for a virtual tour of this awesome museum? ^_^ Click click!