Posts Tagged ‘history’
Charles Revson
Friday, May 28th, 2010
The huge company we know as Revlon was founded in 1932 by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph as a nail polish company with $300. Charles Haskell Revson was born on October 11, 1906 in Somerville, Massachusetts. After graduating high school, Revson went to work for a dress company and then as a nail polish salesman for the Elka company with his brother Joseph. When they were told they couldn’t sell beyond their New York City territory, they quit and began their own business. Charles and Joseph Revson founded Revlon Nail Enamel Corporation with Charles Lachman, a chemist who had married into Dresden Chemical Company (a manufacturer and distributor of nail polish). The L in Revlon is for Lachman, who had no active role in the company but owned a third of the business. Revson offered opaque nail polish that completely covered the nail and more color options. Most nail polishes at that time were transparent, and only came in three shades of red. Revson used his sales skills to sell to beauty salons, and eventually made a big order to Marshall Fields in 1934. In 1939, Revlon had another huge increase in sales when lipstick that coordinated with the polish colors was introduced using the slogan “matching lips and fingertips”. Revlon sponsored the television show, The $64,000 Question in the 1950’s which also increased sales. In the 1960’s and
1970’s Revlon expanded into skin-care products, shampoo, hair spray, and perfumes. In 1973, the affordable fragrance Charlie became the best-selling fragrance worldwide. On the downside, Revson’s attempt to expand into the fashion field, shoe polish, plastic flowers, and electric razors all failed. However, Revson was a very innovative marketer. He came up with creative nail polish colors, like ‘Fatal Apple’, launched seductive advertising campaigns before they became the norm, and broke tradition in international advertising. Instead of matching the ad to the market, he introduced American style and looks to foreign countries, making a ‘Western look’ popular. Over the years Revson gave many millions of dollars to charities. He was particularly supportive of Jewish, medical, and educational causes. Upon his death almost half his estate of $100 million was used to establish a charitable foundation. Revson passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 24, 1975. Currently, Revlon and its subsidiaries, Almay, Ultima II, and Mitchum lines, sells to large masses of consumers in 175 countries. U.S.-based Revlon went public in 1996 and in 2009 had 5,600 employees.
Tags: background, biography, Charles Revson, history, Revlon
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Eugene Schueller
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
L’Oreal, the world’s largest manufacturer of high-quality cosmetics and perfumes, began with just one person. French chemist Eugene Schueller created L’Oreal in 1907 starting with the invention of the first chemical hair dye in his kitchen sink – called Aureale. This dye was a monumental change, as women could only dye their hair black or red with natural dye. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, stars such Jean Harlow and Mae West increased the popularity of L’Oreal’s hair bleach, L’Oreal Blanc. In 1945, L’Oreal launched the first cold permanent wave product, Oreol. Schueller was innovative with his marketing tactics and was awarded an advertising Oscar in 1953. Famous artists were commissioned to d
esign poster ads and L’Oreal jingles played on the radio. Schueller launched his own women’s magazine, Votre Beaute, and promoted his Dop (the first mass market shampoo) in hair lathering competitions at French circuses. Schueller passed away in 1957 and Francois Dalle succeeded as chairman and CEO. The company continued to prosper, with acquisitions including Lancome in 1964, Helena Rubinstein in 1989, Garnier in 1978, Maybelline in 1996, Soft Sheen in 1998, and Carson in 2000. Currently L’Oreal has the industry’s highest research and development budget and the largest cosmetological laborories in the world. U.S. customers make up 30% of its sales.
Tags: biography, Eugene Schueller, history, L'Oreal
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Max Factor
Friday, February 12th, 2010
The brand Max Factor was started by a makeup artist for the Russian ballet, Francis Maximilian Faktorowicz in 1909. His son, Max Factor Jr. continued the company and popularized the terms ‘lipstick’ and ‘eyeshadow’, invented the term ‘make-up’, and helped create the first major international cosmetic business. Max’s Factor’s success came from his work on Hollywood movie sets where he worked with start such as Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Marlene Dietrich. In 1928, he actually received an Oscar for making creating cosmetics that worked well with black a
nd white movies. Some of Max Factor’s other innovative contributions to the industry included lip gloss in 1930, Pan-Cake Makeup in 1937, the first smear proof lipstick in 1940, and the first waterproof cosmetic in 1971. Max Factor didn’t retire until 1973 and his legacy still lives on. Max Factor developed a line of cosmetics just for color television’s needs that is still the standard for TV cosmetics today. His company was sold the year of his retirement and is currently owned by Procter and Gamble. Starting this year, Max Factor cosmetics are unavailable in the United States due to dwindling sales but are widely successful ($1.2 billion in annual sales) in other parts of the world.
Tags: history, makeup artist, Max Factor
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Helena Rubinstein
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Our love of cosmetics naturally extends to an interest in the pioneers in the industry. Helena Rubinstein is arguably one of the most important women in the modern cosmetic industry to date. With little formal education, she established one of the first mass-produced cosmetics companies. Her innovations included tinted face powder, foundation, hormonal skin creams, a mechanical mascara applicator, and cosmetics for men.
Less commonly known, Rubinstein started out at medical school but discovered she disliked to be around sickness. Rubinstein was born in 1870 in Poland. She moved back and forth between Europe and the States before marrying a Russian nobleman who became an American citizen. In 1900, Rubinstein opened her first beauty salon and sold a cream based on her mother’s formulas in Australia. As her success grew she opened a cosmetic factory outside factory and then began to open salons in the United States in 1915. By improving the quality of her products, she was able to use department stores for distribution. She even insisted that she personally train the sales associates. By 1965, the year of her death, her company employed 32,000 people and sales were $42 million.
One hundred years later, Helena Rubinstein’s cosmetics are still a success. Demi Moore is the current face of the company and products are sold worldwide. For current product information, go to www.helenarubinstein.com.
Tags: cosmetics, Helena Rubinstein, history
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