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 The invention of photography and especially of the movies contributed to an abrupt shift in attitudes. As viewers saw pictures of celebrities with flawless complexions and intense sexual allure, standards of feminine beauty began to change. Cosmetics became a way to embellish one's appearance. |
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Actress Ann Harding wearing a fur coat and sitting in profile, with her hair pulled to the side
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 Product Advertisement of Perfume |
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The cosmetics industry grew rapidly during the 1920s. Advertising expenditure in radio went from $300,000 to $3.2 million between 1927 and 1930. At first, many women's magazines refused advertisements for cosmetics, but by the end of the '20s, cosmetics provided one of their largest sources of advertising revenue. |
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Brief Timeline of Cosmetics1900: Black entrepreneur Annie Turnbo begins selling hair treatments, including non-damaging hair straighteners, hair growers, and hair conditioners door-to-door.1904: Max Factor migrates from Lodz, Poland, to the United States, and four years later to Los Angeles, where he sells make-up to movie stars that does not cake or crack. 1909: French chemist Eugene Schueller develops the first safe commercial hair dye. In 1910, he names his company L'Oreal. 1905: Sarah McWilliams begins to sell a hair grower door-to-door. After she married Charles J. Walker, she became known as Madam C.J. Walker and incorporated her company in Indianapolis in 1911. 1909: Florence Graham and cosmetologist Elizabeth Hubbard open a salon on Fifth Avenue in New York, which Graham will rename Elizabeth Arden. |
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 Edna Johnson and Theresa Thomas near a table holding up cosmetics and smiling |
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1914: T.J. Williams founds Maybelline, which specializes in mascara. 1915: Lipstick is introduced in cylindrical metal tubes. 1922: The bobby pin is invented to manage short (bobbed) hair. 1932: Charles and Joseph Revson, nail polish distributors, and CharlesLackman, a nail polish supplier, found Revlon, which sells nail polish in a wide variety of colors. 1932: Lawrence Gelb, a New York chemist, brings home from Paris a hair color product that penetrates the hair shaft, and starts a company called Clairol. He opens a company named after the product, Clairol. In 1950, he introduces Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath, a one-step hair coloring product. |
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1933: A new method for permanent waving, using chemicals, which doesn't require electricity or machines, is introduced. 1935: Pan-cake makeup, originally developed to look natural on color film, was created by Max Factor. 1941: Aerosols are patented, paving the way for hair spray. 1944: A Miami Beach pharmacist, Benjamin Green develops sunscreen to protect soldiers in the South Pacific. 1958: Mascara wands debut, eliminating the need for applying mascara with a brush. 1961: Cover Girl make-up, one of the first brands sold in grocery stores and targeted to teens, is introduced by Noxema. 1963: Revlon offers the first powdered blush-on. |
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 Mrs. Frank T. Brown holding a mirror and applying lipstick, sitting at a vanity table |
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Website Credits All photographs obtained from American Memory |