Fashion Fair Cosmetics Nostalgia

Ok, I know I am late. I am celebrating the return of Fashion Fair Cosmetics which relaunched in September 2021. Yep, that’s Fashion Fair, “THE” makeup line for African American women when I was a child in the 1970s. Just typing the name rekindles memories of the fragrant aroma of their lipstick that used to be sold in department stores. Remember that sweet smell? You know the one I am talking about? The smell that would immediately alert your mother, grandmother, aunt, or sister that you were playing in her expensive makeup. It was the go-to for African American women. I remember that as a child, the pink packages symbolized luxury to me, and I longed for the regal experience of feeling pampered that I imagined my elders enjoyed back then.

Eunice Johnson, who started Fashion Fair Cosmetics in 1973, had co-founded Ebony and Jet magazines with her husband John. She expressed her passion for both haute-couture and everyday fashion while producing the traveling Ebony Fashion Fair tour, which raised millions of dollars for hospitals, civil rights groups, and other causes. She recognized an opportunity to start Fashion Fair Cosmetics, a prestige line for African American women that they could buy in fine department stores. Maybe you remember the Fashion Fair ads in Ebony and Jet that often featured model Lavon Evans and gave consumers just a glimpse of how beautiful using their products could make you feel. Celebrities like Nancy Wilson and Diahann Carroll promoted Fashion Fair products and appeared in the company’s ads. I remember my mother buying those pink…