Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian times to the Present Day

I saw Madeleine Marsh featured in a YouTube video and she seemed like a wonderful and eccentric lady. She said she wrote a book on compacts and cosmetics and I was sold!The basic concept of this book is a historical overview of makeup (and their containers) throughout time. While it does not cover every aspect of each decade, the author does a splendid job of highlighting the important trends happening to women (and men) of the time. Every so often, the text is punctuated with gorgeous examples of compacts and makeup products used during each period (and many were from the author's private collection!).I liked reading about compacts as status symbols and I personally loved learning about cosmetic use/disuse during the two world wars (as it's so rarely the topic discussed when talking about war).Overall, a great and accessible book about the history of compacts and cosmetics... I'd say it was easy to read, but Madeleine sometimes made me glad I had my Kindle dictionary (I mean, what the heck is a "maquillage"?!) :P

I bought the book based off a recommendation from the amazing Lisa Eldridge. I was anticipating her book and starting looking into other books that cover the history of cosmetics and beauty. This was truly a fantastic book. It covers much more than compacts and the historical aspects of her writing are enthralling. The different eras combined with wonderful pictures makes it too easy to read the book in one sitting. I still love to open to a random page and read it over again. It ceases to interest me and it was a marvelous read.

Fun read

I thought for price I would be getting a cute, little reference book on compacts, but instead this book is a lot more. The history of make up and beauty presented in a well written way with lots of interesting facts! Lots of great pictures as well ! I highly recommend!

Nice coffee table book, not for extensive research and study.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I love vintage compacts and even own a few. I found this history of the times told through make-up and beauty to be fun and interesting. I never thought about how much we can learn from beauty routines through the ages. I am now quite fascinated with this subject and hope to read more along these lines!

Very enjoyable. Nice to have a British author so that you have a well rounded history of U.S. and U.K. cosmetics . Loved all of the photographs. Brought back many pleasant memories of Mom and Grandmother's compacts and makeup styles, hairstyles, clothes and nail polish. Very informative and so interestingly told that I didn't want to put the book down.

A fun book to read. One may recognize some of the retro type information. I thought it was a fun read. I am adding to this review many months after I first posted it, because I started reading it again and throughly enjoying it. I'm getting a hard copy for a friend who I think will enjoy it. The older history is interesting, but where the books really shines is all about the 60s and 70s.

So much better than I expected. I'm so happy I finally have it :)

The book unfolds the history of cosmetics in a very engaging way and tells the role of cosmetics in people’s everyday life during both the war time and peaceful times. It’s fascinating. A very interesting book whether you are into cosmetics or not.

Bought as a gift for my mom, and after taking a quick peek at it before giving it, I've put it on my own wishlist. Great info, beautiful photos, super fun and informative read. My mom loves it, too :)

Very interesting book, good pictures lots of information. Fun facts,lovely old adds,. Good book for anyone wanting to collect compacts.

I really loved this book. The pictures were great and the author has a great sense of humours. I learned a lot about the history behind brands and about movies stars. You should buy it!