Five years ago, makeup artistErin Parsonswon a heap of Mae West’s makeup at an auction.
The collection didn’t cost that much.
Her belongings go for ridiculous amounts of money.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
Over the years, I’ve collected a bunch of vintage beauty products that Marilyn used.
Collecting all of that started my vintage obsession.
I constantly searched for things she used so I could recreate her makeup one day.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
For a while, I was buying at least one item a day.
The great thing is with the internet, you have eBay, Etsy.
I found a box of 1800s vintage beauty marks on Etsy.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
It was pretty expensive, but it’s the oldest antique beauty product I own.
MillworkerAustin Mitchellcustom-built the shelving for Parsons' vintage beauty paradise.
Because they know I collect vintage, people have started to reach out to me.
MillworkerAustin Mitchellcustom-built the shelving for Parsons' vintage beauty paradise.
They send me messages saying, “Hey, I have this.
What would you give me for it?”
I get about 50 messages a day and emails from random websites that I’m searching for stuff from.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
It was really bad, but I couldn’t help it.
I needed to buy them.
If something rare came up, I was like, “Ihaveto have this.”
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
My husband and I have a two-bedroom apartment, so I just had everything in the second bedroom.
She agreed to put it all together.
Building it out, getting the right paint color of theYves Klein bluetook months.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
I wassospecific about that.
It’s such a powerful feeling.
I searchedeverywhereto find that color.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
There’s a store in New York City calledRessourcethat makes the most amazing paints.
But it was ridiculous, $200 for a little jar.
I was on a budget, but Ihadto have that paint.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
Then, I took a month setting everything up perfectly.
I love having all the lipsticks open in one box.
When you look at the collection, it’s like candy.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
If you open up the box, you smell that vintage lipstick smell.
The most expensive thing I have paid for so far was $9,000 for Marilyn Monroe’sfalse eyelashes.
I knowLisa Eldridgegot Audrey Hepburn’s lipstick for about $70,000, so I don’t feel so bad.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
It’s just an inanimate object, but it’s exciting.
For instance, Marilyn Monroe’s lashes were mostly a mix of brown and black, which surprised me.
I assumed there were only black.
Courtesy of Erin Parsons
I love finding things still brand new in their packages.
Usually, they’re from the ’70s.
Any farther back than that is really hard to find in mint condition, but sometimes I do.
I’m really obsessed with figural compacts, too.
I have a little guitar that’s a compact.
I have a little chair that looks like a little throne with a little powderpuff fluff inside.
Those are super expensive, but oh, they’re so pretty.
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When you open them, two little pans of balm or gloss are inside.
All of mine are unused.
I even have their original boxes.
That’s what I look for.
Another interesting thing I have are violet eyebrow sticks in lipstick containers.
Weirdly enough, women were wearing violet eyebrows at one point in history.
I’ve been collectingvintage wigsfor a while.
I love finding cheap wigs that still have the hairspray plastered in them from the ’60s.
I especially love when you could tell a woman wore it every day.
I have one of maybe 60 wigsElizabeth Taylorwore forCleopatra.
It’s not one of the main wigs, though.
That was pretty pricey but so cool.
It’s so heavy, so I think about how she wore these heavy wigs during that filming.
They would even sometimes layer two wigs.
Oh my god, it must’ve been so heavy on her head.
The first batch must have been from 1915.
I just literally won one yesterday for a steal.
I bid really high, and no one else bid on it.
I got it for $35.
It completes that collection, so it makes me so happy.
Maybelline doesn’t even have that original tin.
When their team saw the stuff I had, they were shocked.
I thought they’d have a little museum at the offices, but they don’t.
I also just found these 1930s art-deco mannequin busts with real hair.
I want them so bad, but they’re all over a thousand dollars.
I have to save my pennies.
If we could find Josephine Baker or Dorothy Dandridge, that would be amazing.
A lipstick from Marilyn Monroe is the top number-one item I’d love to get, though.
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