Max Factor
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Max Factor is a cosmetics firm, founded in 1909 by Max Factor, Sr., a Jewish-American make-up artist for the Russian royal ballet. He came from Lodz in Russian-Poland and was born in 1877. Factor emigrated to the United States in 1904. He and his wife Lisa and three children travelled in the steerage class on board the S.S. Moltke and were processed at Ellis Island on February 25, 1904; he had $400 in his possession. Presently, the Max Factor name is a brand of Procter & Gamble Co., which purchased the company in 1991. Max Factor died in Beverly Hills, California, in August 1938.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the glory years of Hollywood, Factor became intimately associated with the world of movie make-up. He created the first makeup for the movies in 1914, and coined the term "makeup", based on the verb, "to make up" (one's face).
Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and virtually all of the major movie actresses were regular customers of the Max Factor beauty salon, located near Hollywood Boulevard. Mr. Factor's name appeared on many movie credits, and Factor himself appeared in some cameos.
Many of Factor's celebrity clients also appeared in full-color magazine ads to promote his cosmetics, so the brand name Max Factor soon became world-renowned.
Factor is credited with many cosmetic innovations, including Pan-Cake makeup, the mascara wand, and concealer.
Even today, 2006, Max Factor's television adverts cross-promote the latest blockbusters in which their make-up is used.
Two of Max Factor's great-grandsons, Davis Factor and Dean Factor, founded Smashbox Studios in 1991. The enterprise expanded to incude a photo studio, modeling agency, production company, clothing line, and, in 1997, a cosmetics line called Smashbox Cosmetics. In 2004, Smashbox Cosmetics launched a global marketing campaign in conjuction with the legendary European cosmetics retailer Sephora.
Convicted rapist Andrew Luster is an heir to the Max Factor fortune.
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Corporate Directors: Norman Augustine | Bruce Byrnes | R. Kerry Clark | Scott D. Cook | Joseph Gorman | A. G. Lafley | Charles R. Lee | Lynn M. Martin | W. James McNerney, Jr. | Johnathan Rodgers | John F. Smith, Jr. | Ralph Snyderman | Robert Storey | Margaret Whitman | Ernesto Zedillo |
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Brands: Always | Ariel | Aussie | Bounty | Braun | Charmin | Cheer | Clairol | CoverGirl | Crest | Downy | Dreft | Duracell | Eukanuba | Fairy | Febreze | Folgers | Gillette | Head & Shoulders | Herbal Essences | Iams | Ivory | Joy | Luvs | Max Factor | Metamucil | Noxzema | Olay | Old Spice | Oral-B | Pampers | Pantene | Pringles | Puffs | Pur | SK-II | Swiffer | Tampax | Tide | Vicks | Zest |
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Annual Revenue: $55.4 billion USD ( |
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