The Max Factor story...
"In Hollywood's Golden Age, when it came to make-up only one name was on the lips of the silver screen stars. That name was Mr Max Factor, a visionary make-up artist, wig maker and inventor, Max Factor was known for creating the signature looks of the era’s most famous icons such as Ava Gardner, Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich. But he believed that glamour should be within reach of all women.
Max Factor was born in Russia and emigrated in 1904 to America, settling in LA to be closer to the budding film industry. Word of Max Factor's expertise quickly spread and he was soon working with Hollywood's leading film stars and making his own cosmetic products for a glamorous but realistic look on screen. In 1916 he started selling eye shadow and eyebrow pencils. This was the first time such products were available outside the movie industry. Four years later he launched a full range of cosmetics, calling it ''make-up'' – a phrase he coined.
 |
Max Factor's 'Beauty Calibrator' helped to
understand the features of a woman's face |
The make-up products and techniques Max Factor created for the movie industry and his Hollywood clients earned him an Oscar, but his guiding philosophy was that any woman could be glamourous given the right tools and make-up artstry skills. From mascara to foundation, eye shadow to lip gloss – Max Factor put the transformative tools for make-up artistry into the hands of every woman, enabling her to create her own personal glamour statement every day."
HISTORIC TIMELINE OF THE BRAND
1872 - Max Factor was born in a town called Lodz, which back then was a part of Russia, however then became a part of Poland.
1914 - Max comes up with a formula called 'Flexible Greasepaint', which helps to make the actors seem more 'human'.
1918 - Max Factor introduces the technique "Colour Harmony"
1920 - Max Factor invents the word 'make up'
1928 - Lip gloss was created, in order to make actresses' "lips look more glamorous on the screen".
1932 - Max Factor creates a Beauty Calibrator to measure the dimensions of a person's facial structure to within 1/100th of an inch. This helps him determine how to use shading to create "the perfect face". He claims he never found perfection!
1935 - "Pan-Cake Make-up is developed to meet the unique make-up requirements of Technicolor film, as without corrective make-up to provide a natural complexion; actors' faces appeared brick red or blue. When actresses started taking large quantities of Pan-Cake home with them for their personal use, Max Factor realized that his new make-up looked wonderful both on and off camera, so later introduced Pan-Cake to the general retail trade".
1938 - Max Factor dies at the age of 66.
1940 - Max Factor, Jr. invents the Tru-Color lipstick. "The lipstick offered a high degree of indelibility, and maintained its true colour without irritating the skin. This is tested by the Kissing Machine, which replaces human kissers, and applied pressure to artificially kissing lips covered with lipstick, to measure how much pressure and kissing the lipstick could withstand and still remain on the lips."
1947 - "Pan-Stik make-up was introduced by Max Factor after years of testing in the Hollywood laboratories. Tests included covering models' legs with Pan-Stik and siting them in the sun to observe how the color changed. PanStik was a cream-based make-up in stick form that was designed to be applied "as easily as lipstick", in less than 20 seconds."
1953 - "Creme Puff Make-up is introduced, the first all-in-one blend of creamy make-up base and powder. Applied with a puff, Creme Puff was applied like powder, but stayed on like cream, and had a smoother look."
1954 - "Erace was introduced to the general public. Originally intended to hide blemishes, lines and shadows from the camera, Erace was the first concealer offered to the retail trade."
1955 - "Hi-Fi fluid make-up was introduced to the retail trade as a result of research the Max Factor Company had done for color television. Designed to do for color what high-fidelity technology did for sound, the Hi-Fi range featured bright colors for cheeks, lips and eyes and was created for a ‘glowing’ look."
1958 - "Max Factor unveils the Mascara Wand, the first mascara to be applied with a wand from a tube, rather than a picking up the color from a cake with a brush."
1984 - "Max Factor Museum opens in former Max Factor Hollywood Make-up Studio at 1666 N. Highland Ave."
1991 - "Max Factor becomes part of the Procter & Gamble family."
2001 - "Launching another first; Max Factor introduces 12 hour long-lasting non-transfer lip color, "Lipfinity". Between 2006 and 2008, one is sold every 9 seconds globally; becoming another iconic innovation."
2004 - "One of the world’s most influential makeup artists, Pat McGrath is signed as Max Factor Global Creative Design Director."
2009 - "Max Factor launches what is to become its bestselling mascara, False Lash Effect mascara."
2010 - "Max Factor launches Colour Effect Boutique. From nail polish to eye shadows, this is an exciting new exploration into bright colour cosmetics."
2012 - "Max Factor launches its ultimate glamour tool, Colour Effect Flipstick; an innovative, double-ended lipstick that allows women to become their very own lip artist by mixing, matching and personalising their own lip colour."
Sources
______________________________________________________________________
PROCTER, 2016.
Max Factor’s heritage: The Max Factor story [viewed 25 April 2016]. Available from: https://maxfactor.co.uk/heritage/the-max-factor-story
Max Factor,. 1932. Web. 28 Jan. 2016.
