When I was younger, I never thought Max Factor was a real person. I always assumed “Max” was the key “factor” in the success of the cosmetics line. Moving to LA changed all that, as I started to see his name on hospital wings and buildings around town. Recently, I did a little poking around and learned the following:
Mr. Factor was actually born Max Faktor, in Lodz , Poland (same city my grandmother was from!) in 1877. He first worked for the Royal Ballet in Russia, applying makeup to dancers before immigrating to the United States in 1904. A familiar success story, he arrived at Ellis Island with a few bucks to his name and slowly created an empire.
After brief stints owning his own perfume and cosmetic stores, good ol’ Max had the responsibility of “making up” the faces of the brightest starlets during Hollywood’s early years (Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis), and is said to have coined the word “makeup.” As more common folk wanted the same look he was painting on the stars, Max launched his first cosmetics line and then went on to invent lip gloss in 1930.
He’s also credited with creating the first modern foundation (Pan-cake) in 1937, as well as inventing the eyebrow pencil (though I’m a bit suspect of that last claim as Egyptians were penciling their eyes some, oh, I don’t know, 3000 years earlier!) Still, Max was a pretty innovative guy and certainly changed the retail makeup industry in a big way. I don’t think the cosmetic line is what it once was, but then again, I don’t look for it much in stores. Ladies: am I wrong about that? Anyone still buy/use the stuff?
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Sure, it’s carried by Wal-mart and a couple drug stores. They still make good quality makeup. I personally love their mascara.
posted by Jennifer on 7-5-2007 at 6:47 am
The Max Factor line is HUGE, but expensive. For a long time it was only available in salons or for professional makeup artists. However, it’s all available online.
posted by Kasee on 7-5-2007 at 7:45 am
Ahhh, heh – I just found a few products at Target!
posted by Kasee on 7-5-2007 at 7:46 am
The undereye concealer is great- just as good if not better than department store brands.
posted by Julie on 7-5-2007 at 9:22 am
Not only was he a marketing and cosmetics genius, but he apparently passed on his skills to his descendants. Here’s what I submitted for MF’s Wikipedia page, since I’m a complete makeup junkie:
“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 conjunction with the legendary European cosmetics retailer Sephora.”
posted by Kimberly on 7-5-2007 at 10:13 am
You can find Max Factor at almost any drugstore or big box retailer (like Target).
They have great mascara, and they also make powders and foundations in shades that work well for those of us who are a bit pasty, er, pigment challenged.
posted by Shari on 7-5-2007 at 1:08 pm
Max Factor’s great-grandson, Andrew Luster, has a story as well. He was convicted of mulitple counts of rape, fled to Mexico, and captured by Dog the Bounty Hunter. A legal battle ensued (bounty hunting is not legal in Mexico). Luster was sentenced to 100+ years, and I presume he’s serving it? I think Dog is still dealing with charges from the Mexican government.
posted by Audrey on 7-5-2007 at 7:26 pm
the egyptians most likely did not use a pencil, but rather some kind of liquid dye.
posted by jenni on 7-5-2007 at 9:37 pm
Yeah, you can see the Wikipedia article for kohl to learn more about what Egyptians used on their eyes. It’s a powder, so would be applied with a brush, not a pencil.
When I was younger, the Max Factor Museum gift shop was a good place to get cheap lipstick and foundation-type makeup.
posted by Erin on 7-6-2007 at 2:21 pm