Author (and sideshow performer!) Ilise S. Cater shares the fascinating history of makeup in the U.S.A., from Martha Washington’s multipurpose rouge made with whale earwax to the “Because You’re Worth It” era of the 1970s, when “makeup learned to talk feminism.” Along the way, we’ll meet the first celebrity influencer, find out if the suffragettes actually wore red lipstick, learn how Hollywood—and film itself—influenced the beauty landscape, and hear the rags-to-riches tales of some of America’s pioneering beauty entrepreneurs.