Name/Title
"Realce" eye-shadow box (sombra para los ojos), emptyEntry/Object ID
2025.1.366Description
Empty square cardboard box for Realce pressed-powder eye shadow. The front is printed with two rows of color dots — brown, green, black, blue (and reversed below) — representing the shade range, flanking a central band with olive/gold stripes, "SOMBRA / PARA LOS OJOS," and the Realce wordmark in an elegant script beneath a gold sunburst emblem. The reverse carries application instructions, a die-cut circular window (here empty — no compact/product present), and, at the foot, the interlocked maker's monogram with "HECHO EN CUBA." The board is toned, soiled/foxed, and creased at the corners.Use
Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezContext
"Sombra para los ojos" is eye shadow. Realce was a makeup line of Cuba's nationalized perfumery-cosmetics industry; Cuba Material's catalog lists Realce eye shadow in a pressed-powder format (9 non-iridescent shades) and a plastic-cased stick (7 shades). This is the outer box for the powder/compact format — the round window would have framed the eye-shadow cake (cf. the Fantasía "Azul" compact in this series). The dot motif advertises the shade palette; "Realce" means "enhancement/highlight," echoed by the sunburst emblem. Manufacture is marked "Hecho en Cuba" beneath the Suchel-line monogram.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecitionMade/Created
Manufacturer
MINILPlace
Country
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaEdition
RealceNotes
Manufacturer: Suchel — Empresa de Perfumería y Jabonería Suchel, Cuba — tentative as to the specific enterprise but well supported; "Hecho en Cuba" and the recurring monogram are on the box, and Realce is part of the Suchel catalog. Designer of the graphic not identified.
Date: circa 1960s–1970s; tentative (mid-century-modern dot/script styling suggests the earlier end).Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
box bottomTranscription
"SOMBRA PARA LOS OJOS
Se aplica sobre los párpados con un pincel o una motica de algodón, esparciéndola hacia afuera para que se desvanezca
(logotype) HECHO EN CUBALanguage
SpanishTranslation
EYESHADOW FOR THE EYES
It's applied on the eyelids with a brush or a cottton ball, spreading it outward till blended
dp MADE IN CUBAType
InscriptionLocation
box topTranscription
Sombra para los ojos REALCELanguage
SpanishTranslation
REALCE eyeshadowNotes
Front: "SOMBRA PARA LOS OJOS"; "Realce" (script) beneath a gold sunburst emblem. Back: "Se aplica sobre los párpados con un pincel o una motica de algodón, esparciéndola hacia afuera para que se desvanezca."; interlocked maker's monogram with "HECHO EN CUBA."Dimensions
Height
1.3 cmWidth
4.9 cmLength
4.9 cmParts
Cardboard box (front and back panels) with die-cut circular window. No compact or product present.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezNotes
ownerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
use, acquisitionCreated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
March 31, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
July 17, 2026
