Ugly Beauty: The Ugly Face of the Beauty Business

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. With wonderful attention to detail and real affection for her subjects, Brandon tells the story of Helena Rubinstein (1870–1965), a Polish Jew from a poor family with a small salon in Australia, who became the first woman tycoon and self-made millionaire. Her timing was excellent: she struck at the moment when decent women, for the first time, were allowing themselves makeup and were willing to shop for it publicly. At the same time, a young French chemist named Eug?ne Schueller (1881–1957) was making his name in hair dyes (and later collaborating with the Nazis); it was his company, L'Oreal, that swallowed Rubinstein's business. The descriptions of Schueller's political scandals are fascinating, but the story shines when Brandon returns to Rubinstein, a stubborn, spirited woman who responded to a luxury Park Avenue apartment's "No Jews" policy by buying the entire building, and who calmly thwarted robbers in her home at the age of 91. A clearheaded discussion of current beauty standards, vanity, and the gender politics of the modern cosmetic industry rounds out this lively history of the founding of the beauty business as we know it. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From Booklist Expos?s of the beauty industry and its relatives, such as cosmetic surgery, are common these days, whether the chosen medium is film or print. In this particular instance, the link between L’Or?al (the acquirers of Helena Rubenstein’s brand) and Fascist collaborators, to mention just one scandal, is old news. Yet for undisclosed reasons, prolific London-based author Brandon (Being Divine, a biography of Sarah Bernhardt, 1991) deliberately selects the known, Helena Rubenstein, and unknown, Eugene Schueller, as appropriate counter-characters to profile. In a way, the two could not be more opposite. Flamboyant Polish Jew Rubenstein promoted everlasting female beauty through the mysterious workings of her creams and cosmetics, whereas chemist Schueller proudly publicized his invention of the first safe artificial hair dye. Brandon details their divergent philosophies (Eugene, for instance, was convinced that every woman belonged at home), their politics, their friendships, family, and passions—and the inextricable business and personal links to Nazi Germany and corporate lack of restitution for WWII wrongs. The story meanders, jumping back and forth chronologically, leaving some difficulty in following. --Barbara Jacobs Helena Rubinstein And L'oreal's Eugene Schueller Both Started Out In The Beauty Business During The First Years Of The Twentieth Century, And, By The Time World War Ii Broke Out, Had Come To Dominate It. However, Their Motivations Could Not Have Been More Different. Rubinstein, A Polish Jew, Claimed The World Of Paid Work For Women, And Working Women's Enthusiasm For Her Products Made Her The First Self-made Female Millionaire. Schueller, A French Conservative In The Henry Ford Mold, Thought Women Belonged In The Home, And During The Nazi Occupation He Used His Company As A Source Of Cash To Buy Economic And Political Influence. Schueller Eventually Won The Long Fight For Supremacy: In 1988 His Company Swallowed Rubinstein's. But The Victory Cost Him His Reputation When, In The Wake Of The Takeover, He Was Exposed As A Nazi Collaborator. Deepening The Scandal, His Wartime Activities Were Shown To Have Been Abetted And Condoned By A Cadre Of Young Men Who, By The Time The News Broke, Had Scaled The Peaks Of Wealth And Power In Postwar France. By Then Schueller And Rubinstein Were Both Long Dead. But Cultural Historian And Biographer Ruth Brandon Argues That The Battle They Began Continues To This Day. She Examines Their Conflict To Ask Important Contemporary Questions About Beauty Standards And The Often Murky Intersection Of Individual Political Aims And The Role Of Business. Filled With Remarkable Twists, Turns, And Larger-than-life Characters, Ugly Beauty Is A Riveting True Story About What Lies Beneath The Flawless Exterior Of The Cosmetics Industry. --book Jacket. Beauty Is Power! -- The Authoritarian -- What Did You Do In The War, Daddy? -- Family Affairs -- A Takeover And Three Scandals -- Consumers Or Consumed? -- Coda: Two Old Ladies. Ruth Brandon. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. From acclaimed novelist and cultural historian Ruth Brandon comes a captivating dual biography of the legendary founders of the cosmetics industry, Helena Rubinstein and Eugène Schueller, creator of L’Oréal. Brandon’s gripping and sometimes disturbing story of gender, power, and politics stretches back from the darkest days of World War II, to the emergence of the modern fashion and makeup industries, with magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan and game-changing product lines such as Avon and Mary Kay. Ugly Beauty resonates as well with its implications for modern culture, as we enter an era when haute couture and cosmetology exert an ever more powerful influence upon society at large. A dual biography of the founders of the cosmetic industry - Helena Rubinstein and L'Oréal's Eugène Schueller - this book is also a gripping and disturbing story that reveals how the contemporary tyranny of female beauty has a history that is a story of tyranny itself