Max Factor.....as We Do Not Know Him - Renewed Article

This article is just a resurrection of the old article that I'd written in 2007. A lot has changed since then with blogging, beauty industry and so on. But the soul of makeup is the same.
Max Factor....the name synonymous with beauty and the glamourous world we have today.The man behind one of the pioneers in the world of cosmetics propelling his eponymous brands to greater heights of history......Lets know something about him.....He is truly inspirational....
Born Max Faktor in Lodz, Poland during the 1870s, Max Factor became the father of modern makeup. With 10 children, the Factor parents could not afford formal education for their children, so at the age of eight Max was placed in apprenticeship to a dentist-pharmacist.
Years of mixing potions instilled in him a fascination with the human form. Factor opened his own shop in a suburb of Moscow, selling hand-made rouges, creams, fragrances, and wigs. A traveling theatrical troupe wore Max Factor’s makeup while performing for Russian nobility, and the door to fame and fortune opened wide. The Russian nobility appointed Max Factor as the official cosmetic expert for the royal family and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera.
In 1904, Max Factor and his family came to America after resigning from his position as the Ballet Makeup Artist and wigmaker of the Royal Czarist Russia.He had a fresh start in St. Louis at the 1904 World’s Fair, selling his rouges and creams, and operating under the name given to him at Ellis Island, Max Factor. But he had stars in his eyes. Factor envisioned movie actors and actresses needing make-up and wigs. His success made him move his family to Los Angeles in 1908 to pursue greater opportunities. Four years later, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Max Factor opened his first store in the center of the city's theatrical district. Here he not only sold his own creations, but also served as the west coast distributor for both Leichner and Miner, manufacturers of two famous brands of stick greasepaint and other theatrical items.
In 1914, Max Factor created a makeup specifically for movie-actors that, unlike theatrical makeup, would not crack or cake. As motion picture companies arrived and settled in California, film players naturally turned to the specialized Factor shop with their makeup problems. The company was instrumental in assisting the motion picture industry, and in later years, the television community.
Soon movie stars were filing through Max Factor’s makeup studio, eager to sample the "flexible greasepaint" while producers sought Factor’s human hair wigs.It was worn for the first time by actor Henry B. Walthall, who served as the model for screen tests. With this major achievement to his credit, Max Factor became the authority on makeup. Factor enjoyed regular visits from devoted customers such as Jean Harlow, Claudette Colbert and Bette Davis, at his beauty salon located near Hollywood Boulevard. With his list of growing clients, Max Factor's name appeared in movie credits.
He allowed the wigs to be rented to the producers of old westerns on the condition that his sons were given parts as extras. The boys would keep an eye on the expensive wigs.
Max Factor introduced cosmetics to the public in the 1920s, insisting that every girl could look like a movie star by using Max Factor Makeup.
Secondly, he invented perhaps the most important single development ever to be conceived for the new art of makeup. Called "Color Harmony," this principle established for the first time that certain combinations of a woman's complexion, hair and eye coloring were most effectively complemented by specific makeup shades prescribed in "Color Harmony." In later years, Max Factor's invention of a self-measure-and-chart procedure enabled bald men to order a custom-made hairpiece by mail with an unconditional guarantee of perfect fit and complete satisfaction. And, the creation of "Flatter Wigs" enabled all women to enjoy the fashion image and flair of the MAX Factor wig stylists and their realistic hairpieces.
No history would be complete without the achievements of Mr.Max Factor,his sons and the people who loved him.....the achievements of the company Max Factor cosmetics.
1914First ever make-up created for film.'flexible greasepaint'.First, he improved upon his original greasepaint in a jar and introduced the world's first "sanitary" makeup — greasepaint packaged in a collapsible tube — which quickly became the most popular motion picture makeup of its time.
1916
Max Factor makes eyebrow pencil and eye shadow available to the public for the first time.
1917Paramount Studios opens the first Studio Make-up Department in Hollywood fully stocked with Max Factor products.
1920'Society' Make-up - the first cosmetic range available for the general public to purchase is launched.
1928Max Factor's 'Panchromatic Make-up' solves the entire movie industry's make-up problems. The make-up, which did not bleed, meant the public could create the new lip look - 'Cupid's Bow' - immortalised by actress Clara Bow.
1930Max Factor again stuns Hollywood by inventing Lipgloss.
1937
Technicolor had achieved excellence from the standpoint of film and photography, but it was quite apparent that make-up for black and white film was completely unsatisfactory. Actors' faces tended to appear green or fiery red-or any other color-on the screen. Invariably, it was a reflection from costume colors or even fabrics used on the set.These problems terrified the Hollywood and Max Factor again came to the rescue and created a Pancake to solve them. After six months of laboratory research and experimentation, an entirely new type of make-up material was created by Max Factor-a makeup in solid cake form to be applied with a slightly moistened silk sponge. For want of a better name, it was called Pan-Cake Makeup, "pan" because of its small, flat, pan-like container, and "cake" because of the form in which it was made. Used for the first time on all members of the cast in Walter Wanger's "Vogues of 1938," starring Warner Baxter and Joan Bennett, it worked miracles. Critics singled out the makeup and raved about it in their reviews. One wrote: "Never before in a color motion picture have the players looked so natural and realistic. They were so lifelike, in fact, that it seemed like they would step down from the screen into the audience at any minute."Next, Pan-Cake Makeup was almost immediately used with equal success in Samuel Goldwyn's "Goldwyn's Follies" and after that it became the standard makeup for all color motion pictures. Naturally pleased with the overwhelming acceptance of Pan-Cake Makeup, Max Factor registered the name with the United States Patent Office in 1937 — content with the professional category it occupied. But then something strange happened! Fashion models used in the two films began wearing the makeup night and day because they loved its transparent effect and its "non-theatrical" appearance on their faces. Soon, motion picture stars were buying Pan-Cake Makeup for their off-screen appearances as well, and the clamor for it reached deafening proportions from women in all walks of life. Launched to the "Women of America" via distinctive full-page, two-color ads featuring a screen star portrait and illustrations of the product, Pan-Cake Makeup became, almost overnight, one of the fastest-growing, largest-selling, single makeup items in the history of cosmetics. Today, it is still one of the most popular cake makeup products available. .
He died on the 30th August 1938. But his sons continued the heritage and their father's dreams of seeing the future.
1940Tru Colour Lipstick is invented, the first truly indelible lip color that didn't irritate or change color after application.
1947
With the fast moving pace of technology, television arrives and Pan Stick Make-up is developed to meet the demands of the medium.
1950
'Roman Pink' lip shade is introduced - the first pale lip color.
1954
The stars' beauty secret Erace Coverup is available to all women.
1957
Based on his research for color TV, Hi Fi Lipstick is made available to the public for the first time.

1960
New dimensions of color arrive with 'colour stories', Sun Colours and Café Glace.
1970
Introduces Ultralucent Make-up and Jaclyn Smith is signed to promote the brand.
1971The first waterproof make-up is developed by Max Factor.
1989The major launch of No Colour Mascara, which earns the Beauty industry's prestigious Rex Award for outstanding product of the year.
1990's
Continue the innovative spirit - products combined with make up artistry tradition. Madonna introduces the Beautiful Skin range featuring Gold Lip Silks and Beautiful Skin Make-up. Max Factor employs award winning make-up artists to help develop and promote 'colour stories' and new products.
2001
Introduces Max Factor's most innovative and exciting development since the creation of lipstick - Lipfinity, just 'paint, polish and forget about it' - the ultimate in long lasting lipcolour.
2002
The trend continues for long lasting products with line extensions of Lashfinity and Facefinity.
Before Max Factor, few women used cosmetics. Factor popularized both the word "makeup" and the use (and abuse) of the cosmetic repertoire.
And the credits go on. There is no cosmetic company anywhere that has been so unmistakably associated with the most beautiful women in the world as MAX Factor. The company's leadership in educating women to the subtleties of fashion makeup is legendary. When the company was founded the average woman used little, if any, makeup, as society actually frowned upon it. Today, the average woman wouldn't appear in public or even in her own home without it.The artist behind the brand being none other that the Makeup Maverick Ms.Pat McGrath,the brand has achieved newer success and a new horizon.
I'd conclude saying this sentence which everyone knows...."Beauty starts with Max Factor and has no ends......"Thanks a lot for reading my blog. Do subscribe, follow and support. Thanks.