Makeup Museum

The Makeup Museum in Manhattan displays exhibits with ancient and modern cosmetic objects, makeup tools, and containers from different eras and cultures. The collections span several millennia and document how people have maintained their beauty routines.

The museum was founded in 2018 and opened its doors in 2020 in Lower Manhattan, becoming the first public institution dedicated solely to the history of cosmetics. This founding marked a turning point in how beauty history gained recognition as a worthy subject of study.

The collection features cosmetic containers and beauty tools from many ancient cultures and time periods, showing how people around the world have valued makeup as part of their daily lives. Each artifact tells a story about what mattered to different societies, from Egypt to China.

The museum sits in a lively Manhattan neighborhood with good public transit connections and is easy to reach. Plan to spend several hours exploring the exhibits comfortably and browsing the gift shops.

The archive preserves handwritten notes and personal journals from a renowned makeup artist who worked with Hollywood stars in the 1980s and 1990s. These intimate documents offer a rare glimpse into the professional world behind the scenes of the beauty industry.