Il-Makiage was a pioneering, NYC grown cosmetics company. Founded in 1972, the company operated out of a gritty unlabeled warehouse on Davis street in L.I.C. Their neighbors included the Cosola Contractors workshop (which at the time was used by a Hispanic newspaper), and the far better known Neptune Meter Company, whose buildings became the legendary 5ptz graffiti gallery.
Open Door Special: The il-makiage warehouse in 2018
In 2004 ownership passed between several Jewish individuals. The only obvious connection between then was their alumni status from Tele Aviv University. It’s unclear exactly where and how, but sales dropped off. Il-Makiage was known for their bold advertising, and those adverts slowly disappeared. Fortunately, we rescued a portfolio of their press clips which are interesting in a weird ass 1980s kind of way. The company closed up shop, seeming to die an unceremonious death.
Scales and supplies left over in the laboratory section of the building.
As we’ve seen with at least one other family owned NYC company, closing up shop is often not a permanent death. The intellectual assets of the company—formulations and research on 1000+ strong product line, were very attractive to the right investors.
Last year (2018), il-Makiage emerged once again as a cosmetics brand, backed by new investors, launching an punchy social media campaign and pop-up shop in Soho. The future remains to be fully seen for this reborn company, though it’s NYC roots were long ago uprooted.
For way more details on this company, and my adventures exploring their abandoned L.I.C. location, grab a copy of Abandoned Industries of New York, volume one.
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