Alum and Bésame Cosmetics founder Gabriela Hernandez featured in Los Angeles Mag

Gabriela Hernandez, BFA in Photography 1989

Vintage Cosmetics Maven Gabriela Hernandez (BFA 89 PHOT) Knows Her Makeup History

The Bésame Cosmetics founder walks us through the changing face of beauty from the 1890s to the 1990s

By Chris Nichols -August 16, 2019

When she was a little girl in Buenos Aires, the beauty rituals of Gabriela Hernandez’s older relatives fascinated her. The Burbank-based artist spent years studying vintage cosmetics and after graduating from ArtCenter College of Design, she began designing makeup packaging. Digging deeper into the history, she wrote the book Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup, and in 2004 she created her version of a 1920s lipstick and started her company Bésame Cosmetics. Today the company manufactures mascara, lipstick, and powders; offers period beauty classes; and runs a boutique where patrons, including makeup designers on period films and TV shows, can immerse themselves in the charms of earlier generations. The ingredients, design, and packaging are drawn from a century of techniques and products. Hernandez shares with us the evolution of painting faces.