12 Things You Don't Know About Your Favorite Makeup Brands

When it comes to beauty, you usually tend to focus on what's immediately important — namely, what are the best products to buy and why. But have you ever stopped to wonder about some of your favorite cosmetic lines? What are some things you didn't know about common makeup brands? From the various eureka moments that started their companies, to the products that put them on the map, there's actually a lot of interesting stuff to uncover about all the brands out there.

Some brands have been around for over a hundred years (Maybelline passed the 100 year marker back in 2014), while others are relatively new (Too Faced is a '90s baby, which should surprise no one). No matter what their backgrounds, though, they all have interesting stories and factoids in their histories. Do you know how Stila invented their iconic Lip Glaze? How Maybelline got the idea for their first-ever mascara? The sheer literal collective weight of every Nars Orgasm blush sold every year? Want to find out? I've rounded up some interesting factoids about popular beauty brands to get you started — so read on for some makeup brand trivia that you might not have known!

1. Revlon Nail Polish Helped Create An Iconic Shoe

Revlon Matte Suede Fire Fox, $10, Amazon

You know how Louboutins are famous for their red soles? Well, according to The Guardian, Christian Louboutin reportedly used to paint the soles using a red nail polish from Revlon. Also, speaking of red nail polish, their first shade — Cherries in the Snow — was inspired by the red lips of the '50s screen sirens of the day.

2. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara Was Inspired By An Iconic Actress

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, $23, Sephora

The Better Than Sex Mascara is one of Too Faced's most well-loved products, and part of the reason people love it is its hourglass-shaped brush. Apparently, said brush was created on something of a whim by founder Jerrod Blandino: in a vlog entry, he revealed that he just happened to request a brush proportioned like Marilyn Monroe — and that's the one they ended up using!

3. Stila Lip Glaze Was Inspired By A '90s Actress

Stila Lip Glaze, $22, Sephora

Did you know that Stila's iconic Lip Glazes were first created for Cameron Diaz on the set of Charlie's Angels? Diaz also apparently named some of the shades, reports Allure.

4. Clinique Was Founded By Beauty Heavyweights

Click Here To Shop The Clinique Collection

What do you get when a fashion magazine editor, a beauty empire heiress, and a dermatologist walk into a bar? Clinique, apparently. According to The Guardian, Clinique was founded in the late '60s as a skincare brand by American Vogue editor Carol Phillips, dermatologist Dr. Norman Orentreich, and Estée Lauder's daughter in law, Evelyn Lauder.

5. Benefit's Benetint Had Surprising Origins

Benefit's Benetint, $30, Sephora

The story behind the brand's iconic Benetint is a shocker — it was originally created as a nipple tint for exotic dancers back in '70s era San Francisco, according to the Benefit website. It's actually kind of ironic, given the nipple color/nude lipstick craze currently sweeping the internet.

6. Mascara Is Important To Maybelline's DNA

Maybelline Great Lash, $3, Amazon

Maybelline is known for their reliable stable of affordable mascaras, so it's fitting that mascara is actually a product that's intertwined with the company's DNA. 19 year-old founder Tom Lyle Williams created the first cake mascara back in 1914, after watching his sister Maybel apply a mixture of petroleum and coal dust to her eyebrows and lashes, Makeup reports.

7. Nars Sells A Lot Of Orgasm Blush

NARS Blush in Orgasm, $30, Sephora

We all know that Nars' famous Orgasm Blush is a huge part of the beauty zeitgeist, but it might just be an even bigger deal than we thought: The Guardian reports that the bulk weight of Orgasm blushes sold each year is equivalent to the weight of a Lamborghini. That's a lot of blush.

8. Tarte's Founder Was Pursuing A Very Different Field Of Work

Click Here To Shop Tarte's Collection

Tarte's founder, Maureen Kelly, dropped out of graduate school to launch her brand, according to Allure. She was getting her PhD in psychology at Columbia University! Score one for beauty lovers!

9. Anastasia Beverly Hills Is Popular With Social Media Fans

Click Here To Shop The Anastasia Beverly Hills Collection

Anastasia Beverly Hills has skyrocketed from an eyebrow specialty brand, to one of the most liked beauty companies on Instagram, according to Statista — over the past few years, ABH and MAC have jockeyed for the top spot. It's not hard to see why, especially if you've tried their ultra-popular Modern Renaissance palette.

10. Becca Cosmetics Partnered With Jaclyn Hill Because Of A Video

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter, $38, Sephora

You know how Becca Cosmetics kind of blew the lid off the beauty world with their Jaclyn Hill collaboration? Well, apparently, they made the smart move to partner with her after one of her videos caused sales for their Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter to triple in one week, reported Business of Fashion.

11. MAC Cosmetics Actually Stands For...

Click Here To Shop The MAC Cosmetics Collection

Have you ever wondered what "MAC" stands for? Well, according to their website, it stands for Makeup Art Cosmetics — which, when you think about it, makes the term "MAC Cosmetics" something of a redundancy, like "ATM machine," or "PIN number."

12. Make Up For Ever

Click Here To Shop MakeUp Forever's Collection

It's always fun to look at makeup brand origin stories, and Make Up For Ever's is particularly cute: According to Cosmopolitan UK, Make Up For Ever founder Dany Sanz was busy painting sets for a play, when the actors asked her to paint them too — and the rest is history.

Beauty facts are pretty interesting, right? This is only the tip of the iceberg — there are so many more great stories out there, so if this is the sort of thing you like, get out there and start Googling