Photo credit: Bésame Cosmetics

Eighty years ago, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered and made history. The success of the animated feature film allowed Disney to grow into the company it is today. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, Disney has launched a number of collaborations with companies like Funko and Kipling, but November will see the release of one of the most exciting partnerships yet when Bésame Cosmetics releases their Snow White makeup line.

Bésame’s Snow White: The 1937 Collection is inspired by the original color palette and art of the animated film. The time period is a perfect fit for the vintage makeup company which was founded by Gabriela Hernandez. It all began with antiques Hernandez had from her grandmother that she remembered thinking were so glamorous and pretty as a child.

“The way that they did their makeup [back then] was very simple, but they always looked put together. I wanted to bring a product out to embody that and that I could pass on to my daughter with the idea that it’s a very simple thing but that really creates a big difference in the way you look and create products that are pretty,” she told GeekFold. “Part of the experience is interacting with the product itself and the containers and everything else, not just having a functional item. So we started with one tiny lipstick, a mini size, and then it developed from there.”

The brand creates products that feature classic colors in equally stunning vintage packaging. They are inspired by a range of eras and are not tied to just one decade. They have everything from a 1920 red lipstick to a 1970 chocolate kiss lipstick. Their products also include powders, rouges, mascaras, fragrances, and brushes.

“We look for products that are iconic, that really represented their time, and that were exceptional in their own time and see if they would be relevant today to women,” Hernandez said. “If we find that that’s the case, we try to recreate them so that you can experience them again, kind of a best of time basically in makeup.”

According to Hernandez, Disney approached Bésame about working on the Snow White collection because they liked the company’s quality, how they produced their products, and their story telling. She said Disney “wanted something that looked realistic and very much authentic to the princess and to the time when the movie got released.”

“That’s why they came to us to really explore that and tell the story of Snow White as a natural 1937 character,” Hernandez explained.

Hernandez called the experience of seeing the original artwork and ink palette of the 1937 film exciting.

“Whenever you hold something that is 80 years old, you definitely get a sense of history, of other people having worked on it, and especially women because it was really women that mixed all those paints,” she said. “All of the color department, all of the ink department were women and they were responsible for mixing all these shades. I saw them and they’re really very flattering colors.”

Hernandez was surprised when looking at the colors that they were so much more pastel than what you see now in the movie, which has more primary colors. Originally, they were softer and to Hernandez more wearable as colors you’d actually see on somebody. Looking at the originals, she saw how the colors have shifted over the years as the film has been remastered.

“That’s what we tried to bring out when we did the Storybook palette to show you what the original shades were of Snow White and what actually went into her character,” she said.

Matching the colors was a slight challenge since they were all very matte.

“The colors were definitely softer than you would expect so there was a lot of very soft reds instead of very vibrant reds. Some of the shades were a little trickier to match up, but they worked really well with matte shadows because they are so matte in color in the original form,” she said.

The Snow White collection will feature that 1937 Storybook Palette Hernandez mentioned, which looks like the book from the film, as well as a travel bag, Fairest vanity mirror, With a Smile and a Song cream rouge, classic and icon book bags, a pies balm trio, classic color lipsticks, Keep Singing and I’m Wishing palettes, Seven Dwarfs mini lipstick set, and Ever After translucent pearl powder. The line will be released this month and will be available online, at Bésame’s Burbank boutique, and at all BoxLunch locations.

This is not the only Disney line you can expect from Bésame either. They’ll also be releasing a collection inspired by Marvel’s Agent Carter. Bésame has a longer relationship with that property because they were involved with the ABC TV show.

“Marvel bought all the makeup for Agent Carter from us to do the actual series to make it period specific so Peggy always wore our lipstick from the beginning of that series. That’s basically how that came about. We had a relationship with them already and then when we started working with Disney, it opened the door for us to do a more official collection with Marvel to the public with Peggy,” she said.

Hernandez said the collection is interesting because it includes a lot of Peggy’s things such as her documents, letters, and items that make it more personal than just a product.

“It’s a more interactive product I would say and there’s very interesting pieces in it. We have her lipstick from the show that does different things, her spy lipsticks that are given to her by Stark Industries. Her compact doubles as a decoder. We have some bags and other things that have very fun secret compartments and other things going on,” she said. “It’s very involved and a very story driven collection so I think people will have a lot of fun with it when it comes out. It’s very ‘40s and it’s very much kind of an adult Peggy collection that embodies the women of that period.”

If we can’t have more Agent Carter on TV anytime soon, at least we can look forward to this line! The pieces will be released starting early next year and will build up to July’s San Diego Comic-Con, according to Hernandez. Fans should keep an eye out for other things on the horizon as Bésame’s relationship with these companies continues.

“We will continue to make other exciting things for people with other characters and other properties to bring you more story driven product,” Hernandez said. “That’s something to look forward to because we have so many ideas and so many opportunities that we’re very excited about exploring.”

You can see all of Bésame’s products on their website.

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Bésame Cosmetics’ founder discusses Snow White collection and shares Agent Carter line details