Max Factor: Makeup & Make Believe

Max Factor - the name simply inspires glamor.  His was the name that was found in the screen credits and it was his innovations that revolutionized the cosmetics industry.  Arden and Rubinstein pioneered skincare but Factor was all about makeup.  He provided women the magic to transform themselves.  In Max's world, lashes were longer and thicker, lips fuller, skin was powdered to resemble alabaster and eyes were smouldering. 

He was born Maksymilian Faktorowicz in Lodz, Poland, 1877.  All of 7 years old, he sold snacks in the lobby of the Czarina Theater and by 14 he had already been apprenticed to a pharmacist, a wig maker and a hair stylist.  He moved to Moscow and worked for the cosmetician to the Imperial Russian Grand Opera.  After serving a mandatory 4 years in the Russian army, at 22 he opened a shop selling his own cosmetics, fragrances and wigs.

Thanks to royal patronage, business boomed but the court royals loved Max so much he had no time for his shop.  Though he was well paid to make them beautiful they were fanatically possessive.  He was escorted by guard everywhere and even had to conceal his wife and 3 children.  Antisemitism was growing fierce and Max began dreaming of joining his brother and uncle in St. Louis where the World Fair was soon to open.

Max escaped and boarded a steamship for America with his family.  He had shortened his name to Faktor earlier but the Ellis Island immigration officials wrote down Factor.  In 1904, Max realized his dream at the World Fair where he sold his products.  Lured by the growing film industry, he moved to LA to sell his wigs and became the West Coast distributor for the Leichner and Minor companies who produced theatrical make-up.

From here on, Max's achievements would be direct results of his work for the Studios.  His great talent enabled him to advance with Hollywood both technologically and artistically.  In 1914 he created a jarred cream greasepaint that came in 12 shades and didn't crack or cake.  It enabled him to customize makeup to the individual actor at a time when a stick form of thick greasepaint was the only product available.  In 1917, his Supreme Liquid Whitener turned a starlet's skin to alabaster.

In 1918 he introduced Color Harmony face powder which featured an even wider range of shades.  For Rudolph Valentino he created a shade that would lighten his olive skin onscreen and later there would be Platinum for Jean Harlow, Special Medium for Joan Crawford and Dark for Claudette Colbert.  Max also created Clara Bow's famous bee stung lips.  In 1922, he began marketing his own tubed greasepaint which was more hygienic and easy to use.

Max referred to cosmetics as "make-up" and in 1920 his son convinced him to market the phrase.  It offered a certain degree of reputability to the "face paint" that was once common to only actors and prostitutes.  In fact, in 1915 a law was proposed in Kansas forbidding women under 44 to wear cosmetics “for the purpose of creating a false impression”!  Despite this prohibition, Max garnered success after success with products like Supreme Nail Polish in 1925 that provided a light tint and Society Nail Tint or Nail White in 1927 which gave a rose tint or a French style manicure.  Nail polish would come in 1934 with his Liquid Nail Enamel.

The Calibrator -1932 - Factor's invention that revealed facial flaws that needed to be corrected for onscreen.

1927 was a good year for Max; he won an Oscar for his Panchromatic make-up and his children won their battle for national expansion.  Actresses were happy to endorse the products they loved for a fee of $1 in exchange for film promotion.  During this time, Hollywood was undergoing severe changes in sound and film production.  With the advent of sound, noisy lights were replaced with quieter ones that also created a softer light.  Orthochromatic film was replaced by Panchromatic film which darkened skin tones.  Max answered with his new Panchromatic make-up (trademarked 1929) but Technicolor the following decade posed new problems when the make-up looked poor onscreen.  Stars refused to appear in color films but Frank saved the day by creating Pan-Cake in 1937, a solid cake concealer applied with a damp sponge that left a clear matte finish. 

To say Pan-Cake was a hit would be an understatement, it was the fastest and best selling beauty product in history.  Even the actresses were stealing it from the sets before it was sold commercially.  The only drawback was it couldn't be used at night as it was formulated for use under bright studio lights so Frank developed lighter shades.  When Max died in 1938 Frank took the name Max Factor, Jr. and his next smash hit came in 1940 with Tru-Color, a smear-proof lipstick that came in 6 shades of red.  In 1947, Pan-Stik, a stick form of non-greasy cream make-up was another development resulting from changes in studio lighting and filming that was an instant success when it hit the shelves in 1939.  That same year he created the makeup  for The Wizard of Oz, notably for Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Horse of a Different Color in the Emerald City.

Max Jr., as innovative as his father, created Color TV Make-up in 1954 which became standard until just the last decade.  That same year he introduced Erase, the original concealer.  During this decade he ventured into fragrances and men's products and in 1965 he introduced the Geminesse line of cosmetics, skincare and fragrances. 

1956

 

1950s

1960s (top&bottom ads)

The company went public in the early 1960s and merged with Norton Simon in 1973.  During these years there was waterproof make-up in 1971, Musk For Men and the Halston line of fragrances but despite these and the lower priced youthful Maxi line, the company was lagging.  

In 1983 Norton Simon was taken over by Esmark which merged with Beatrice Foods.  Max Factor was a part of their Playtex division sold to Revlon in 1986 who sold Max Factor to Proctor & Gamble in 1991.  As of 2010, P&G discontinued Max Factor in the US though it's still marketed overseas.

A master of illusion, Max Factor was a godsend to Hollywood.  When women attending movie houses in the 1930s grumbled, "No one looks that good in real life!" he responded by offering them the means to achieve the same results.  He and Max Jr. not only had a direct hand in the success of the silver screen, the beauty industry and womankind will forever be indebted to these men.  Viva la 12 hour lipstick!

Falls Avenue Vintage Fashion 

Main Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Factor

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/09/01/080901crbo_books_updike

Fred E. Basten - “Max Factor: The Man Who Changed the Faces of the World”

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