Have you got a vintage treasure in your make-up bag?

They’re the old classics that all tell a story – and they could be worth a small fortune

When did you first realise the power of make-up? For me, the memory is still vivid — even though i was just six years old.

My mum and i were staying with my granny in Liverpool — our first visit home since we’d emigrated to new Zealand when i was a baby. i ventured up to Mum’s old bedroom and, in her dressing table, found a box of make-up she’d worn as a teenager.

i was mesmerised by the bright sixties colours of brands such as Mary Quant, Coty and Miners. it was all so different from the sleek, sophisticated packaging of the makeup my mum, Dorothy, usually wore.

Later, i saw her eyes light up as she toyed with the make-up. it triggered memories of her youth. That’s how i learned that a lipstick or certain shade of blusher can send us back in time as surely as the smell of a forgotten perfume or a song on the radio. it’s why i love vintage make-up.

i wanted to be a make-up artist since i was 13 and, by my mid-20s, i had done several Vogue covers and was painting the faces of Cindy Crawford and Kate Winslet.

But vintage make-up remains my passion. i have hundreds of unique pieces and, when i handle them, i feel like i’m being given an intimate peek into another woman’s life.

They are a social snapshot, too, revealing how things have changed for women. as late as 1927, make-up was seen as so risque that brands sent out samples in brown envelopes so no one could guess their contents.

By the late Thirties, women were whipping out their powder compacts in public — a beautiful compact was a status symbol.

When i started my collection in the early nineties, my hobby was seen as unusual, to say the least. My first vintage purchase was a box of Biba’s iconic seventies make-up from London’s Portobello Market for £5.

Friends thought i was a weirdo: they didn’t get why i would be excited by a smelly old Fifties lipstick in an antique shop when i could buy a shiny new one.

My passion reached new heights with the arrival of internet shopping. in the early 2000s, i saw a haul of unused Biba make-up on eBay. The seller had cleared the warehouse when the shop closed in 1976. i bought the lot, including display cases — a whole van’s worth — for £3,000.

Mad, you might say, but i was, in fact, ahead of the trend. now, make-up collecting is big business, with auctions worldwide. anyone could make a tidy profit from the treasures hidden in their make-up bag. The only downside is that, as a result, it’s getting harder to unearth neglected gems.

i’m hunting for a Miss selfridge collection dating back to the early eighties, which is proving elusive. When i find it, i’ll experience the same thrill as when i stumbled across Mum’s make-up all those years ago.

now, i hope to introduce you to that delight. Do you have a glam granny or mum who loved make-up? if you have any mintcondition treasures from the Twenties to Fifties in your attic, or rare pieces in your make-up bag, you may already be well on your way. For inspiration, here are some highlights from my collection . . .