amandainvermont
VFG Member
Did any of you see “The Powder and the Glory” broadcast on PBS? It’s was the story of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, who both immigrated to the US (Arden from Canada and Rubenstein from Poland) and created what is now the huge beauty industry.
I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that cosmetics were, back then, only used by “painted ladies” - either prostitutes or in the movie industry, and it is these two women who brought cosmetics to the rest of us.
I remember my mother using a brush (like a short toothbrush) to apply mascara and using lipstick as rouge. It was Helena Rubenstein who invented the concept of a mascara wand. And Arden opened the first resort health spa (Maine Chance) in the US. I remember the lipstick “Montezuma red” which was introduced by Arden for women WWII soldiers to match the red on their uniforms. But of course I associate her with pink.
These two women were extremely competitive and no doubt occasionally turned up at some of the same events, yet they never met or spoke.
I was just reading a review of the book about them on which the PBS documentary is based - “War Paint” by Lindy Woodhead.
In 1908, when she was 38, Rubenstein married Edward Titus, an impoverished bookseller. On their honeymoon he "carried on" with another woman. Rubenstein bought herself pearls as compensation and called them "quarrel jewels". She later married a “prince” many years her junior.
Arden too married an “ersatz prince” who on their honeymoon had sex with his boyfriend.
So, they both made oodles of money, and made wise business choices, but were not as good with relationships.
I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that cosmetics were, back then, only used by “painted ladies” - either prostitutes or in the movie industry, and it is these two women who brought cosmetics to the rest of us.
I remember my mother using a brush (like a short toothbrush) to apply mascara and using lipstick as rouge. It was Helena Rubenstein who invented the concept of a mascara wand. And Arden opened the first resort health spa (Maine Chance) in the US. I remember the lipstick “Montezuma red” which was introduced by Arden for women WWII soldiers to match the red on their uniforms. But of course I associate her with pink.
These two women were extremely competitive and no doubt occasionally turned up at some of the same events, yet they never met or spoke.
I was just reading a review of the book about them on which the PBS documentary is based - “War Paint” by Lindy Woodhead.
In 1908, when she was 38, Rubenstein married Edward Titus, an impoverished bookseller. On their honeymoon he "carried on" with another woman. Rubenstein bought herself pearls as compensation and called them "quarrel jewels". She later married a “prince” many years her junior.
Arden too married an “ersatz prince” who on their honeymoon had sex with his boyfriend.
So, they both made oodles of money, and made wise business choices, but were not as good with relationships.
