Tell Me Why
To The Max
Love your foundation? False eyelashes? Lipstick brush?
For all this and more, give thanks to Mr. Factor.
PHILLIP AND ELIZABETH
APPLEBAUM
Q: I know that Polish-Jewish immi-
grant Max Factor was extremely influ-
ential in the development of cosmetics,
but can you tell me some of the specific
items he created?
A: Born Max Faktor in Lodz (the exact
year of his birth is unknown; it has been
reported as 1872, 1874 and 1877), he
held his first paying job — he was 14 at
the time — as a wig maker and makeup
artist for the Russian Grand Opera.
Later, he opened his own shop in a
Moscow suburb, where he sold his own
skin creams, makeup and wigs. His
clients soon included the Gar's uncle
and physician and finally the Grand
Duchess Alexandra herself. But Max
wanted out, and he finally managed to
escape Russia by walking through hills
and woods, taking with him his wife and
young children, and boarding a
steamship headed to New York.
In the United States, Factor continued
working in wigs and cosmetics, both as a
distributor for other businesses and by
creating his own powder, brush, lipstick
and cleansing cream.
Before Factor, Hollywood actors had
but one option: greasepaint. It was thick,
drying and often cracked, hardly the
finest material for all those close ups.
Factor, meanwhile, was working on
something new: a thin makeup, a "flexi-
ble greasepaint," which eventually found
its way into the hands of such stars as
Mabel Normand, Marie Dressler and
Constance and Norma Talmadge.
Director Cecil B. DeMille turned to
Factor for help in creating more lifelike
wigs. At the time, wigs in films were
made of tobacco leaves or wool; Factor
recommended human hair.
Before his death in 1938, Factor was
the man behind virtually every hair and
cosmetic innovation in early Hollywood:
• Color-harmony makeup. Today, you
can find hundreds of shades of makeup
base, or foundation. Until Max Factor
came along, however, everything was
white.
Then Rudolph Valentino, who had an
olive complexion, appealed to Factor for
a makeup that would match his skin
tone. It took Factor one week to create
just what the famous star requested.
• False eyelashes. Factor made these for
3/ 7
2003
94
actress Phyllis Haver in 1919.
• A brush for powder. Factor was the
first to come up with the idea of apply-
ing powder with a brush, "to insure the
ultimate complexion smoothness for
motion picture players."
• Sweat-free makeup. Douglas
Fairbanks wanted something that would-
n't run or rub off while he was appearing
in The Tly4'ofBaghdad. In 1924, Factor
gave him just what he wanted.
Several years later, Factor expanded the
idea and created waterproof makeup for
swimming star Esther Williams.
• Mass makeup. With only overnight
notice, Factor and his son, Max Jr., were
called to provide makeup for 2,000
extras appearing in the 1929 version of
Noah's Ark. The two decided to add liq-
uid solvent to their regular makeup,
which was then sprayed onto the bodies
of the extras for very quick service.
• Color-harmony Packaging. Factor
was the first to recommend packaging
makeup — i.e., selling powder, blush
and lipstick as one group, as complimen-
tary to each other.
• Pet makeup. Factor was the man
behind the black circle around the eye of
Pete the Dog on Our Gang
• The lipstick brush. Factor created this
in the early 1920s.
• Bee-stung lips. Factor designed this
look in an effort to keep pomade away
from the corners of the lips, where it was
likely to spread. Instead, he dabbed the
red color on with his two thumbs.
Factor also was the man behind Joan
Crawford's thick, full lips, which he cre-
ated when Crawford wanted a more
sophisticated look.
• Non-reflecting makeup. With color
in films, Factor had to come up with an
entirely new makeup that wouldn't
appear like makeup at all. The result was
"Pan Cake," probably his most famous
creation. "I he "pan" came from the con-
tainer, and the "cake" from its form.
First used in the movies in 1938, Pan
Cake was introduced to the public in
advertisements in Vogue. It would forev-
er change the cosmetics industry.
For the first time, a makeup product
was promoted for daily use by the mass-
es. Previously, lipstick and powder were
available in limited form and used only
by a small number of women. For the
most part, cosmetics were believed to be
only for Hollywood..LJ
Forbes' List
Even the wealthiest took a hit in
the declining economy.
ALAN ABRAMS
Special to the Jewish News
y
ou may not have noticed it,
but billionaires felt the eco-
nomic downturn of 2002.
Three Jews with links to
metro Detroit who finished in the top
half of the annual Forbes magazine list of
billionaires are worth a combined $5.3
billion less today than
they were a year ago.
A whopping 67 of
the previous year's
497 billionaires fell
below the minimum
$1 billion needed this
year to make the cut
for the Forbes list of
William
the world's richest
Davidson
people. Four former
billionaires were
wiped out entirely,
with Martin Ebner of Switzerland
plummeting from a net worth of $2 bil-
lion to zero.
Of the 476 remain-
ing in the magazine's
17th annual compila-
tion, 216 saw their
fortunes drop.
Asa group, this
year's billionaires are
worth $1.4 trillion,
Eli Broad
$141 billion less than
last year, but still equal
to the gross domestic
product (the output of goods and serv-
ices produced by labor, and property) of
the entire United Kingdom.
Although he's worth $3 million less
than in 2002, Guardian Industries CEO
and Detroit Pistons
managing partner
William M. Davidson
remains the richest
man in Michigan.
The 80-year-old
Bloomfield Hills resi-
dent, and the only
Michigan Jew on the
Forbes list, finished in
Steven
an 14-way tie for the
Ballmer
222nd position.
Davidson's $2.1 bil-
lion net worth last year put him in a
five-way tie for the 200th spot.
Auburn Hills-based Guardian
Industries' $3.8 billion in worldwide
a
sales helped Davidson remain a member
of the exclusive billionaires club.
Former Detroiter Eli Broad, the 69-
year-old founder of the former
Kaufman and Broad Homes and insurer
Sun America, ranked 82nd by Forbes
with a net worth of $3.9 billion. Last
year, the California philanthropist was
number 51 and worth $5.2 billion.
Steven A. Ballmer, the 49-year-old
former Detroiter and chief executive of
Microsoft, dropped one notch to the
16th position on the list. The net worth
of the Washington state resident turn-
bled from $14.8 billion to $11.1 billion.
The man Ballmer succeeded at
Microsoft, William Gates ill, is still the
richest man on the planet. Although he
saw his net worth drop from $52.8 bil-
lion to $40.7 billion, it wasn't enough to
cost him his spot on top rung of the
ladder. Gates is still a good $10 billion
ahead of his nearest competitor.
The full list of billionaires, which now
includes Oprah Winfrey, appears in the
March 17 issue of Forbes.
Business Memos
Attorneys Sandor M. Gleman of
Troy and Marjory B. Cohen of
Detroit will moderate the upcoming
Michigan Trial lawyers Association
Family Law Seminar.
Albert L. Holtz, a Bloomfield Hills
family law attorney, who was named
in Best Lawyers in America 2004, has
been asked to be a presenter at the
Association of Family and
Conciliation Court's 40th anniversary
conference to be held May 28-31 in
Ottawa. Holtz will speak on "Ethical
Considerations in Divorce and
Custody Proceedings."
Marisa R. Rothstein of Bloomfield
Hills is now associated with the law
offices of Rothstein, Erlich, Rothstein
and Andreopoulos PLLC, a personal
injury and trial practice firm in
Southfield:
Miriam Schey 'merman of
Bloomfield Township has been
appointed interim director of planned
giving at Wayne State University,
Detroit.