If you ever need proof that social media buzz can turn an under-the-radar beauty brand into something larger than life, just look to Storybook Cosmetics. The brainchild of identical triplets Erin, Mandy, and Missy Maynard, of Omaha, Nebraska, Storybook’s mission of producing cruelty-free makeup inspired by beloved fairytales and popular fandoms has helped turn the indie brand into a downright craze.
To wit: Storybook’s highly-awaited first launch, a five-piece brush set modeled after magic wands à la Harry Potter, sold out in minutes — twice. Each announcement since that fateful day in November has been met with jubilation from the brand’s more than 200,000 Instagram followers, all of whom are totally hooked on the possibility of seeing their favorite fandom turned into a blush brush or an eyeshadow palette. We know why people are so obsessed with Storybook’s stuff — the only question is, how did it happen?
“We knew people would love them, but to go viral worldwide was absolutely incredible,” Missy Maynard says of the brand’s overwhelming — and sudden — popularity. According to Maynard, Storybook first started picking up steam in October of 2016, just a few short months after they founded the company — and it hasn’t slowed down since. “[The line] got started after years of us talking about how we wished someone would create fandom-inspired cosmetics. Then, one day, we just decided we would do it,” she explains. “It was the logical next step to take our passion for cosmetics and cross it over into the fandom culture we had established ourselves in as influencers.”
Clearly, the Maynards weren’t the only ones itching to see childhood fixtures like the Harry Potter series and Beauty and the Beast turned into something you can put on your face. Storybook’s now-sold out Wizard Wands are the only offering fans have been able to shop thus far, but they’ll be followed by the Wizardry and Witchcraft palette in the near future, but if Potter isn’t your thing, no need to panic: the sisters have plenty more in the works. “From idea to execution, it’s a process of my sisters and I going back and forth, then drawing it up, making edits, and working with our manufacturer to make our ideas come to life,” she says. “The whole process can take around six months.”
Six months is a long time to wait for that Wizard Of Oz-inspired palette we’re dying to see IRL — but if the Wizard Wands are anything to go by, it’s going to be worth it. In the meantime, we’ll hang on Storybook’s every Instagram update in hopes that the books and movies we love will hit the shelves in makeup form very soon. And actually, come to think of it, we could use a re-watch of a few of our personal faves.