The Mirror Through Time
Vivien makes up her way through the history of the face at one mirror that never changes. Every page the song sings about follows along beneath the film.
What the song sings
60 pages, in the order the song names them. The row follows the film; swipe to look ahead.
The dressing room
- RitualThe Morning MirrorAdorning the Face in Early ChinaFollow the ritual
- ObjectThe Hand MirrorThe Technology of Seeing Your Own FaceSee the object
- ObjectThe Dressing CaseA Toilette Packed for TravelSee the object
- RitualThe Toilette: Dressing as a Performance with an AudienceDressing as a performance with an audienceFollow the ritual
Ancient sands and berries red
- EraAncient Makeup: Ritual, Protection and the Painted FaceBefore beauty was fashion it was chemistry, medicine and religionExplore the era
- IngredientKermesScarlet of the Mediterranean before cochinealMeet the ingredient
- CultureEgyptian Makeup: Kohl, Malachite and the Manufactured FaceThe materials survive in their thousands. The meanings do not.Explore the culture
Painting stories yet unsaid
Clay and dust of golden light
Shining through the deepest night
- PersonDiane de Poitiers and the Gold She DrankThe French CourtRead the life
- IngredientGalena (Kohl)Galena is the natural ore of lead sulphide, ground on a stone palette and bound with fat to make the black eye paint of dynastic Egypt. It is the material behind the oldest sense of the word kohl.Meet the ingredient
- Product guideKohl pot and stickPowdered kohl, kept in a small pot or flask and drawn along the rim of the eye with a slim rod: one of the oldest forms of eye makeup still in use. What goes into the pot now, why American law and health agencies warn against it, how to get the line more safely, and where the vessel came from.See the guide
- IngredientMalachiteGreen copper carbonate, ground into Egypt’s first eye paintMeet the ingredient
Every shade a different age
- StoryThe Shade Range: Who Complexion Products Were Made ForWho complexion products were made forRead the story
- RitualThe Stage Face: Making Up to Be Read From the Back RowMaking up to be read from the back rowFollow the ritual
- Product guideGreasepaintThe actor’s base, opaque enough to read from the back of a theatreSee the guide
Swipe and click to see the clay
Step into the past, feel the glow
Beautiful secrets from long ago!
- StoryThe Written Recipe: When a Formula Became a PossessionWhen a formula became a possessionRead the story
- StoryThe Experimenti: Caterina Sforza’s Working NotebookCosmetics, medicine and alchemy on one pageRead the story
- PersonMadame Rachel and the Secrets of Bond StreetVictorian LondonRead the life
History of Makeup, scroll on down
Every era wears a different crown!
- EraAncient Makeup: Ritual, Protection and the Painted FaceBefore beauty was fashion it was chemistry, medicine and religionExplore the era
- EraRenaissance MakeupThe Ideal Face and What It CostExplore the era
- The lookThe Georgian faceWhite, red and a patch of black silk: the court face of the 1760sAchieve the look
- Era1920s MakeupThe Birth of the Modern FaceExplore the era
- EraModern MakeupMass Market, Counterculture and Self-ExpressionExplore the era
Stay a while and let it show
- Product guideStrip lashesA whole row of false lashes on one thin band, glued along the lash line for an evening and peeled off at the end of it. How to choose a band and a shape, how to fit and keep them — and a history that is older than film.See the guide
- Product guideLip brushA small, flat, tapered brush for drawing the edge of the mouth and pressing colour into the lips, more precisely than a bullet can. How to choose one by its tip and firmness, how to use it, and how the lip brush moved from the film studio into the handbag.See the guide
- StoryThe Red Lip: One Decision, Six MaterialsIron oxide, safflower, kermes, cochineal…Read the story
- ObjectThe Powder CompactA Mirror, a Puff and a CatchSee the object
Watch the ancient colours grow
- StoryGreen on the Face: When the Pigment Left the PaletteA palette proves someone ground a mineral. A face proves someone wore it.Read the story
- StoryThree Colours and No More: A Palette Defined by RefusalA palette defined by refusalRead the story
- IngredientMalachiteGreen copper carbonate, ground into Egypt’s first eye paintMeet the ingredient
Stay with us and find your style
Travel through the ages for a while
Powdered wigs and velvet lace
- The lookThe Georgian faceWhite, red and a patch of black silk: the court face of the 1760sAchieve the look
- RitualThe Toilette: Dressing as a Performance with an AudienceDressing as a performance with an audienceFollow the ritual
- Product guideSwansdown puffA puff of soft down on a pad or a short handle, for dusting loose powder over the face, throat and body: the dressing-table puff before velour. What it was, how to use and keep one — and why the real thing is now so hard to buy.See the guide
Paint on every noble face
- StoryThe Pale Face: Pallor, Status and Two Thousand Years of LeadPallor, status and two thousand years of leadRead the story
- StoryVenetian Ceruse: The Most Expensive Way to Damage a FaceThe luxury complexion was a lead compoundRead the story
- IngredientWhite Lead (Ceruse)A synthetic basic lead carbonate, made since antiquity by corroding metallic lead over vinegar, which gave the face a dense opaque white and is the most consequential poisonous cosmetic in the European record.Meet the ingredient
- ObjectThe Patch BoxBlack Spots, Party Politics and a Mirror in the LidSee the object
Now we change the rules again
- Era1920s MakeupThe Birth of the Modern FaceExplore the era
- StoryThe Flapper FaceA Type Invented by MagazinesRead the story
- Product guideLiquid eyelinerThe sharpest line in makeup: ink-like liner painted on with a fine brush, from a bottle or a pen. How to choose one, how to draw a steady line and a wing — and where it came from.See the guide
- StoryThe Eye Takes OverWhen the Face Changed Its CentreRead the story
Every screen has more to tell
- StoryMakeup for Colour Film: A Product Designed for a CameraMade for Technicolor, sold to people with no cameraRead the story
- PersonMax FactorMaking a Face for the CameraRead the life
- The lookThe Tang faceChinese MakeupAchieve the look
- The lookThe Edo faceJapanese MakeupAchieve the look
- The lookA face for an occasionIndian MakeupAchieve the look
- The lookThe face of al-AndalusThe Islamic WorldAchieve the look
Click and find the ancient art
Keep the beauty in your heart
Step into the past, feel the glow
- StoryThe Red Lip: One Decision, Six MaterialsIron oxide, safflower, kermes, cochineal…Read the story
- ObjectThe Lipstick TubeHow a Case Made Lipstick PublicSee the object
- Product guideBullet lipstickColour moulded into a stick and wound up from its case: the lipstick most people mean by the word. How the formulas differ, how to wear and keep one — and where the twist-up case came from.See the guide
History of Makeup, scroll on down
- Product guideLoose highlighterAnd the long history of pearl powderSee the guide
- IngredientCarmine (Cochineal)Deep crimson lake from the cochineal insectMeet the ingredient
- Product guideLiquid eyelinerThe sharpest line in makeup: ink-like liner painted on with a fine brush, from a bottle or a pen. How to choose one, how to draw a steady line and a wing — and where it came from.See the guide
Stay with us
The words
What the film shows in each part, and the song as its captions give it.
0:00 Intro
A vanity bulb warms up in the dark. A pearl earring catches its light, fingertips run along the brass knobs of a cabinet of drawers, and Vivien is revealed at the mirror, bare-faced, glancing at us.
Instrumental
0:16 Verse one
A drawer opens on red berries, shells and lumps of ochre, and a pestle crushes them on the beat. Gold leaf is pressed onto her closed eyelid; her eyes open rimmed in kohl. Her reflection wears the ancient look before she does, then she wears it too, and the ancient world drops into the arch behind her.
Ancient sands and berries red
Painting stories yet unsaid
Clay and dust of golden light
Shining through the deepest night
Every shade a different age
Left upon the historic stage
Swipe and click to see the clay
Of the worlds of yesterday0:37 The lift
The drawers of the cabinet pop open on the beat, faster and faster.
Instrumental
0:41 Chorus
She spins into her first finished look and delights in the mirror. The site’s own plates scroll past, the looks flip era by era on the beat, and lashes, lips and nails pass in close-up. Powder blooms in the light; she tries a pearl headpiece, laughs, and twirls as the room whips away.
Step into the past, feel the glow
Beautiful secrets from long ago!
History of Makeup, scroll on down
Every era wears a different crown!
Stay a while and let it show
Watch the ancient colours grow
Stay with us and find your style
Travel through the ages for a while1:10 Verse two
A Georgian powder room: a swansdown puff bursts into a cloud and she sweeps the wig away. The room whips to the 1920s, the 1950s and the 1960s. In the glass appear women of other ages and places, each in her own look, and back at the cabinet her palm holds one treasure from each era.
Powdered wigs and velvet lace
Paint on every noble face
Now we change the rules again
To the modern way of then
Every screen has more to tell
Casting such a pretty spell
Click and find the ancient art
Keep the beauty in your heart1:35 Outro
At the unchanged mirror she paints her lips on the beat while the centuries turn behind her, smiles at us through the glass, and closes the cabinet.
Step into the past, feel the glow
Beautiful secrets from long ago!
History of Makeup, scroll on down
Every era wears a different crown!1:54 End card
The gold fleur draws itself on plum, then the wordmark and the credit.
Instrumental
Illustrated film and music AI-made for History of Makeup.