Bésame Cosmetics was created by artist, cosmetic historian, and designer Gabriela Hernandez after a life-long love affair with vintage beauty. At 12, Gabriela immigrated to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, always fascinated by her grandmother’s sophisticated beauty routine. She fully realized her passion for the creative arts with a fine art degree from Art Center in Pasadena, California, and became a photographer, art director, and published author (Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup, Schiffer). With her creative background, historical know-how, and cherished memories of her grandmother’s makeup, Gabriela finally developed the beauty brand of her dreams, filled with rich, historical details in wearable long-lasting formulas. She wanted Bésame to bring romance back into the makeup industry, allowing women to feel excited and passionate about their own beauty rituals again.

Bésame Cosmetics was founded in 2004 out of a fascination with art, history, and beauty; a vintage makeup brand which honors the style, spirit, and sensibility of female beauty.
Through a keen eye for color and historical expertise, we recreate modern reproductions of classic luxury makeup from the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, designed to make women feel elegant, inspired, and empowered by their beauty. Pairing innovative, cutting edge technology with a historical milieu, our colors and formulations are painstakingly hand-crafted to a minutia of detail, from our custom-designed gold compacts to our signature chrysanthemum motifs. Based in Southern California, Bésame understands Hollywood’s ongoing fascination with the vintage aesthetic, and often helps production designers recreate accurate makeup displays for period film and television (catch a glimpse of our Crimson Rouge tin in the 2012’s Academy Award-winning film, “The Artist”).