Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America's Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry

by MaryLisa Gavenas

For everyone who's every slicked on lipstick, flirted with eye shadow, or browsed the bewildering array in any store's beauty department, Color Stories offers an insider's view of all the brainstorming, bickering, and bitchery that go into those little sticks of color and pans of powder.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Fashion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2002

About the author

Mary Lisa Gavenas, author of Selling Opportunity: The Story of Mary Kay (coming from Viking Penguin on April 28) and Color Stories: Behind the Scenes of America’s Billion-Dollar Beauty Industry, was named a fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography and has been cited as an expert commentator on female entrepreneurship (CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC-4). A former senior editor at Glamour, department head at InStyle and Mirabella, and columnist for Elle, she has contributed to Salon, Fast Company, The New York Times Magazine, and other national outlets.

As an academic author, she has written for publications ranging from the Worlds of Consumption series from Palgrave Macmillan to The African American National Biography published by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and Oxford University Press, and is the sole author of the 220,000-word reference The Fairchild Encyclopedia of Menswear published by Bloomsbury.

Follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/selling_opp...

Reviews

[Zev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this out of curiosity on first read, and deemed it a guilty pleasure that taught me a lot about an industry I only linked with my acting career. I still link makeup with live theatre. I remember being shocked that women would put on a full face of makeup for everyday wear, as a kid. I still find the fact that blush, mascara and lipstick is altogether considered very little makeup odd--you're descrbing a fully made-up face, to me. Add in moisturizer, foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and a hiss of hairspray to finalize it, and you're ready to hit the stage. So, it's taken me a few pages to change that mindset both times I've read the book. This is a fun, quick read.

[LIKUN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page 10: eager to try out her new face, her new story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating look at the design of the advertising angle of how the cosmetics industry works. I was particularly interested in the product design/industrial design angle. It is written by one of the beauty editors for Glamour, Mirabella and In Style, which gives it an insider view of the beauty industry.

I expect to finish this book today, after reading four more chapters. The history of the 20th century of cosmetics makes it worthwhile reading, especially to learn about how Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein started.

It's a fun, fascinating and fast read, for those who are interested in cosmetics.

[Sterling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book with great storytelling. This book tells multiple different storylines through each chapter. Each chapter is titled by a month that relates to the beauty industry in launches like September, May, December etc. It also includes some good insights on how former marketing for beauty companies worked, advertising in magazines, working with Beauty editors and more. Overall, you might want to purchase this book (I checked it out from my college library) if you are interested in the beauty industry from an editorial and company point of view.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a look inside the makeup industry and is a must-read for make-up junkies. It documents the process of creating the color story. How it's conceived, marketed, sold, ect. and reveals many interesting insider details about the color stories and the outright lies reported by popular beauty magazines. It also goes back in time to the conception of the beauty industry telling the beginnings of the Estee Lauder empire and walks you through a Mary Kay conference (found this pretty amusing). At times the detail becomes repetitive and dull and I did a bit of skimming. Overall it was an interesting little read for those interested in a behind the scenes peek at how the industry keeps the consumer wanting more and more . . .

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never would have known that Avon was born from a Christian man or that Mary Kay was founded by a young girl that raised herself and nurtured by millions of self-motivated women looking to raise extra money to pay for their husband's college tuition. It was resourceful. And by throwing these Mary Kay pampering parties also made the host and her friends feel so special.

But could a self-motivated young woman do that in today's economy? She couldn't - no matter how many times the innocent click of the lipstick tube gets her or how pretty the packaging is that her perfume bottle is. She couldn't - and although the author may have a captivating writing style, that's why it's a slightly depressing read in the end.

[Cinco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got about halfway through this and then abandoned it due to the fact that it is very boring. Currently I am using it as a paperweight.

[Cece Shelburne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neither a boring sociological take nor a dull rant. The reading equivalent of shopping for beauty products at an amazing store.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize that a lot of folks think of beauty and fashion as “vapid” interests, but these industries combined account for well over 400 billion dollars of business done in the U.S. alone. I also think that some people dismiss these things because they’re seen as traditionally feminine, and I think it’s silly to dismiss entire trades or avocations just because they’re marketed in pink. So I’m really glad for books like these, which discuss seriously some of the behind-the-scenes culture and history behind the beauty and fashion industries!

Mini-review at Lone Star on a Lark

[Rachel Swords · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably safe to say that this book is now very outdated, but the origin stories and backstories of the major makeup companies and their founders were still interesting to read. Not a book you can sit and read in one swoop-it does get a bit tedious, so it's better to read in bits and pieces.

[Biba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spännande att få veta lite mer om beauty-industrin och t.ex. prissättningen av produkter. Visserligen så har det att hänt rätt mycket sedan denna bok skrevs och viss information är uppenbart inaktuell, bl.a. så avfärdas e-handel med smink helt. Men på det stora hela ett trevligt intro till läs-året 2020.

[Effie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm intrigued by how the beauty industry continues to spend so much time and money to create the next new product for women to buy. And it's intriguing how many women buy into the myth that a new lipstick can transform their entire life.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. It was alright, but not terribly interesting. Nothing remarkably new or shocking here, and as someone who enjoys beauty products, it was a bit of a downer (though I'm sure it's all accurate).

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended to me for a marketing class and I liked it much more than I expected.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content was informative but the writing style was too snarky for me. Published in 2002, so a bit dated but good general context for understanding the global beauty industry.