M·A·C was established in Toronto when makeup artist and photographer, Frank Toskan and beauty salon owner, Frank Angelo brainstormed a makeup line. Frustrated because of the lack of colours that would shoot well with photography; their aim was to develop a studio line makeup line that would fulfill their professional needs. M·A·C was homegrown in Canada – literally. The two entrepreneurs cooked up the cosmetics in their kitchen and sold them from the hair salon. Their first customers: fellow makeup artists, models, photographers…then came stylists and editors. With every colour, and every magazine credit, word-of-mouth popularity grew. In March 1984, the duo officially launched the line from a single counter in a department store in Toronto.